Linking toxic leadership with employee turnover intentions: Examining the mediation effect of psychological well-being and organisational cynicism

PURPOSE: This paper examines the relationship between toxic leadership and employee turnover intentions, with psychological well-being and organisational cynicism tested as parallel mediators. This study is anchored in the JR-D Model and COR theory. FINDINGS: The results indicate that toxic leadership significantly increases employees' turnover intentions both directly and indirectly. Toxic leadership negatively affects psychological well-being and positively affects organisational cynicism. Organisational cynicism, in turn, increases turnover intentions, whereas PWB is negatively associated with employees' intentions to exit. Both PWB and OC partially mediate the relationship between TL and ETIs. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the importance of early detection of TL behaviours, strengthening employees' psychological resources, and implementing a leadership accountability mechanism to enhance employee PWB and retention in a highly stressful workplace.