The impact of workplace spirituality on voluntary turnover intentions through loneliness in work

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine a hypothesized model investigating the influence of workplace spirituality on turnover intentions through the academics loneliness in universities in Jordan. Design/methodology/approach - A translated pre-determined survey on a sample of Jordanian academics from universities was used. A total of 381 usable returns were collected for the analysis (i.e. response rate of 84.6 percent). Structural equation model (SEM) and tow-step modeling approach using AMOS were implemented to obtain the best fit model and to determine the role of loneliness in work as a mediator between workplace spirituality and voluntary turnover intentions. Findings - As predicted, the hypothesized model best fits the data. The results of simple mediation analysis and SEM also contribute to the clarification of the causal relations between workplace spirituality and turnover intentions in one hand and workplace spirituality and loneliness in work on the other hand. Moreover, the results revealed that the influence of workplace spirituality on voluntary turnover intention was partially mediated by loneliness in work. The results support a partial mediation relationship as the total effect of workplace spirituality on voluntary turnover intentions attenuated slightly but remained significant upon the introduction of loneliness in work. Research limitations/implications - The results of this study might only be generalized to universities and similar contexts. Moreover, although the sample of the study was yielded from sample in Jordanian universities, the common methods bias might be a problem in generalizing the results. Practical implications - The findings could provide decisions makers with valuable insight to focus on building training programs in order to understand the benefits of enriching spiritual environment and be more supportive of spirituality movement. Furthermore, organizations can design some of activities that make work environment more meaningful. Originality/value - This study is unique as it is the first that examined theoretically and empirically the influence of workplace spirituality on turnover intentions through loneliness in work on a sample of Jordanian academics.