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Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology (2011), 84, 173190 C 2010 The British Psychological Society

The British Psychological Society

www.wileyonlinelibrary.com

Locus of control and organizational embeddedness

Thomas W. H. Ng1 and Daniel C. Feldman2
1

School of Business, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong, Peoples Republic of China 2 Terry College of Business, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
Using conservation of resources theory as a guide, this study examines why individuals with an internal locus of control (LOC) are more likely to feel embedded in their organizations. Two mediating processes are posited. First, people with high internal LOC are more likely to acquire greater work resources because they are more effective in negotiating and receiving employment deals which are not widely available or replicable elsewhere. Second, people with high internal LOC are more likely to acquire additional work resources because they network more proactively with colleagues and supervisors. Consequently, high LOC individuals are likely to become more embedded because they have more links with their colleagues and the sacrices associated with leaving their jobs would be greater. The proposed model was tested and supported with three waves of data collected from a sample of 375 managerial respondents over an 8-month period. Implications for future research, especially the role of personality traits in understanding organizational embeddedness, are also discussed.

Over the past decade, much of the research on organizational exit has shifted from examining why people leave their employers to why people stay. The primary driver of this change in emphasis has been the work on organizational embeddedness (Mitchell, Holtom, Lee, Sablynski, & Erez, 2001). Mitchell and his colleagues have examined how perceptions of personorganization t, links with colleagues and work activities, and potential sacrices associated with changes in employment affect employees mobility decisions. Following Mitchell et al. (2001), there has been a considerable amount of research on the consequences of embeddedness (Halbesleben & Wheeler, 2008; Lee, Mitchell, Sablynski, Burton, & Holtom, 2004; Mitchell et al., 2001; Sekiguchi, Burton, & Sablynski, 2008; Wijayanto & Kismono, 2004). However, much less is known about the antecedents of embeddedness. What causes employees to become embedded in the rst place? In the present paper, we address the role of trait locus of control (LOC), or the extent to

Correspondence should be addressed to Thomas W. H. Ng, School of Business, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong, Peoples Republic of China (e-mail: tng@business.hku.hk).
DOI:10.1348/096317910X494197

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which people believe that they have control over their own fate (Lefcourt, 1992; Rotter, 1966), in that embedding process. Personality traits in general have received very little attention in the organizational embeddedness literature to date. Addressing this gap, though, has both theoretical and practical implications. Understanding the role of individual differences provides an alternative theoretical lens to the situational perspective taken in examining employee embeddedness (e.g. Allen, 2006; Hom et al., 2009). Practically speaking, understanding the role of individual differences in the embedding process may help organizations nd more effective ways of lowering employee turnover, since recent research suggests that organizations can increase retention through hiring employees on the basis of their personality proles (Barrick & Zimmerman, 2009; Zimmerman, 2008). While there are certainly other personality traits which might be inuential in the embedding process, we focus on LOC here because it appears to be particularly relevant in explaining why some people are more effective than others in dealing with stressful situations that potentially lead to organizational exits. Specically, workers with high internal LOC are motivated to acquire and accumulate more valued resources (like idiosyncratic employment deals and broader social networks) which are instrumental in preventing stressful events from occurring. These greater resources, in turn, are likely to promote stronger perceptions of organizational embeddedness, the core dependent variable in this study.

Conservation of resources theory Hobfoll (1989) proposed conservation of resources theory (COR) to explain both the causes of stress and the coping responses individuals are likely to use when confronted by stressors. His theory suggests that people are motivated to acquire, protect, and retain resources, which Hobfoll (1989, p. 516) denes as objects, personal characteristics, conditions, or energies that are valued by the individual or that serve as a means for attainment of these objects, personal characteristics, conditions, or energies. This motivation to acquire and retain resources is premised on the fact that individuals are essentially hedonistic, preferring to create situations that are pleasurable and to avoid situations which would lead to the loss of valued resources. Both perceived and actual losses of resources are sufcient to cause psychological stress (Brotheridge & Lee, 2002). Hobfoll (1989) also emphasizes that resources often have symbolic value in how individuals dene themselves. As a result, any loss of resources whether or not they materially affect standard of living or employment status is likely to deate an individuals self-esteem. Moreover, because losing resources is such an aversive state, individuals will work hard to accrue additional resources to offset any potential losses in the future (Wright & Hobfoll, 2004). In addressing the relationship between LOC and organizational embeddedness, we also attempt to advance COR theory in two ways. First, Hobfoll (1989) notes that there are individual differences in how prepared people are for the possibility of resource losses; some individuals are well-equipped to handle those losses whereas others are ill-equipped. However, while Hobfoll (1989) alludes to the fact that individuals are likely to differ in terms of their level of preparedness for resource losses, researchers seldom address who in the population is typically best prepared to cope with those resource losses and to avoid loss spirals at work. And, while a few researchers have examined individual differences in preparation for resource

