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Clarifying the interface between respectful leadership and intention to stay
ArticleinJournal of Health Organisation and Management · January 2021 DOI: 10.1108/JHOM-06-2020-0258 CITATIONS READS 3 322 2 authors, including: Lawrence Ugwu
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Clarifying the interface between Respectful leadership and
respectful leadership and intention intention to stay to stay Ibeawuchi K. Enwereuzor
Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria, and Lawrence E. Ugwu Received 29 June 2020 Revised 9 December 2020
Department of Psychology, Renaissance University, Enugu, Nigeria Accepted 22 December 2020 Abstract
Purpose – Considering that leaders play an important role in influencing the work environment and
experiences of subordinates as well as the fact that employees like to be respected, the purpose of the current
study was to explore supportive supervisor relations as a mediator of the relationship between respectful
leadership and intention to stay.
Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 389 hospital nurses based on authors’ personal
networks at three measurement points. This was done to avoid problems associated with collecting data for
predictor and criterion variables from the same source at the same time. The direct and indirect effects were
tested with ordinary least squares regression-based path analysis.
Findings – Respectful leadership was found to be positively related to both supportive supervisor relations
and intention to stay. In addition, supportive supervisor relations had a positive relationship with intention to
stay. Finally, the relationship between respectful leadership and intention to stay was mediated by supportive supervisor relations.
Research limitations/implications – The sample were drawn from nurses only in a particularly region of a
country and differences may exist among other occupational groups and geographical areas of the country in
the way they perceive their leaders’ behavior.
Practical implications – Management of health facilities can utilize information from annual reviews and
feedback from subordinates as performance evaluation criteria for rewarding leaders who treat their
subordinates respectfully. However, leaders who are disrespectful toward their subordinates could be
identified and subjected to mandatory training on respectful leadership.
Originality/value – The current study extends the present state of research on the impact exerted by
respectful leadership in an organizational context never examined heretofore; that is, health care context. This
is also the first study linking respectful leadership, supportive supervisor relations and intention to stay in unison in a single study.
Keywords Respectful leadership, Supportive supervisor relations, Leaders, Supervisors, Subordinate nurses, Job, Intention to stay Paper type Research paper Introduction
The manner in which individuals think they are treated by others is a reflection of the extent
to which they perceive they are respected by them. Respect therefore is an important metric
with which individuals use to gauge the quality of the relationships that exists between them
and others. Accordingly, respect refers to an attitude that is reflected in recognizing,
appreciating, and conveying the relevance and value of a person (van Quaquebeke and
Eckloff, 2010). This makes it likely that most individuals will prize being respected by others
in most, if not all areas of their lives. One of such areas happens to be their working life, due to
the considerable amount of time individuals spend at work.
For one thing, employees highly value respect since it fulfills universal needs for
belonging and status and a number of self-related consequences emanate from the realization
Journal of Health Organization and Management
Conflicts of interest/Competing interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with © Emerald Publishing Limited 1477-7266
respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article. DOI 10.1108/JHOM-06-2020-0258
of these needs (Huo et al., 2010; Rogers and Ashforth, 2017). Indeed, the significance of respect JHOM
at work has been documented, which suggests that it matters more than material rewards
(Ellingsen and Johannesson, 2007). To say the least, when employees were asked to rate their
work values, they did so by prioritizing working for a supervisor who treats them
respectfully above and beyond income, career opportunities and the amount of leisure time
embedded in their job (van Quaquebeke et al., 2009). Certainly, feeling of being respected at
work by authority figures makes people feel more satisfied and identify with, as well as
contribute to collective effort (Boezeman and Ellemers, 2008; de Cremer and Tyler, 2005;
Ellemers et al., 2013; van Quaquebeke and Eckloff, 2010, 2013). Altogether, these leave us with
the notion that leaders have a role to play in shaping their subordinates’ perception of being respected.
Indeed, leaders represent authority figures who play an important role in influencing the
work environment and experiences of subordinates. Thus, in recognition of their importance
in addressing incivility, leaders have been admonished to create visions and norms that are
respect-driven in their environments (Clark and Springer, 2010). Therefore, since respect is
other-oriented, a leadership style that is marked by other-orientedness and relational in
exhibiting respect, that is, respectful leadership (van Gils et al., 2018), which involves treating
subordinates with dignity and appreciating them for their contributions at work (Grover,
2014; van Quaquebeke and Eckloff, 2010), would be highly desired by subordinates as a
source of respect. This could go a long way in shaping their attitudes and behavior toward the
leader as well as the organization being represented by the leader.
