Designed by Hobfoll (1988), one of the stress models is the COR model. According to Hobfoll (1989), psychological stress occurs due to the loss of actual resources, shortage of resources gains, resource investment, and risk of losses about resources. COR theory was designed to describe the mechanisms of the core stress and coping process (Hobfoll, 1989). The COR theory suggests that people tend to obtain and sustain resources (Hobfoll, 1989). COR talks about the gain of resources, the potential, or actual loss of resources, whereas according to other theories, stress is approached differently. Several studies used COR theory to test the relationship; a current study linked COR theory to despotic leadership, work-family conflict, and turnover intention. The previous literature covers different theories that define despotic leadership style work negative work outcomes, The objective for selecting COR theory instead of other theories as a supporting framework is that the current study model talks about despotic leadership, the conflict between work and family.
According to COR the employees face despotic leadership, and they experience more turnover intention (Mahdi, Mohd, Mohd, Skat, & Abang, 2012; Bandhanpreet, Mohindru, & Pankaj, 2013; Lau, McLean, Lien, & Hsu, 2016; Elci et al., 2018; Chang et al., 2019; Amrosy, Elkholy, & Elshal 2019). Thus, it would be difficult for the workers, especially nurses facing the issue of despotic leadership to remain in the same organisation, so therefore they think to switching from their existing job hence turnover intention rate increases among nurses in the healthcare sector.
Work-family conflict indicates a loss of resources because despotic leaders and workers are unable to perform their jobs better. The conservation of resources theory can also be used to describe WFC (Kossek, Pichler, Bodner, & Hammer, 2011). Conservation of resource theory explains that employees do not show interest in a positive work attitude when experiencing work-family conflict (Clercq, Haq & Azeem, 2020). such as job demands can prevent one's resources (time, energy, and effort) from being used to meet the demands of family life (Ahmad & Ahmad, 2021; Ahmad et al., 2023). WFC indicates a loss of resources because despotic leaders and workers are unable to perform their jobs in a better way
In line with these resource losses, it is expected that the current study model is justified by COR theory in a better way in comparison to other theories. Based on COR theory, support has been noticed for the current research framework. Employees show reactions to the unpleasant work environment and respond with negative behaviour and less interest in work. Due to this, these employees also deal with a lack of resources (Khan, Gang, Fareed & Khan, 2021).
Therefore, as resources are used in one domain, conflict plays a role, leaving other domains ignored. Netemeyer, Boles, and McMurrian (1996) work-to-family conflict refer to 'interrogate conflicts in which the normal time demands, and stress created by the job conflict with the performance of family-related duties,' while family-to-work conflict shows the opposite Ahmad (2008) theorised that WFC can be considered a dual-direction (work-to-family and family-to-work) structure, multiple types (time-based, strain-based, and behaviour-based) and unique to multiple roles in life ( spouse, parent, elder care, home care, and leisure).
According to COR, people are motivated to preserve and protect their resources and expand their resource pool. When employees maintain the existing resources, they may deal with work more freely, transfer little tension to a family domain, and decrease role conflict, which will lead to lower turnover intention (Li, Yu- chuan, & Feng-jiang 2011).
Furthermore, several researchers have considered the Conservation of Resources (COR) model as a suitable framework for work-family studies. The COR theory suggests that people tend to obtain and sustain resources (Hobfoll, 1989) Individuals experience anxiety and increased turnover intention if resources are lost or threatened. In the management of both work and family roles, when individuals lose their identity, their resources (time, energy) gradually reduce, leading to stress, depression, and even restlessness. As a result, when the expectations are too high, people experience high turnover intention and conflict between work and family such that they stop caring about the wellbeing of their co-workers and try to conserve energy to recover those losses (Hobfoll 2001). Employees who have the ability to regain lost resources and play a role in protecting the remaining resources are very suitable for resisting the negative consequences arising from toxicity in the workplace environment (Khan, Gang, Fareed & Khan, 2021).
Turnover is a state of separation from a current organisation by leaving the job (Mobley, 1977). Also treated as a regular change of staff (Kazi & Zedah, 2011) and leaving the organisation and being replaced by other newly hired employees during a specific period (Adeniji, 2009: Basel & Fayza, 2015).
Leadership is the ability to directly or indirectly affect employee behaviour to carry out work activities considering organisational goals. These activities are carried out by a person known as a leader. Organisational success depends on the style of leadership (Hutahayan & Yufra, 2019). According to Naseer et al. (2016), Despotic leadership is introduced by negative leadership as having arrogant behavior. According to De Hoogh and Den Hartog (2008), this type of leader is in self-interest and does not have a deep interest in the well-being of other employees.