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losses, they have either not studied LOC at all (Ghorpade, Lackritz, & Singh, 2009) or not studied LOC within the context of work situations (Sattler, Kaiser, & Hittner, 2000). Second, within the stream of organizational research on COR theory, the most frequently used outcomes of interest have been stress levels, psychological and physiological well-being, and coping strategies (Ghorpade et al., 2009; Halbesleben, 2006; Smith & Freedy, 2000). Here, we argue that COR theory may also be useful in explaining how employees become embedded in their organizations, particularly in advance of being confronted with stressful situations (Hobfoll, 1989). This study proposes that individuals become highly embedded in their organizations at least in part to develop surplus resources to deal with future stresses or resource losses at work. While a potential link between COR theory and embeddedness was identied by Halbesleben and Wheeler (2008), there has not yet been any research on which specic work resources are likely to promote organizational embeddedness or any empirical tests of those relationships.

Construct denitions Before we address our specic hypotheses, which are summarized in Figure 1, we rst discuss how each of the study constructs ts within COR theory. These constructs include LOC, organizational embeddedness, employment deals, and social relationships.

Locus of control LOC is a personality trait that has a strong cognitive focus (Lefcourt, 1992) and represents the extent to which individuals believe that they have control over their environments (Rotter, 1966). Individuals with high internal LOC believe that they are the masters of their own fate; they are condent, alert, and direct in attempting to control their external environments. Hobfoll (1989) emphasizes that personal characteristics can be resources for dealing with stress. Here, we suggest that LOC is one such personal characteristic. LOC motivates individuals to go out and accumulate resources to deal with future stressful events, since individuals with high internal LOC feel a greater sense of agency and efcacy in gaining

Figure 1. The proposed model.

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personal control in coping with stressful situations (Chen, Westman, & Eden, 2009; Harris, Harvey, & Kacmar, 2009; Smith & Freedy, 2000).

Employment deals Perceptions of employment deals consist of employees beliefs regarding the mutual obligations between them and their employers (Rousseau, 1989, 1995). Favourable employment conditions are, in effect, important resources (Hobfoll, 1989); they help employees accumulate surplus resources to combat potential resource losses in the future (Cheung & Tang, 2007). As such, favourable employment deals are valuable to employees and entice them to remain in their present organizations. The next question, then, is what constitutes favourable employment conditions? The constructs of contract replicability and contract idiosyncrasy are particularly relevant in distinguishing unique from common employment deals. Contract replicability refers to individuals perceptions of the extent to which their employment conditions are replicable in other companies (Ng & Feldman, 2008). Employees may believe that some aspects of their employment arrangements (e.g. training and development, promotional opportunities, and telecommuting) are not easily obtainable in other rms, even if other parts of their arrangements are (e.g. hours of work). Contract idiosyncrasy refers to individuals perceptions of the extent to which their employment arrangements are unique when compared to co-workers deals in the same rm (Rousseau, Ho, & Greenberg, 2006). Both contract replicability and contract idiosyncrasy address the uniqueness of employment deals, but contract replicability has a between-rm focus whereas contract idiosyncrasy has a within-rm focus. Taken together, both variables signify the acquisition of important resources at work and are therefore both considered in this study.