Although studies have documented the important role of respectful leadership in fostering
outcomes in organizational setting, including knowledge sharing (Gerpott et al., 2020),
discrimination and inclusion (Adams et al., 2020), job performance (van Gils et al., 2018), job
satisfaction (Decker and Van Quaquebeke, 2015), among others, we extend these lines of
research by including intention to stay in their job to the list of possible outcomes associated
with respectful leadership. We believe that respectful leadership is suitable for enhancing
intention of nurses to stay in their job especially in the face of the current high rates of
turnover and chronic shortage of nurses across the globe (Kurnat-Thoma et al., 2017; World
Health Organization, (WHO, 2020), and because of its track record of fostering valued organizational outcomes.
However, it has been posited that a leader’s impact on their subordinates may not be clear
if the mechanism behind it is not identified (Chughtai et al., 2015). For that reason, as well as
by virtue of the hallmark of a respectful leader, which has to do with treating subordinates as
individuals deserving fair and supportive treatment (Clarke, 2011; Clarke and Mahadi, 2017;
Grover, 2014), we incorporate supportive supervisor relations as a potential mechanism
through which respectful leadership fosters subordinates’ intention to stay. We are not aware
of any studies linking these variables in unison in a single study.
This study contributes to the literature in a number of ways. First, we advance theory and
understanding of how respectful leadership is crucial for nurses’ intention to stay in their job.
Such knowledge could be valuable when designing employee retention strategies. Second, by
focusing on respectful leadership, this study addresses the need for attention to be devoted to
the role of respect in leadership (van Quaquebeke and Eckloff, 2010). Third, and even more to
the point, by also focusing on respectful leadership, a single dimension construct that
exclusively focus on recognizing the subordinate as an important person in the organization
with dignity in their own right (van Quaquebeke and Eckloff, 2010), we address calls to
avoid the problem of ambiguity associated with multidimensional leadership constructs
(van Knippenberg and Sitkin, 2013). Last, we offer supportive supervisor relations as a crucial
mediating mechanism between respectful leadership and intention to stay. In doing so, we
respond to the call for a need to clarify how leaders exert their influence on subordinates (Chughtai et al., 2015).
Literature review and hypotheses development Respectful
Respectful leadership and supportive supervisor relations leadership and
Supervisor support refers to the extent to which an employee feels that their “supervisors intention to
value their contributions and care about their well-being” (Eisenberger et al., 2002, p. 565). stay
Generally, it is manifested in showing concern and discernible help by the supervisor aimed
at improving subordinates’ well-being, assist them in addressing work-related problems and
encourage them to develop new skills (Kossek et al., 2011). Supervisors attend to questions of
subordinates, give advice and counsel on career development, and pay attention to their
concerns and complaints (Ng and Sorensen, 2008).
In a health care context, a nursing supervisor such as nurse unit manager/first-line nurse
manager is an individual who has a proximate working relationship with the nursing staff
members in a unit/ward/section and as such, has influence over their working experience and
care delivery. They are crucial in addressing many challenges and ensuring that the job is
performed efficiently (Abdelrazek et al., 2010). They help in developing and enacting policies
and procedures for high-quality patient care. They also ensure a motivating work
environment, train new nurses about modus operandi of their employing health facilities
as well as ensuring transfer of knowledge.
Supervisors who encourage a supportive work environment are usually concerned about
employees’ welfare, provide objective feedback and encourage them to be open, acquire new
skills and contribute to achieving the organizational objectives (Deci and Ryan, 1987).
Moreover, the increasing decentralized nature of organizations nowadays implies that
supervisors have more opportunities to establish and nurture interpersonal relationships
with their subordinates (Stinglhamber et al., 2006).
However, what might prompt employees to perceive that their supervisor is supportive?
