An examination of organizational cynicism and indifference: The role of absenteeism among healthcare employees

Organizational cynicism is understood to have a significant place in business life and significantly impacts job performance. Organizational cynicism refers to negative emotions, such as distrust and indifference, that employees feel toward the organization and upper management. These negative attitudes can affect motivation, commitment, and job satisfaction, particularly in healthcare settings, which form the foundation of healthcare services. They can negatively impact their ability to fulfill their duties, leading to behavioral outcomes such as absenteeism. Furthermore, the literature demonstrating the potential mediating effect of organizational indifference in explaining the impact of organizational cynicism is relatively scarce. This study aims to investigate the mediating role of the organizational indifference variable in the effect of organizational cynicism on absenteeism among healthcare professionals. The study was conducted with 550 healthcare professionals at Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Training and Research Hospital and Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa Faculty of Dentistry in the Central Black Sea Region. During the April-May period of 2024, employee data was collected using a quantitative survey method. The survey included scales for organizational cynicism, organizational indifference, and absenteeism. It also included questions to determine the demographic characteristics of the participants. The obtained data were analyzed using IBM SPSS, IBM SPSS Amos, and Process Macro software. After validity and reliability analyses were conducted, hypothesis testing was performed. The results indicated that organizational cynicism and indifference contributed positively and moderately in explaining organizational indifference, positively and highly in explaining the relationship between organizational cynicism and absenteeism, and positively and slightly in explaining the relationship between organizational indifference and absenteeism. The research findings have revealed essential implications for uncovering and understanding the effects of organizational cynicism and indifference on employee behavior in healthcare professionals. They shed light on implementing policies and practices to reduce organizational cynicism and indifference. These findings will support the management of negative employee behaviors such as absenteeism. This research will provide theoretical and methodological contributions to guide health management practitioners and academic research.