Social networking behaviours Researchers have also suggested that social relationships are important resources for dealing with stressors (Bakker, Hakanan, Demerouti, & Xanthopoulou, 2007; Harris, Harris, & Harvey, 2008). Social relationships may buffer the level of stress experienced by individuals or may provide individuals with the resources (information, access, nances) needed to extricate themselves from stressful situations. Not surprisingly, then, many individuals are motivated to engage in social networking with other people who have the potential to assist them in their jobs or in their careers (Forret & Dougherty, 2004; Zanzi, Arthur, & Shamir, 1991). Social networking is an excellent example of Hobfolls (1989) argument about the utility of investing some current resources in order to accrue even greater resources in the future. For instance, in order to ingratiate oneself to ones boss, an individual may have to spend much more time at work or on weekends cultivating the supervisors good will. However, in the long run, these social ties may be crucial in avoiding being laid off or in landing a new job if laid off.

Organizational embeddedness Organizational embeddedness consists of three forces (t, links, and sacrice) that keep people in their current jobs (Mitchell et al., 2001). Fit broadly refers to an employees

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perceived compatibility and comfort with his/her organization and work environment in terms of abilities, interests, and values. Links refer to the extent of ties individuals have with other people and activities at work. Sacrice is dened as what people believe they would have to give up if they left their organizations (e.g. pensions or insurance benets). In their original work, Mitchell et al. (2001) proposed that organizational embeddedness should be operationalized as an equally weighted composite of measures of t, links, and sacrice. However, Crossley, Bennett, Jex, and Burneld (2007) argue that perceptions of organizational embeddedness emerge from idiosyncratic and complicated mental processes. Therefore, they argue that organizational embeddedness should be conceptualized as global impressions of attachment to organizations. Further, to measure embeddedness empirically, Crossley et al. (2007) propose that general subjective questions should be used instead of specic questions about t, links, and sacrice. Because we, too, are interested in how resource accumulation makes employees feel embedded in general, in the present study we follow the conceptualization and operationalization of embeddedness proposed by Crossley et al. (2007). Mitchell et al. (2001) suggest that embeddedness might also emerge from a particular community. However, we excluded community embeddedness from the current study because previous research has shown that organizational embeddedness and community embeddedness do not necessarily demonstrate similar patterns of relationships with work attitudes and behaviours (Harman, Blum, Stefani, & Taho, 2009; Mallol, Holtom, & Lee, 2007). Thus, following other researchers (Halbesleben & Wheeler, 2008; Hom et al., 2009; Sekiguchi et al., 2008), we focus exclusively on organizational embeddedness as our variable of interest here. Finally, because embeddedness in a particular job essentially embeds an individual within his/her current organization, we treat embeddedness in the job as virtually synonymous with embeddedness in the organization.

Hypotheses LOC as facilitator of resource development As noted above, high internal LOC can be viewed as a resource itself that is helpful for confronting stress (Hof-Hofstetter & Mannheim, 1999). For example, applying COR theory, Sattler et al. (2000) found support for their prediction that people high on internal LOC are better prepared for the occurrence of natural disasters. At the same time, though, internal LOC can also be viewed as facilitating the acquisition of additional resources. We argue that people with high internal LOC are more motivated to acquire resource surpluses (and to avoid resource losses) because the acquisition of greater resources readily translates into having greater control over their environments (Chen et al., 2009; Harris et al., 2009; Smith & Freedy, 2000). In particular, high internal LOC facilitates the negotiation of idiosyncratic and nonreplicable employment deals. People with high internal LOC are more likely to believe that securing these valued resources is largely contingent upon their own efforts to obtain them (Lefcourt, 1976; Noe, 1988; Seligman, 1975). Not surprisingly, then, people with high internal LOC are more likely to negotiate employment deals to give themselves greater control in their jobs in such areas as work ow, operating procedures, job assignments, working relationships with supervisors and subordinates, goal setting, and work scheduling (Spector, 1982). In sum, because people with high internal LOC are

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more proactive in seeking out resources that are rare and special, they are more likely to have employment terms that are idiosyncratic and non-replicable. Hypothesis 1: Internal LOC is positively related to perceptions of contract nonreplicability (H1a) and contract idiosyncrasy (H1b).

