The effect of transformational leadership on nurses' turnover intention: the mediating effects of person-organization fit and career calling.
4 affiliations
- 1School of Nursing, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China.
- 2School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
- 3Department of General Surgery, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China.
- 4Department of Nursing, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University Dezhou Hospital, Dezhou, China.
Abstract
Aims
This study aims to explore the relationship between transformational leadership, person-organization fit, career calling, and turnover intention among nurses. Additionally, it investigates whether person-organization fit and career calling serve as independent and chain mediators in the link between transformational leadership and turnover intention.Methods
The researchers selected a convenience sample of 1,342 nurses from four Grade A-III hospitals in Shandong Province between October and November 2025. They collected data using several instruments: the General Population Questionnaire, the Transformational Leadership Questionnaire, the Person-Organization Fit Scale, the Career Calling Scale, and the Intent to Leave Scale. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were conducted using SPSS 26.0. To examine the chained mediation effect, they applied Model 6 in PROCESS 3.5 and estimated the 95% confidence interval using the Bootstrap method with 5,000 repeated samples.Results
The results demonstrated that transformational leadership had a positive correlation with both person-organization fit and career calling, and a negative correlation with turnover intention. Mediation analysis revealed that over half of the protective effect of leadership on turnover intention was indirect, mediated through three pathways: person-organization fit alone, career calling alone, and their sequential chain. All indirect effects were statistically significant.Conclusion
These findings show that transformational leadership reduces turnover intention through various complementary psychological mechanisms. This highlights the importance of relational fit and intrinsic motivation in understanding leadership effectiveness. The sequential mediation pathway reveals how organizational and personal factors interact to influence nurses' career decisions, offering a more nuanced theoretical framework for retention research.
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BibTeX
@article{yin2026effect,
title = {{The effect of transformational leadership on nurses' turnover intention: the mediating effects of person-organization fit and career calling.}},
author = {Kailin Yin and Manman Shi and Lin Ji and Jie Sun and Binbin Zhang},
journal = {Frontiers in psychology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1880075},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898275},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The effect of transformational leadership on nurses' turnover intention: the mediating effects of person-organization fit and career calling.
AU - Kailin Yin
AU - Manman Shi
AU - Lin Ji
AU - Jie Sun
AU - Binbin Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - Frontiers in psychology
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1880075
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898275
AB - Aims This study aims to explore the relationship between transformational leadership, person-organization fit, career calling, and turnover intention among nurses. Additionally, it investigates whether person-organization fit and career calling serve as independent and chain mediators in the link between transformational leadership and turnover intention.Methods The researchers selected a convenience sample of 1,342 nurses from four Grade A-III hospitals in Shandong Province between October and November 2025. They collected data using several instruments: the General Population Questionnaire, the Transformational Leadership Questionnaire, the Person-Organization Fit Scale, the Career Calling Scale, and the Intent to Leave Scale. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were conducted using SPSS 26.0. To examine the chained mediation effect, they applied Model 6 in PROCESS 3.5 and estimated the 95% confidence interval using the Bootstrap method with 5,000 repeated samples.Results The results demonstrated that transformational leadership had a positive correlation with both person-organization fit and career calling, and a negative correlation with turnover intention. Mediation analysis revealed that over half of the protective effect of leadership on turnover intention was indirect, mediated through three pathways: person-organization fit alone, career calling alone, and their sequential chain. All indirect effects were statistically significant.Conclusion These findings show that transformational leadership reduces turnover intention through various complementary psychological mechanisms. This highlights the importance of relational fit and intrinsic motivation in understanding leadership effectiveness. The sequential mediation pathway reveals how organizational and personal factors interact to influence nurses' career decisions, offering a more nuanced theoretical framework for retention research.
SN - 1664-1078
ER -