The answer might lie in the leadership style adopted by the leader/supervisor in question. For
one thing, respectful leadership is based on the notion that subordinates are self-reliant
individuals who deserve to be treated with dignity and supportive manner, and appreciated
for their efforts at work (Clarke, 2011; Clarke and Mahadi, 2017; Grover, 2014). Typically, a
respectful leader is someone who stands up for subordinates against third parties and
provides relevant information to them (van Quaquebeke and Eckloff, 2010). Therefore, a
leader who enacts such positive behaviors toward their subordinates, signals to them that
they are accepted (Huo and Binning, 2008; Huo et al., 2010) and their work contributions are
valued and acknowledged. These could signal a sense of being supported by their supervisor
who is an agent of the organization. Along this line, there is evidence that justice, a construct
that is inextricably linked with respect (Miller, 2001) is associated with perceived supervisor
support. Indeed, both interactional justice and distributive justice were found to be positively
related to perceived supervisor support (DeConinck, 2010). In a nutshell, we believe that a
leader who employs respectful leadership strategies is in a position to develop a supportive
relationship with their subordinates. Based on our arguments and existing literature, we predict:
H1. Respectful leadership is positively related to supportive supervisor relations.
Respectful leadership and intention to stay
The current nurse turnover and high shortage has become an issue of increasing public
concern worldwide because of the impact on the effectiveness of health care delivery system
and quality of care to patients. Nurses’ turnover is very costly in terms of replacement,
recruitment, lost productivity and poor health care delivery (Buchan, 2010; Kurnat-Thoma
et al., 2017). Also, valuable knowledge and experiences are lost when highly experienced
nurses quit their jobs (Sherrod, 2006). The current situation thus necessitates that to ensure a
stable workforce, attention should be paid on how to retain committed nursing personnel by
first identifying determinants of their intention to stay. This is because employees do not just JHOM
stay in their job, the decision to stay typically starts from contemplation of staying to actually staying.
In general, employees perceive their leaders as proxies of their employing organization.
Their relationship with their leader will equally inform their relationship with their
organization and by extension, how willing they are to continue their job in the organization.
In that case, considering how valuable respect is in the working lives of employees (Ellingsen
and Johannesson, 2007; van Quaquebeke et al., 2009) and the fact that leaders play a key role
in shaping their subordinates’ experiences and behavior at work (e.g. Enwereuzor et al.,
2020a, b; Enwereuzor et al., 2018), it is plausible that subordinates would desire to continue
their job especially if their leader puts so much emphasis on respecting them. That leadership
style is respectful leadership. By definition, respectful leaders are considerate, understands
that individuals deserve to be respected in their own right and appreciate others’ worth
(van Quaquebeke and Eckloff, 2010). Accordingly, these qualities, we believe, are particularly
valued by subordinates to enhance their intention to stay. For instance, a systematic review
suggests that transformational leadership enhances nurses’ intent to remain in their current
position (Cowden et al., 2011). Similarly, a focus group of nurse faculty members from colleges
and universities in Canada identified quality leadership which was described as a Dean or
Director who is respectful, approachable, accommodating, and providing consistent direction
and feedback while performing their leadership role (Tourangeau et al., 2012). Based on the
above discussion, the following was hypothesized:
H2. Respectful leadership is positively related to intention to stay.
Supportive supervisor relations as a mediator
Following our argument on a possible positive relationship between respectful leadership
and intention to stay, we further reason that the relationship could be mediated by supportive
supervisor relations. This possibility is explained from the lens of the social exchange theory
(Blau, 1964). Social exchange theory has been used to explain employment relationship (e.g.
Enwereuzor et al., 2020a). The theory is based on the idea that high-quality exchange
relationship begins when employees feel that beneficial treatment from their organization/its
proxy (e.g. nurse unit manager/first-line nurse managers) is seen as a sign of genuine interest
in their well-being and value of their contributions to the organization (Eisenberger et al.,
2002). The norm of reciprocity is central to the sustenance of the social exchange relationship
(Gouldner, 1960), as it activates a sense of employee obligation to reciprocate favorable
treatment they received from their organization/its proxy (Coyle-Shapiro et al., 2004). One
way that employees can return the beneficial treatment is to remain committed in their job,
which is only possible if they choose to stay rather than quit.
Being treated with respect is perhaps one of the ways that can help in conveying how
acceptable and valuable an employee is in their workplace. Also bearing in mind the fact that
leaders act on behalf of their organization, our take is that nurse unit manager/first-line nurse
manager who adopts respectful leadership strategies as manifested in appreciating
subordinates’ worth, standing up for their rights and providing them with useful
information, all these which signal that they are respected (van Quaquebeke and Eckloff,
2010), is likely going to be regarded as a supportive leader. In turn, such support is likely
going to translate to intention of staying as a way of reciprocating the favorable treatment they received.
