Distributive Justice, Goal Clarity, and Turnover Intention: Do Leadership Styles Matter?

Although employee motivation and organizational outcomes often hinge on leadership behaviors, little empirical research has examined how leadership styles influence the links between distributive justice, goal clarity, and turnover intention in the public sector. Employing equity theory and goal-setting theory, the present study investigates how distributive justice and goal clarity relate to turnover intention. Based on social exchange theory, it also explores transactional and transformational leadership as moderating factors. Relying on a survey of South Korean government employees, the findings reveal that distributive justice is negatively associated with turnover intention, whereas goal clarity exhibits no significant direct effect. Furthermore, transactional leadership diminishes the negative link between distributive justice and turnover intention, while transformational leadership mitigates the positive link between goal clarity and turnover intention. These findings indicate that leadership styles shape how fairness perceptions and goal management relate to employees’ intentions to stay, providing insights into the complex motivational processes underlying workforce stability in public organizations.