Perceived Organizational Politics and Employee Turnover Intention: Testing the Moderating Role of Ethical Leadership among IT Professionals in Uttar Pradesh

IT professionals; perceived organizational politics; ethical leadership; turnover intention; social exchange theory; conservation of resources theory

This study investigates whether ethical leadership moderates the relationship between perceived organizational politics (POP) and turnover intention among a location-stratified quota sample of 200 information technology professionals from Lucknow and Noida/Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. POP, ethical leadership, and turnover intention were assessed with six-, ten-, and three-item five-point measures, respectively. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the proposed three-factor measurement model. Hierarchical regression showed that POP was positively associated with turnover intention, whereas ethical leadership had a negative association. The POP-by-ethical-leadership interaction was negative and significant, adding 16.7% explained variance. Simple-slope analysis showed a strong positive POP effect under low ethical leadership and a substantially weaker, although still significant, effect under high ethical leadership. Drawing on social exchange and conservation of resources theories, the findings suggest that ethical leadership supplies fairness, voice, and predictability that can reduce employees' withdrawal responses to political conditions. Because the data are cross-sectional and were obtained through nonprobability quota sampling, the results represent sample-specific associations rather than causal or population-wide estimates. Organizations should combine ethical supervision with transparent allocation, promotion, and employee-voice systems.