Applying the job demands-resources model to migrant workers: EXPLORING how and when geographical distance increases quit propensity

We extend the job demands-resources model to explain how and when rural migrants who work far from their families and provincial hometowns are more likely to leave jobs. Through two studies, we found that the geographical distance between employees' workplace and home village, representing a proxy for a wide range of migration demands and resources, may engender higher turnover intentions under some conditions. Specifically, employees' psychological contract fulfilment diminished positive associations between geographical distance and turnover intentions. Moreover, we demonstrated emotional exhaustion as an explanatory mechanism underlying the relationship between geographical distance and turnover intentions. Our investigation thus yielded greater insight into rural migrants' quit propensity by identifying geographical distance (a proxy for migration-based demands and resources) as a key driver whose influence is mediated by emotional exhaustion and moderated by psychological contract fulfilment.