To buttress the above assertion, respectful leaders are viewed by subordinates as
individuals who show genuine interest in others’ preferences, devote time to ascertaining
their perspective, considers their level of knowledge or requesting their permission before
assigning extra projects to them (van Quaquebeke and Eckloff, 2010). They are also
empathetic, and endeavor to act in appropriate manner concerning incidents involving their Respectful
subordinates’ personal life (van Quaquebeke and Eckloff, 2010). Altogether, these qualities leadership and
suggest that such a leader is likely going to be considered by their subordinates as someone intention to
who is supportive. This makes it likely that employees are going to enjoy working with such a stay
supportive leader. As such, they are likely going to do all it takes to preserve the continued
favorable relationship of working with the leader, which can only be possible if they choose to
remain in their job. This could be attributed to the activation of a sense of obligation in the
subordinates to “return” these sources of support by choosing to remain in their job in order
to help the organization realize its objectives. Put this way, intention to stay is enhanced
through support from the supervisor/leader prompted by respectful leadership strategies. In
other words, supportive supervisor relations thus, serves as the underlying mechanism
through which respectful leadership exerts its influence on intention to stay. Evidence has
been reported that employees’ perception of higher levels of support from their supervisors
was related to less intention to leave their organization (Gordon et al., 2019). Furthermore, it
was found that perceived supervisor support mediated the positive relationship between
interactional justice and supervisory trust (DeConinck, 2010). Put together, we make the following predictions:
H3. Supportive supervisor relations will be positively related to intention to stay.
H4. The positive relationship between respectful leadership and intention to stay will be
mediated by supportive supervisor relations. Method Participants
The demographics of the participants appear in Table 1 (see the results section). Majority of
the nurses were female (91%, n 5 373), with M age 5 37.40 (SD 5 6.33) and 7.43 years in their Category n % Range M SD Gender Male 16 4.1 Female 373 95.9 Marital status Unmarried 146 37.5 Married 243 62.5 Unit/ward/department Accident and emergency 31 8.0 Antenatal care unit 19 4.9 Dental unit 6 1.5 Female ward 13 3.3 Intensive care unit 57 14.7 Maternity ward 96 24.7 Ophthalmic unit 17 4.4 Orthopedic unit 16 4.1 Outpatient department 18 4.6 Pediatric/children ward 18 4.6 Postnatal unit 8 2.1 Private ward 8 2.1 Radiology unit 6 1.5 Surgical/operating room 76 19.5 Table 1. Age 22–52 37.40 6.33 Demographics of Organizational tenure 1–21 7.43 3.38 sample
current employing organization. They are from a variety of units/wards. However, the JHOM
highest number of them work in the maternity ward (24.7%, n 5 96). All of them work on full- time basis. Measures
The psychometric properties of the measures for the current sample are reported in Tables 2 and 3.
Respectful leadership: We used van Quaquebeke and Eckloff’s (2010) 12-item scale to
measure respectful leadership. It assesses the degree of respondents’ perceptions that their
current immediate leader at work treats them with respect. Items were rated using a 5-point
scale from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). Sample item include “My leader treats me in a polite
manner”. Higher scores signify that a subordinate feel being treated with respect by their Construct Items Loading CA CR AVE Respectful leadership RL1 0.867 0.908 0.918 0.754 RL2 0.717 RL3 0.838 RL4 0.704 RL5 0.751 RL6 0.784 RL7 0.701 RL8 0.831 RL9 0.890 RL10 0.736 RL11 0.786 RL12 0.752
Supportive supervisor relations SSR1 0.774 0.821 0.833 0.731 SSR2 0.777 SSR3 0.809 SSR4 0.725 SSR5 0.771 SSR6 0.728 SSR7 0.832 SSR8 0.778 SSR9 0.835 SSR10 0.781 Intention to stay ITS1 0.818 0.883 0.983 0.635 ITS2 0.867 ITS3 0.719 ITS4 0.747 ITS5 0.779 Table 2. ITS6 0.750 Results of the measurement model
Note(s): RL 5 respectful leadership, SSR 5 supportive supervisor relations, ITS 5 intention to stay Variable M SD 1 2 3 Table 3. 1 Respectful leadership 54.28 6.02 0.868 Means, standard 2
Supportive supervisor relations 42.93 3.99 0.583*** 0.855 deviations and 3 Intention to stay 18.52 3.83 0.287*** 0.168*** 0.797 correlations among the study variables
Note(s): N 5 389, *** 5 p ≤ 0.001 (two-tailed). Italic values in diagonal are square roots of AVE
immediate leader at work. Cronbach’s alpha (α) of 0.96 and 0.95 across data collections were Respectful
reported by van Quaquebeke and Eckloff. leadership and
Supportive supervisor relations: Supportive supervisor relations was measured using the intention to
10-item scale reported by May et al. (2004) from existing scales. Participants rated the stay
degree of their agreement on a 5-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
Sample item is: “My supervisor helps me solve work-related problems.” Higher scores
indicated greater supportive supervisor relations between a nurse and their immediate
supervisor as perceived by the nurse. May et al. reported internal consistency reliability with α 5 0.95.
