TY - JOUR
T1 - The “Double-Edged Sword” Effects of Career Support Mentoring on Newcomer Turnover
T2 - How and When It Helps or Hurts
AU - Deng, Hong
AU - Guan, Yanjun
AU - Zhou, Xinyi
AU - Li, Yixuan
AU - Cai, Di
AU - Li, Nan
AU - Liu, Bing
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Psychological Association
PY - 2023/10
Y1 - 2023/10
N2 - Research on mentoring programs has portrayed them almost exclusively beneficial for newcomer retention. Drawing from the social cognitive model of career management and the boundaryless career perspective, we depart from this predominant view and examine the “double-edged sword” effects of career support mentoring on newcomer turnover. We propose that career support mentoring received by newcomers is likely to elicit both internal proactive socialization and external career self-management, which act as countervailing forces driving newcomer turnover in opposite directions (i.e., the retention pathway and the unintended detrimental pathway). We further propose that the organizational role of the mentor—supervisor versus nonsupervisor—is critical in determining which pathway prevails. We conducted two multiwave newcomer studies to test our hypotheses. In Study 1 (N = 495), we found that received career support mentoring was associated with lower newcomer turnover probability through the serial mediation of internal proactive socialization and perceived internal marketability but higher newcomer turnover probability through the serial mediation of external career self-management and perceived external marketability. In Study 2 (N = 193), we found that received career support mentoring was associated with lower newcomer turnover intention through the serial mediation of internal career advancement expectation and internal proactive socialization but higher newcomer turnover intention through the serial mediation of external career advancement expectation and external career self-management. In both studies, the unintended detrimental pathway was significant only when a newcomer’s mentor was not a supervisor.
AB - Research on mentoring programs has portrayed them almost exclusively beneficial for newcomer retention. Drawing from the social cognitive model of career management and the boundaryless career perspective, we depart from this predominant view and examine the “double-edged sword” effects of career support mentoring on newcomer turnover. We propose that career support mentoring received by newcomers is likely to elicit both internal proactive socialization and external career self-management, which act as countervailing forces driving newcomer turnover in opposite directions (i.e., the retention pathway and the unintended detrimental pathway). We further propose that the organizational role of the mentor—supervisor versus nonsupervisor—is critical in determining which pathway prevails. We conducted two multiwave newcomer studies to test our hypotheses. In Study 1 (N = 495), we found that received career support mentoring was associated with lower newcomer turnover probability through the serial mediation of internal proactive socialization and perceived internal marketability but higher newcomer turnover probability through the serial mediation of external career self-management and perceived external marketability. In Study 2 (N = 193), we found that received career support mentoring was associated with lower newcomer turnover intention through the serial mediation of internal career advancement expectation and internal proactive socialization but higher newcomer turnover intention through the serial mediation of external career advancement expectation and external career self-management. In both studies, the unintended detrimental pathway was significant only when a newcomer’s mentor was not a supervisor.
KW - boundaryless careers
KW - career self-management
KW - career support mentoring
KW - newcomer turnover
KW - proactive socialization
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85183609531&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/apl0001143
DO - 10.1037/apl0001143
M3 - Article
C2 - 37824272
AN - SCOPUS:85183609531
SN - 0021-9010
VL - 109
SP - 1094
EP - 1114
JO - Journal of Applied Psychology
JF - Journal of Applied Psychology
IS - 7
ER -