According toAdiguzel (2019), despotic leaders mainly focus on self-interest. This type of destructive behaviour is dangerous to the health of the organisation (Harms et al., 2017). This imparts the effect on turnover intention, which is harmful to the organisation and other stakeholders (Magbity, Ofei & Wilson, 2020). Such dark-side leadership effects have been observed in Pakistan (Nauman, Fatima, & Haq, 2018); thus positive association can be proposed between DL and TI.
Due to the fact that incivility is the feeling of rudeness and uncivil behaviour expressed by spoken words, gestures, or actions, as well as impolite or discourteous conduct performed without concern for others (Andersson & Pearson, 1999). According to Mobley et al. (1978), TI refers to an organisational member's intention to quit their job and search for another one due to job disappointment. According to Podsakoff et al. (2007) that it is a reason for stress for employees, workplace incivility can drive individuals to leave their jobs. Therefore, based on the research by Wilson and Holmvall (2013): Cortina et al. (2013) said that due to incivility, there are more chances of an increase in turnover intention among employees.
In fact, workplace incivility has the potential to harm employees' mental and physical health (Heaphy and Dutton, 2008). The final stage before employees quit their jobs is known as employee turnover intention. It begins with uncivil conduct and concludes with turnover intention (Carpenter and Berry 2014). According to some research, incivility at work as a result of the attitudes of colleagues and employees may result in job replacement or job search. For example, Mahfooz et al. (2017) found that due to WI, employees usually show less intention to continue their job, and researchers Lim, Cortina, and Magley (2008) showed in their study that victims of incivility lead toward turnover intention.
According to Rahim and Cosby (2016), rudeness in the workplace has a positive association with TI, tardiness and absenteeism and a negative influence on higher productivity and satisfaction at work (job satisfaction). Cortina et al. (2013), Sharma and Singh (2016) and Rahim and Cosby (2016) have witnessed important information on the relationship between WI and TI. Besides this, Pearson and Porath (2005) and Rahim and Cosboy (2016) notice that due to workplace incivility, employees do not give proper time to their job, put in less effort and have low performance. This can be narrated that due to higher workplace incivility, there are more chances of higher turnover intention, so, therefore, this can be hypothesised as:
Nauman, Fatima, & Haq, (2018) interchangeably used the dark side and despotic leadership in their research. Authoritative and unethical leaders are known as despotic leaders, they used unethical codes of conduct, and they have less respect for the interest of others (Naseer et al., 2016). Following their interest, they can be exploitive, governing, and implacable (Bass, 1990; Howell & Avolio, 1992; Aronson, 2001). The harmful consequences of despotic leadership highlight the importance of understanding the influence of this kind of leadership on the lives of subordinates. Work-family can be defined as 'a form of inter-role conflict in which the role pressures from the work and family domains are mutually incompatible in some respect” (Greenhaus, & Beutell, 1985) recommended that 'participation in the work (family) role is made more difficult under participation in the family (work) role' by Greenhaus and Beutell (1985). The current study invests in the WFC, subsequently focussing on the assessment of despotic leadership that encircles work and family. Therefore, the current study discusses that despotic leadership is a stressor in the workplace that leaves subordinates emotionally exhausted and drained, putting their lives under intense stress. Therefore, the current study hypothesised that the following is true:
When the dominion of work clashes with personal life to a certain degree and create hindrances in meeting work and family demands, it is known as a work-family conflict (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985). Due to workplace incivility, resources and energy are reduced, and when employees notice such an experience of reduction in resources, they also experience difficulty in meeting family demands. Due to workplace incivility, to achieve targets, extra time and effort are needed. Therefore, due to this situation, employees have less time to manage their families’ demands (Demsky et al., 2018). In addition to this, WI is possibly affecting work even after work events (Demsky et al., 2018; Nicholson & Griffin, 2015). In such a situation, employees have less motivation to gain resources, and if employees remain away from working, then organisations may reduce their existing resources, which will influence their productivity adversely; thus, they become weak in meeting work and family demands and thus, clashes get birth. Besides this, according to Zhou et al. (2015) and Tremmel and Sonnentag (2018), due to workplace incivility, employees show negative emotions due to reduces resources and reduced time of working, and this will adversely affect resource recovery.
Lim and Lee (2011) found insignificant results of coworker and incivility and subordinate incivility toward work-family conflict, as their target audiences were from Singapore, and it is treated as a society of high-power distance (Avolio, Zhu, Koh & Bhatia, 2004). The high-power distance between employee and supervisor creates workplace incivility from supervisor more noticeable, which can also affect their nonwork domain; contrarily, incivility from subordinates and coworkers may not be assessed as harmful as compared to incivility from supervisor, and it may not affect their behaviour and feelings outside of work.