Intention to stay: Intention to stay in the current job was assessed with the 6-item
unidimensional Intent to Stay (ITS) scale (Wang et al., 2012). The scale is an adaptation of a
previously developed scale to the nursing context by Wang et al. Sample item is “I am not
actively looking for a new job other than nursing profession”. Answers are made on a 5-point
scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). After reverse-scoring the negatively
worded items, higher scores signify greater intention to remain in one’s job as a nurse.
Internal consistency reliability with α of 0.79 was reported by Wang et al. Procedure
Once permission was granted by authorities in charge in each hospital, we collected data from
hospital nurses in four hospitals based on our personal networks. A cover letter attached to a
questionnaire comprising measures of our variables of interests explained the study’s scope
and protocol, assured confidentiality of responses and the voluntariness of participation. To
avoid the problems associated with collecting data for predictor and criterion variables from
the same source at the same time, data were collected at three measurement points. At Time 1
(demographics and predictor, i.e. respectful leadership), Time 2 (mediator, i.e. supportive
supervisor relation) and Time 3 (criterion, i.e. intention to stay) were collected following three
weeks interval each. A unique identification code was created for each participant at Time 1
which was used to identify them during subsequent data collections (i.e. Time 2 and Time 3).
A total of 563 copies of the questionnaire were distributed out of which 411 were returned
(73% response rate). After excluding copies of the questionnaire with incomplete data, the
remaining 389 copies were used for analysis. Data analysis
Our analysis involves two steps (Hulland, 1999). In the first step, we assessed the reliability
and validity of the measurement model using SmartPLS v3.2.8 (Ringle et al., 2015) as well as
the fit indices using Amos v24 (Arbuckle, 2016). These process enables us to verify the
psychometric properties of our measures of individual constructs before proceeding to
testing and interpreting structural relations among the constructs. The second step involves
running of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression-based path analysis using PROCESS
macro for SPSS v3.3 (Hayes, 2018) in order to evaluate the structural model. Results Test of the measurement model
To ascertain the adequacy of our measurement model, we assessed convergent validity,
discriminant validity, individual indicator reliability and internal consistency reliability (Hair
et al., 2011, 2012). The convergent validity was evaluated by inspecting the average variance
extracted (AVE) that a construct shares with its assigned indicators (Fornell and Larcker,
1981). AVE values exceeding 0.5 indicate that each construct is reflective of most of its
indicators’ variance and exceed the variance accounted for by the measurement error for that
construct (Fornell and Larcker, 1981; Hair et al., 1998). The AVE values that appear in Table 2 JHOM
range from 0.635 to 0.754 and suggest that all the constructs in the current study has adequate convergent validity.
We assessed the discriminant validity, defined as the distinctiveness of the constructs,
using the Fornell and Larcker criterion (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). According to this
approach, discriminant validity is achieved if the square root of a construct’s AVE is greater
than the correlations between the construct and other constructs in the research model. We
also verified the discriminant validity through the loadings of individual indicators on their
assigned constructs, which should be above 0.7 (Henseler et al., 2009). Table 3 shows the
correlations among the constructs and the square root of the AVE on the diagonal in bold. In
addition, the loadings of individual indicators appear in Table 2. All of the values in diagonal
are greater than the correlations, and all the individual indicators loaded above the
benchmark of 0.7 on their respective constructs, thereby verifying the discriminant validity
as well as individual indicator reliability among the constructs.
Internal consistency reliability was assessed based on the composite reliability (CR) of
each construct. We also included values for Cronbach’s alpha (CA). The CR and CA values as
shown in Table 2 all surpassed the threshold of 0.7 (Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994), which
suggest that our measurement model has sufficient internal consistency reliability. In
general, all the constructs in our measurement model are valid and reliable.
