Trying to retain the employees as the main capital of an organization seems highly substantial for the survival of any organizations. There are several influential factors to retain them and prevent them from leaving. One of these factors is favoritism in the organizations. The study examines the effects of favoritism on employee’s intention to leave in government organization with the mediating roles of burnout and alienation. Having reviewed the literature and in light of “Adams' Equity Theory”, the data was collected using a standard questionnaire from a total sample of 379 employees. The data was then analyzed using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique using AMOS software. The results of this study revealed that favoritism, which was investigated with two variables namely nepotism and cronyism, would have a positive and significant effect on the staff leave. Furthermore, the mediating role of burnout and alienation for the impact of nepotism and cronyism on employee leave was confirmed. This study serves as a reference for favoritism management in Iranian government organization. The study provides several theoretical as well as practical implications.
