Superior-subordinate Trust Affecting Quit Intentions: Mediation of Job Satisfaction and Affective Commitment

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of superior-subordinate trust on employee quit intention through the mediation of job satisfaction and affective commitment among the executives working in Indian cement industries. We have adopted social exchange theory as base theory, in which trust in superiors is treated as an exogenous variable and intention to leave as an endogenous variable, with affective commitment and job satisfaction considered as mediating variables. Sequential mediation was performed. The data was collected from 305 executives through questionnaires from eight top Indian cement-producing organisations. According to the findings, trust in superiors predicted job satisfaction significantly. Furthermore, affective commitment was influenced by both trust in superiors and job satisfaction. Further, all three predictors (i.e., trust in superiors, job satisfaction, and affective commitment) predicting intention to quit. Interestingly, we also observed that both job satisfaction and affective commitments serially mediate trust in superiors and the intention to quit. The results can be used to make executives happy and satisfied at work and make them more emotionally committed to their jobs, which will lead to a low rate of attrition.