In addition, the fit indices of the measurement model, χ2 5 164.23, χ2/df 5 0.034, goodness-
of-fit index 5 0.98, comparative fit index 5 0.99 and root mean square error of
approximation 5 0.001, all showed that the model provided a good fit to the data (Bagozzi
and Yi, 1988; Hair et al., 2010). We also compared the extent of fit to the data of the
hypothesized 3-factor model (i.e. respectful leadership, supportive supervisor relations,
intention to stay) with that of an alternative 2-factor model (i.e. respectful
leadership þ supportive supervisor relations, intention to stay) using the following fit
indices: Akaike’s information criterion (AIC), Bayesian information criterion (BIC), consistent
Akaike’s information criterion (CAIC) and expected cross-validation index (ECVI). In these fit
indices, the lower the values the better the model. For the alternative 2-factor model,
AIC 5 222.342, BIC 5 250.087, CAIC 5 257.087 and ECVI 5 0.573, while for the hypothesized
3-factor model, AIC 5 63.299, BIC 5 63.508, CAIC 5 103.007 and ECVI 5 0.163. Based on the
results, the hypothesized model showed a better fit with the data relative to the alternative
model. Thus, the hypothesized model was selected.
Table 3 provides the means, standard deviations and correlations for the study variables.
All corrections supported the hypothesized directions: Respectful leadership was
significantly and positively correlated with both supportive supervisor relations (r 5 0.58,
p < 0.001) and intention to stay (r 5 0.29, p < 0.001). Furthermore, there was a significant and
positive correlation between supportive supervisor relations and intention to stay (r 5 0.17, p 5 0.001). Test of the structural model
The results in Figure 1 are standardized path coefficients assessing the relationships among
the variables. H1 and H2 were confirmed as respectful leadership showed direct positive
relationship with supportive supervisor relations (coefficient 5 0.394, 95% CI: 0.357, 0.431,
p < 0.001) and intention to stay (coefficient 5 0.114, 95% CI: 0.054, 0.174, p 5 0.001). H3 was
equally confirmed as a direct positive relationship was found between supportive supervisor
relations and intention to stay (coefficient 5 0.163, 95% CI: 0.069, 0.258, p < 0.001).
The results in Table 4 shows that H4 was confirmed as there was an indirect positive
relationship between respectful leadership and intention to stay through supportive
supervisor relations (coefficient 5 0.064, 95% CI: 0.012, 0.123, p 5 0.001) as the CI was not
straddled with zero. This indicates that supportive supervisor relations mediated the Respectful
relationship between respectful leadership and intention to stay. leadership and intention to Discussion stay
The overall aim of this study was to test a model of supportive supervisor relations as a
mediator of the relationship between respectful leadership and intention to stay. We
confirmed all the four hypotheses advanced in this study. Indeed, respectful leadership was
found to be positively related to both supportive supervisor relations and intention to stay. In
addition, supportive supervisor relations had a positive relationship with intention to stay.
Finally, the relationship between respectful leadership and intention to stay was mediated by
supportive supervisor relations. All in all, the findings indicated that, first; subordinates’
perception of being treated respectfully by their leader (e.g. nurse unit manager/first-line
nurse manager) may lead to the development of supportive relationships between their leader
and them. Second, perceiving their leader as treating them respectfully may make
subordinates to be more inclined to remain in their job. Third, enjoying a supportive
relationship with their supervisor may as well increase subordinates’ inclination to remain in
their job. Finally, the impact of respectful leadership on subordinates’ intention to remain in
their job is facilitated through the development of supportive relationship between the leader
and the subordinates. That is, supportive supervisor relations mediated the relationship
between respectful leadership and intention to stay. These findings have implications for both theory and practice. Implications for theory
These findings have several theoretical implications. The current study extends the
present state of research on the impact exerted by respectful leadership in an
organizational context never examined heretofore; that is, health care context. This
study tested both its direct and indirect effects on nurses’ intention to stay. The finding in
Supportive supervisor relations 0.394*** 0.163*** Figure 1. Respectful leadership Intention to stay OLS regression-based 0.114*** path analysis for direct relationship Note(s): *** = p ≤ 0.001 BC 95% CI Pathway Coefficient SE LL UL p Table 4.
Respectful Leadership → SSR → Intention to stay 0.064 0.028 0.012 0.123 50.001 OLS regression-based
Note(s): Bootstrapping results were based on 5,000 bootstrapped samples, SE 5 standard error, BC 5 bias path analysis for
corrected, CI 5 confidence interval, SSR 5 supportive supervisor relations, LL 5 lower limit, UL 5 upper limit indirect relationship