Individuals with high internal LOC are also likely to seek out more social resources in the workplace. Social networking behaviour is often believed to have a strong utilitarian motivation (Ferris et al., 2007). Because people with high internal LOC are more motivated to advance their career goals (Ng, Sorensen, & Eby, 2006), they are also more likely to engage in instrumental social networking behaviours (e.g. doing favours for co-workers and supervisors). Indeed, previous research suggests that people with higher internal LOC are more likely to use social inuence tactics (Kapoor, Ansari, & Shukla, 1986; Ringer & Boss, 2000). Further, individuals with high internal LOC believe that they are more effective in developing social networks and that having large social networks will lead to positive work outcomes for themselves in the future (Parker, 1993; Spector, 1982). Consequently, individuals with high internal LOC may also be more willing to devote current resources to nurturing social relationships for some future benet. Certainly, the effort to build social ties can occur outside the organization as well as within it. However, here we focus on employees social networking which takes place within their current organizations because it has more direct relevance for embedding employees within those organizations. Hypothesis 2: Internal LOC is positively related to social networking behaviour.

Employment deals and organizational embeddedness Halbesleben and Wheeler (2008) argue that organizational embeddedness is the result of an abundance of resources developed at work. Their rationale is that, as individuals accumulate more resources at work, they are less likely to want to leave their organizations in order to preserve and protect those resources. To date, though, there has been no empirical test of this premise. By treating perceptions of organizational embeddedness as a dependent variable here in this study, we are able to examine whether or not the accumulation of resources does, in fact, contribute to feelings of organizational embeddedness. Among the three key forces that create perceptions of organizational embeddedness, sacrice is the one most useful for explaining the role of special employment deals in the embedding process. Sacrice refers to the perceived costs associated with leaving a rm (Mitchell et al., 2001). When individuals perceive that their employment deals are not widely available either within the rm or in the external labour market, they should also perceive that losing those deals would constitute major sacrices on their part. The embedding effect of non-replicable and idiosyncratic deals can also be explained from a power/dependence perspective. Thibaut and Kelley (1959) suggest that irreplaceable and unique resources give one party greater power over the other in a relationship. When organizations give employees non-replicable and idiosyncratic deals, employees are dependent on those organizations and are more likely to feel embedded because of those valued resources. Finally, the relationship between employment deals and perceptions of organizational embeddedness can also be explained from a personenvironment t perspective.

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Giving employees non-replicable and idiosyncratic deals has strong signalling effects. Because organizations in competitive environments only have limited resources, they can offer special deals only to those employees whom they value most (Rousseau et al., 2006). Therefore, when employees receive these deals, their perceptions of person environment t are enhanced as their needs for afrmation and approval are met. This argument is also consistent with the work of Hobfoll (1989), who emphasizes that resources are valued by employees to the extent they have symbolic value. Thus, we predict: Hypothesis 3: Perceptions of contract non-replicability (H3a) and contract idiosyncrasy (H3b) are positively related to perceptions of organizational embeddedness. Social networking and organizational embeddedness Social relationships with co-workers and supervisors also serve to embed individuals in their organizations because, as individuals accumulate more links at work, it is more difcult to leave those friendships and valued work relationships behind. Therefore, valued social relationships can also be considered as a resource which would have to be sacriced if employees took jobs elsewhere. In previous research, social links have been primarily considered as an index of the degree of embeddedness (Mitchell et al., 2001). However, very little research has directly addressed the origins of these links. Perhaps, the most proximal predictor of the extent of an employees links is his/her own social networking behaviour. That is, there is a close temporal relationship between social networking behaviours and social links. Through initiating and developing social relationships with others at work, employees can expand their social networks (Ferris et al., 2007). In turn, these additional social ties serve to open up other opportunities to work on projects where they can meet even more new people (Seibert, Kraimer, & Liden, 2001). Over time, this self-reinforcing cycle multiples the number of social links an employee develops and further strengthens perceptions of organizational embeddedness. Hypothesis 4: Social networking behaviour is positively related to perceptions of organizational embeddedness. Alternative models To compare the proposed model against other model specications, we examined several alternative models as well. All three alternatives are developed to further test the value of COR theory as a theoretical framework here. Alternative model 1. The rst alternative model is one in which internal LOC is posited to be directly related to the remaining four constructs in the study: contract non-replicablity, contract idiosyncrasy, social networking behaviour, and perceptions of organizational embeddedness. In this model, then, there are no mediating processes posited in the way internal LOC affects the four other constructs. This alternative model essentially acts as a baseline; it tests whether or not it is reasonable to use mediators drawn from a COR perspective. Alternative model 2. The second alternative model is the same as the proposed model, except that internal LOC is also posited to have a direct effect on perceptions of

