Organisational cynicism and auditors' turnover intention: the mediating role of emotional exhaustion

Many empirical studies have examined predictors of employees' turnover intention. In this vein, emotional exhaustion has been found as a predictor of this outcome. Yet, little is known about the role of organisational cynicism in fostering employees' emotional exhaustion and the role of emotional exhaustion in mediating the relationship between organisational cynicism and auditors' turnover intention. As such, this study investigates the relationship between organisational cynicism and auditors' turnover intention. Even more, this study investigates this association in the auditors' context by encompassing emotional exhaustion as a mediator. Results indicate that organisational cynicism positively and significantly impacts emotional exhaustion. Results also supported the positive and significant impact of affective cynicism on turnover intention of internal auditors, whereas cognitive cynicism and behavioural cynicism did not have such an impact. As for emotional exhaustion, it was found to have a significant impact on the turnover intention of the internal auditors. Emotional exhaustion was found to fully mediate the cognitive cynicism-turnover intention and behavioural cynicism-turnover intention relationships. However, it only had a partial mediating impact on the affective cynicism-turnover intention relationship.