Embeddedness and turnover intentions in extra roles

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the drivers of turnover intention in extra roles. Design/methodology/approach This mixed-methods study began with a qualitative analysis of interviews of US Marine Corps reservists, which identified drivers of turnover and suggested a predictive model and hypotheses, tested with a subsequent quantitative analysis. Findings The results show that relations, meaning, and role conflict predict embeddedness in the US Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR), which is negatively related to turnover intentions. The sub-dimensions of the three drivers are clarified. Research limitations/implications The research contributes to understanding the antecedents of embeddedness and turnover in extra roles. It also highlights extra roles as a source of role conflict. This study was limited to the USMCR, one extra role. All participants in the qualitative phase of the study were male officers. Although the quantitative study included enlisted and officers, men were still more strongly represented. The results should be replicated across different types of extra roles and should include different job types and personal characteristics. Originality/value This study develops and tests a predictive model of embeddedness and turnover in the understudied context of salient extra roles. It clarifies antecedents of embeddedness in an extra role context and indicates that salient extra roles may be an additional source of role conflict in people’s lives.