Career Choice Motivations and Turnover Intention Among Chinese Social Workers: A Double-Mediator Model of Job Self-Efficacy and Job Satisfaction

High turnover rate has been a challenge in social work practice and the predictive roles and mechanisms of career choice motivation on turnover intention have not been examined in China. This study examined the relationship between career choice motivation and turnover intention mediated by job self-efficacy and job satisfaction. A sample of 5485 participants was obtained from China Social Work Longitudinal Study (CSWLS) 2019. Results illustrate that internal motivation was negatively associated with turnover intention, whereas job efficacy and job satisfaction fully mediated the relationship. However, external motivation was positively related to enhance turnover intention and partially mediated by job efficacy and job satisfaction. The findings suggest that social work educators should develop students' internal motivation and that social work agencies need to screen practitioners with higher internal motivation and to enhance their job self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Different career choice motivations have different effects on Chinese social workers' turnover intention, with internal motivation reducing turnover intention while external motivation increasing it.There is a deeper mechanism by which career choice motivation affects turnover intention, with two career choice motivations affecting turnover intention through job efficacy and job satisfaction.Social work agencies need to establish mechanisms to screen practitioners with internal motivation and to enhance job efficacy and job satisfaction of social workers.Social work education needs to foster internal motivation in students, not just constant enrollment expansion.

Automated summary

This study examines the relationship between career choice motivation and turnover intention in social work practice in China. The findings suggest that internal motivation reduces turnover intention, while external motivation increases it. Job self-efficacy and job satisfaction mediate this relationship. Therefore, social work agencies should screen practitioners with internal motivation and enhance their job self-efficacy and job satisfaction.