Exploring antecedents and consequences of managerial moral stress

The legitimacy of moral stress as a distinct form of general stress has long been debated in previous research. Moreover, individual-level antecedents of moral stress are yet to be tested among executives. This study investigates role identity saliency (by calculating the total saliency of roles and competition between roles) as an individual-level antecedent of managerial moral stress and turnover intent as a consequence of managerial moral stress among high-level strategic decision makers in organisations. We also analyse the moderating effect of moral attentiveness in these relationships. Survey data were collected from 264 strategic decision makers from small to large U.S.-based organisations. While controlling for overall stress, results support a moderated model, wherein individuals exhibiting a high level of moral attentiveness also demonstrated a significant positive relationship between work role competition and moral stress and between managerial moral stress and turnover intent. Surprisingly, total role saliency demonstrated a significant negative relationship with managerial moral stress for the same individuals. Overall, the results suggest that managerial moral stress may be a legitimate threat to executive retention, above and beyond general stress, for the individuals who are highly attentive to the moral aspects of their environment.