The Impact of Leadership Styles on Turnover Intention: Perceived Supervisor Support as A Mediator in The Jordanian Public Universities

The present study aims to investigate the effect of authentic, inclusive, strategic, and laissez-faire styles of leadership on turnover intention among academic staff in public universities in Jordan, through the mechanism of Perceived Supervisor Support (PSS). A total of 367 responses were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS and structural equation modeling in AMOS. Results indicated that authentic, strategic, and inclusive styles of leadership negatively predicted turnover intention. However, findings did not reveal a direct effect of laissez-faire style on turnover intention, whereas this style was found to be strongly related to PSS. Moreover, findings revealed that PSS was the best predictor of intention to stay (β = −0.416, p < 0.001). It fully mediated the effect of laissez-faire style and partially mediated the effect of the remaining styles. The model explained about 72% of the variance in turnover intention (R² = 0.721). Moreover, it highlighted that supportive management practices are a critical factor in retaining academic talent in Jordan.