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organizational embeddedness. As noted above, internal LOC may be a psychological resource itself that is helpful in combating stress. Testing this alternative model will help us examine whether or not internal LOC is itself a resource that also makes employees feel embedded in the workplace. That is, instead of taking a COR perspective, this alternative model tests whether or not individuals with high internal LOC will feel more embedded regardless of their resource surpluses. Alternative model 3. The third alternative model is the same as the proposed model, except social networking behaviour is specied to be related to both contract nonreplicability and contract idiosyncrasy. As suggested by COR theory, the development of one kind of resource may facilitate the development of other resources (Hobfoll, 1989). It could be argued that, when individuals engage in more social networking behaviour, they also become more successful in getting non-replicable and idiosyncratic deals. Previous research, for example, suggests that social networking behaviours are instrumental for individuals who want to receive more attention from their senior colleagues and greater access to organizational rewards (Seibert et al., 2001). Thus, this third model tests the alternative hypothesis that individuals who develop more social relationships are also more likely to obtain idiosyncratic and non-replicable deals.

Method
Procedure To test our proposed model, we designed a longitudinal study which separated the measurements of internal LOC, employment deals, social networking, and perceptions of organizational embeddedness. In doing so, we hoped to reduce the inuence of common method bias. Specically, survey data were collected from respondents at three points in time over an 8-month period. The Time 2 data were collected 4 months after the initial data collection and the Time 3 data were collected 8 months after the initial data collection. In other words, the three surveys were 4 months apart.

Sample Surveys were sent to 2,500 managers (from a heterogeneous mix of organizations and industries) selected from the sample pool of a professional research rm. This rm has recruited millions of respondents for research projects like large-scale on-line surveys. We designed the surveys, which the research company then distributed (on-line) to participants who were currently employed at the time of the survey. Within the pool of managerial employees in the research companys database, subjects were chosen randomly. An invitation letter stating the purpose of the study was sent along with the survey. Participation was voluntary. At each wave of data collection, those who did participate were given small monetary incentives offered by the research organization in return. From the initial survey sent to 2,500 randomly selected managers who were currently employed, 576 usable surveys were returned (response rate = 23%). Four months later, the Time 2 survey was sent to those 576 managerial respondents who participated in the rst survey. A total of 450 usable surveys were returned (response rate = 78%). Finally, at the 8-month mark, the Time 3 survey was sent to the 450 respondents who

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had participated in the rst and second surveys. At Time 3, 395 surveys were returned (response rate = 88%). Twenty (20) individuals had changed employers during this 8month span and were therefore dropped from the nal analyses. The effective sample size for the current study, therefore, was 375 (overall response rate = 15%). The average age of employee respondents was 42.5 years old (SD = 11.82). Of the respondents, 57% were female. Average organizational tenure was 9.6 years; average job tenure was 7.7 years. Eighty-four per cent of the sample had at least some college education. Twenty per cent of the sample identied themselves as rst-line supervisors, 55% as middle-level managers, and 25% as senior managers. We compared those who participated in all three surveys with those who did not complete all three surveys. There were no signicant differences on the psychological and demographic variables at Time 1.

Measures The means, standard deviations, and correlations among the study variables are presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Means, standard deviations, and correlations among study variables (N = 375)

Internal LOC Internal LOC was measured at Time 1 with Presson, Clark, and Benassis (1997) six-item scale ( = .82). A sample item is: My life is determined by my own actions. The higher the score, the greater the individuals internal LOC.

Contract non-replicability Contract non-replicability was measured at Time 2 with Ng and Feldmans (2008) sixitem scale ( = .90). A sample item is: This organization promises me a level of pay that other organizations are unlikely to provide. A high score reects the perceptions that the employment conditions would be difcult to replicate elsewhere.

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Contract idiosyncrasy The contract idiosyncrasy scale ( = .91) was measured at Time 2 with items that parallel the contract non-replicability scale. A sample item is: This organization promises me a level of pay that most employees in my team/unit do not get. Higher scores reect perceptions that the employment conditions are idiosyncratic in nature.

Social networking behaviour Social networking behaviour was measured at Time 2 ( = .91) with ve items adapted from the Political Skill Inventory created by Ferris et al. (2005). This scale captures networking behaviours that are related to an employees work or career. A sample item is: I spend a lot of time and effort at work networking with others.

