Life Satisfaction and Personal Values as Mediators of Work Engagement and Turnover Intention among Medical Officers in South-West, Nigeria

Abstract

Turnover intention among medical officers is a serious problem that could prove costly to healthcare services and the nation. Investigating the factors that could influence it is therefore a worthwhile undertaking. Consequently, this study examined life satisfaction and personal values as mediators of work engagement and turnover intention among medical officers in South-West, Nigeria. A sample of 397 medical officers made up of doctors and nurses was chosen from public hospitals in South-West Nigeria through the stratified random sampling technique. Instruments used for data collection were the Demographic Data Inventory (DDI), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Personal Values Scale (PVS), Work Engagement Scale (WES), and Turnover Intention Scale – 6 (TIS-6). Four hypotheses were formulated and tested by means of simple linear regression analysis, Hayes’ process model, and Pearson’s rat the .05 level of significance. Results revealed a significant influence of work engagement on turnover intention (β = -.295, t = 14.275, p <.05), and significant mediating roles of life satisfaction (coeff. = .24, t = 8.40, p < .05) and personal values (coeff. = .24, t = 8.40, p < .05) in the influence of work engagement on turnover intention. There were significant relationships between life satisfaction and work engagement (r = .347, p < .05), personal values and work engagement (r = .162, p < .05), and life satisfaction and personal values (r = .127, p < .05) but non-significant relationship between personal values and turnover intention (r = .047, p > .05) among medical officers in South-West, Nigeria. It was subsequently recommended, among other things, that government should motivate medical officers in its employ in order to increase their life satisfaction.

Keywords: Life Satisfaction, Personal Values, Work Engagement, Turnover Intention, Medical Officers.