Role of Social Support in Lessening Expatriate Turnover Intention

Abstract

Research has long recognised that employee withdrawal cognition is a critical issue for organisations due to the direct and indirect costs associated with that. Drawing upon social support theory, we examine the influence of three distinct types of support expatriates can receive, that is, organisation, co-workers and partner, on an expatriate’s turnover intention. Furthermore, we investigate if the effects of support types differ depending on the expatriate’s employment status. This study is based upon positivism research philosophy, and the research approach is deductive. Moreover, we used the survey method as the research strategy and used hierarchical linear regression to analyse the data. Results of a time-lagged (two-wave) study of 167 expatriates show that perceived organisational support (POS), co-worker support and partner support are negatively related to expatriates’ turnover intention. Moreover, results show that expatriates’ employment status interacts with POS and co-worker support in predicting turnover intention, implying that social support is more pronounced with expatriates with fewer resources. Thus, the present study enhances our understanding of the effects of different support types on expatriates’ turnover intention and elucidates the role of individual-level boundary conditions. The results of this study emphasize that social support is a stronger predictor of expatriate turnover intent, in particular, individuals with fewer resources. We suggest that managers of the companies should make a serious effort in creating a supportive culture and positive employee relationships.