Perception of organizational embeddedness (Time 3) The dependent variable, perceptions of organizational embeddedness, was measured at Time 3 with Crossley et al.s (2007) scale ( = .94). A sample item is: I feel tied to this organization.

Control variables We also measured three control variables: job tenure, hierarchical level, and gender. We controlled for tenure here because length of time on a job is implied in Mitchell et al.s (2001) conceptualization of organizational embeddedness. Since managers who occupy higher job levels are also likely to hold higher-paying jobs (which could further enmesh them in their rms), we controlled for hierarchical level, too. Finally, we controlled for gender because men and women often have qualitatively different work experiences (Lyness & Thompson, 2000; Powell, Buttereld, & Parent, 2002) and differ in their perceptions of personorganization t, social links, and the types of sacrice they have to make to change employers.

Results
Conrmatory factor analyses Before testing the proposed model, we rst conducted conrmatory factor analyses (CFA) to determine the acceptability of the measurement model. First, all the study variables were specied as latent constructs represented by their respective measurement items in the CFA. That is, each measurement item was only allowed to load on the construct that it was intended to represent. Then, each measurement model was identied by setting the construct variance equal to the value of one. The intercorrelations among all the constructs were allowed to be freely estimated. The t of the model was evaluated by various indices recommended by Hu and Bentler (1998): TuckerLewis index (TLI), Bollens t index (BL89), the comparative t index (CFI), the root mean squared error of approximation (RMSEA), and the standardized root mean squared residual (SRMR). Hu and Bentler (1998) recommend these t indices in maximum likelihood-based applications of covariance structure modelling because they are sensitive to model misspecication. To conclude a model ts the data well, Hu and Bentler (1999) suggest that TLI, BL89, and CFI should be .95 or above, RMSEA should be

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.06 or less, and SRMR should be .08 or less. Finally, we included the Akaike information criterion (AIC), which is particularly useful in model comparison when models are nonnested (Rust, Lee, & Valente, 1995). While signicance difference tests are not available for AIC, researchers typically consider the model with the lowest AIC to be the best tting one relative to other models (Rust et al., 1995). Table 2 presents the values of these t indices associated with tests of our models.

Table 2. Fit indices

As shown in Table 2, the overall measurement model (which contains all the scales measured in this study) has acceptable t, even though RMSEA fell short of the .06 cutoff value. All the factor loadings were statistically signicant. In this CFA model, there was one particularly strong correlation; perceptions of contract non-replicability were correlated with perceptions of contract idiosyncrasy at .61 (i.e. overlapping variance = 37%). However, when we constrained this pairwise factor correlation to a value of 1.0, we found that the constraint signicantly worsened model t ( 2 = 575.22, df = 1, p < .01). This suggests non-replicability and idiosyncrasy of employment arrangements are empirically distinct from each other.

Model testing We then tested the proposed theoretical model presented by Figure 1. It should be noted that all the control variables were specied to have inuences on all endogenous variables in the proposed model; these arrows are omitted in Figure 1 simply to make the representation of the model easier to follow. The t indices shown in Table 2 indicate that the proposed model has acceptable t. TLI, BL89, and CFI were .95, thereby meeting the .95 cut-off value proposed by Hu and Bentler (1999). The SRMR was .10, which fell short of the .08 cut-off value suggested by Hu and Bentler (1999). Similarly, the RMSEA index was .07, falling short of meeting the .06 cut-off value. Because two of the ve t indices did not meet the cut-off criteria proposed by Hu and Bentler (1999), we examined several alternative models to see if the t improved. Again, as in the testing of the proposed model, control variables were included in the testing of all the alternative models.