Evidence shows that work-family conflict and different types of misbehaving are positively related. A study by Demsky, Ellis, and Fritz (2014) found that workplace violence was positively associated with work-family conflict. Similarly, Carlson, Ferguson, Hunter, and Whitten (2012) have found that insulting supervision has a positive relationship with the WFC. Workplace incivility is a mixture of hostile, aggressive, and interpersonal behaviours that are antisocial, that are loaded with shocking practices which can distort the self-image of victims and leave them exhausted physically and emotionally, due to which they become incapable of performing their responsibilities domestically (LaVan & Martin, 2008; Einarsen & Raknes, 1997).
Spector and Goh's (2001) emotion-centred model of the occupational stress method is also helpful in understanding the effects of WI on WFC. According to Spector and Goh (2001), bullying and physical assault show strong negative emotions in victims. Psychological and physical problems are produced due to such negative emotions; (Spector & Goh, 2001; Gallo & Matthews, 2003) and many chronic diseases (Begley, 1994), due to which victims do not fulfil family and work roles. Collectively, employees may have less or no resources to fulfil their work and family roles at a higher level of work behaviour. As a result, these individuals experience high levels of work-family conflict.
Contrarily, the low-power gap in Western culture, while studying both supervisor and coworker incivility, both have similar effects on employees such that influence from coworker incivility may also extend to the nonwork domain as supervisor incivility does (Ferguson, 2012). Although external incivility is not investigated in previous research work as a predictor of work-to-family conflict, previous literature showed that mistreatment in the workplace from outsiders, such as daily mistreatment, also positively predicted work-to-family conflict (Chi, Yang, & Lin, 2018).
Based on theoretical and empirical evidence, we assume that workplace incivility from coworkers, outsiders, and supervisors can drain the resources of the employees expecting work to family conflict. Furthermore, the same patterns are observed within individuals. Employees face more workplace incivility, and his/her resources are depleted more as compared to normal conditions; thus, employees face more work-to-family conflict. Therefore, the relationship between workplace incivilities to WFC has been hypothesised as follows.
Different research work, such as Asghar, Gull, Bashir and Akbar (2018); Ozbag and Ceyhun (2014) indicate a positive relationship between WFC and TI. Based on Kahn's research, cited by Greenhaus and Beutell (1985), and that WFC happens when the burden comes from work to family, which is opposed in a few terms, based on involvement in a work role (family) in such participation in family role (work) is made more complex. According to Isenhour et al. (2012), work-family conflict arises when certain roles demand in one’s life the demand in work and family.
Accordingly, Netemeyer et al. (1996), WFC denotes work-related results such as the intention of turnover and organisational loyalty. In addition to this, accounting professionals were found to increase the number of quit jobs among employees, especially when different work activities conflict with family issues. Although some literature evidence such as Post, Tomaso, Farris, and Cordero (2009); and Armstrong, Atkin-Plunk, and Wells (2015) have not found such results.
The intention of turning over is most frequently discussed by scholars. Islam, Ahmad, Ahmed and Ahmer (2019) showed some of the previous research on the relationship between WFC and TI, and found that WFC substantially affects the working family. After this, Aboobaker and Edward (2020) also found an association between work-family conflict and turnover intention. Various empirical works such as Harun, Mahmood, and Som (2020) and Chen, Brown, Bowers, and Chang (2015) have also reported positive relationships with turnover intention in the WFC. However, with respect to Han et al. (2015): Agustini (2008) found that there was no link between WFC and TI.
Furthermore, according to Yildiz, Yildiz, and Arda (2021), meta-analyses of the relationship between work-family conflict and turnover intention resulted in a reliable positive relationship between all forms of WFC and TI. For people who face conflict in their work roles, their intention to leave tends to increase. However, questions arise about why their scarce research on WFC is still affecting TI. Therefore, by following the empirical evidence cited above, the current study has proposed as:
According to Du Prel and Peter (2015), WFC is used as a mediator in different research such as work stress and depressing indications. Workplace flexibility and TI in the hospital industry (Chen et al., 2015) with a significant negative effect on job satisfaction (Namayandeh et al., 2011). The WFC mediated the effects of passive leadership (abusive leadership on workplace behaviour) (Ahmed & Omar, 2013). Based on evidence on WFC mediation, the present study has proposed the mediating role of work-family conflict in the relationship of workplace incivility and despotic leadership, with turnover intention.