The antecedents of career change intention in middle-level managers: the role of job and career satisfaction

Abstract

Purpose: This investigates the interrelationships between job and career satisfaction and career change intention through the extension of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Design/methodology/approach: The data for the study is collected from 219 top and middle-level managers and analyzed through partial least squares path structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings: Findings indicate that job and career satisfaction have a significant and negative impact on personal attitude toward career change and subjective norms, whereas all three constructs of the TPB influence the intention to change career. In addition, the mediation of personal attitude and subjective norm pathways were found to be significant for both job and career satisfaction and career change intention relationships, while no mediation effect was identified for the perceived behavior control construct of the TPB. Research limitations/implications: The results suggest important theoretical and practical implications. First, a novel model of mediation between job and career satisfaction and the intention to turn away from an existing career is introduced between job and career satisfaction and career change intention associations for testing the full TPB framework. Practical implications: The findings imply that the impact of cognitive factors, including having a positive opinion about the potential outcomes of switching to a new career, the level of pressure exerted by significant third parties about making a career change, and the self-belief about making this change happen should be closely investigated when examining the determinants of career change intention. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical research study that tests the impact of the determinants of TPB on career change intention within a sample of professional managers from an emerging economy context.