Abuse, Workplace Toxicity, and Referees’ Intentions to Quit: Examining the Roles of Perceived Organizational Support and Resilience

The growing level of abuse aimed at referees is a major factor driving their intentions to quit the profession. However, only a limited number of studies have empirically examined the mediating and moderating variables that influence the nature and magnitude of this relationship. To address this issue, this study draws from the job demands–resources theory to examine why and under which conditions abuse leads to the intentions to quit of referees. Time-lagged data were collected from 487 amateur-level hockey referees. The results showed that experiences of abuse are positively related to referees’ intentions to quit through perceptions of workplace toxicity. In addition, we found that organizational support and resilience are resources that dampen the relationship between abuse and referees’ intentions to quit. Taken together, these findings offer several important implications for sports organizations and policymakers.