The Influence of Organizational Incivility and Job Stress on Childcare Teachers’ Turnover Intention: Moderated Mediation Effect of Gratitude

Abstract

Introduction. The turnover intention of teachers who work at childcare centers and facilities is high in Korea because of workplace incivility and job stress. There is a need for research to reduce turnover intention. This study aimed to investigate whether gratitude moderates the mediating effects of job stress in the association between organizational incivility and turnover intention of childcare teachers. Study participants and methods. The participants in this study were child-care teachers working in Chungnam province of Korea. The survey participants were 108 (49.1%) in their 40s, 85 (38.6%) in their 30s and older, and 27 (12.3%) in their 50s and older. There were 180 married people (78.6%), and 49 people (21.4%) unmarried. For analysis, we did data analysis using SPSS PC+ Win. Ver. 25.0 and SPSS PROCESS macro Ver. 3.5. We used frequency, reliability, correlation, and moderated mediating effect analysis. Results. First, organizational incivility, job stress, and turnover intention were significantly correlated. Organizational incivility had a positive correlation with job stress (r = .412, p < .01) and turnover intention (r = .536, p < .01), and gratitude was negatively correlated with job stress (r = -.288, p < .01) and with turnover intention (r = -.339, p < .01). Second, as the result of analyzing the moderated mediation effect analysis, when the gratitude value was low (M-1SD), medium (M), and high (M+1SD), the conditional indirect effect was significant. Therefore, the moderated mediating effect of gratitude moderating the mediating effect of job stress in the link between organizational incivility and turnover intention was verified. Practical significance. Incivility acted as a cause of increasing turnover intention, and gratitude acted as a buffer to lower turnover intention. Therefore, this study will be used as policy development data to lower the intention to turnover of childcare teachers who have experienced rudeness and to improve the quality of childcare services.