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In Alternative model 1, internal LOC is posited to be directly related to the remaining four constructs in the study without specifying any mediating relationships. The results demonstrate that this alternative model has poorer t than the original model. First, the AIC is 1,591.46, which is larger than that of the originally proposed model (1,535.88). Second, in Alternative model 1 the SRMR (which Hu and Bentler (1999) found to be the index most sensitive to model misspecication) was .14. This far exceeds the cut-off criterion for acceptable t proposed by Hu and Bentler (1999). Taken together, the results here suggest that the original model, which proposed mediational processes, ts the data better than a model that contains no mediation effects (Alternative model 1). Alternative model 2 is the same as the proposed model except that internal LOC is also posited to have direct effects on perceptions of organizational embeddedness. We found that Alternative model 2 did not improve model t, either, as evidenced by unchanged values of t indices compared to the original model. One possible explanation here is that, while internal LOC may be a psychological resource that helps individuals combat stress in general, internal LOC is not specic to the work domain and therefore does not necessarily make employees feel more embedded in their current organizations. Alternative model 3 is the same as the proposed model except that direct links were added from social networking behaviour to contract non-replicability and to contract idiosyncrasy. The results demonstrate that Alternative model 3 has better t than the originally proposed model. First, the reduction in chi-squared value, which is an indicator of badness of t, was statistically signicant ( 2 = 31.13, df = 2, p < .01). Second, the SRMR decreased from .10 to .07, which now meets Hu and Benters (1999) suggested cut-off value. Finally, when we examined the parameter estimates in Alternative model 3, we found that social networking behaviour was, in fact, related to both contract non-replicability ( = 0.31, p < .01) and contract idiosyncrasy ( = 0.31, p < .01).

Hypotheses testing Since four of the ve t indices indicated that the Alternative model 3 had acceptable t and the other one indicated marginal t, we therefore examined the parameter estimates contained in Alternative model 3. Those estimates appear in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Standardized parameter estimates. Note. Only signicant paths are shown. p < .05.

p < .01;

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Hypothesis 1 predicted that higher internal LOC would be associated with greater perceptions of contract non-replicability and idiosyncrasy. The hypothesis was partially supported. A higher level of internal LOC was signicantly and positively related to contract non-replicability ( = 0.17, p < .05) but not to contract idiosyncrasy. Hypothesis 2 predicted that higher internal LOC would be associated with more social networking behaviour. We also found support for this hypothesis; internal LOC was positively related to social networking behaviour ( = 0.31, p < .01). Hypothesis 3 predicted that perceptions of both contract non-replicability and idiosyncrasy would be positively associated with perceptions of organizational embeddedness. We found support for both these relationships. Contract non-replicability ( = 0.23, p < .01) and contract idiosyncrasy ( = 0.17, p < .05) were, in fact, positively related to perceptions of organizational embeddedness. Hypothesis 4 predicted that social networking behaviour would be positively associated with perceptions of organizational embeddedness. We found support for this relationship, too; social networking behaviour was positively related to perceptions of organizational embeddedness ( = 0.15, p < .05). Finally, in an exploratory fashion, we examined whether or not job tenure, job level, and gender were related to the endogenous variables in the proposed model. Job tenure was signicantly and positively related to perceptions of contract idiosyncrasy ( = 0.17, p < .05) and organizational embeddedness ( = 0.19, p < .05). Job level was a signicant correlate of contract idiosyncrasy ( = 0.11, p < .05) and social networking behaviour ( = 0.18, p < .05). Finally, gender was related to perceptions of organizational embeddedness ( = 0.14, p < .05), with women more likely to perceive themselves as highly embedded.

Mediation effects To test for mediation effects, we followed the testing procedures outlined by Iacobucci, Saldanha, and Deng (2007). They suggest that, in a structural model, if the independent variable is signicantly related to the mediator which in turn is signicantly related to the dependent variable then there is evidence of some mediation. The next step was to conduct Sobels (1982) z test to determine the relative sizes of the mediated paths. The nature of the mediation effect depends on whether the z statistic is statistically signicant and whether the independent variable has a direct effect on the dependent variable. We then proceeded to test for the mediating effects of contract non-replicability and social networking behaviour in Alternative model 3 (cf. Figure 2). Note, though, that we did not test for the mediating effect of contract idiosyncrasy here because internal LOC did not have an effect on it. Therefore, one of the three conditions needed to conclude there was a mediation effect was not met. Next, we computed the z statistic for each mediator. We found that the z statistics for contract non-replicability and social networking behaviours were 2.03 (p < .05), and 2.25 (p < .05), respectively, suggesting that these two mediating effects were statistically different from zero. According to Iacobucci et al. (2007), these results suggest that both contract non-replicability and social networking behaviours are full mediators of the relationship between internal LOC and perceptions of organizational embeddedness because: (1) their z statistics were signicant and (2) internal LOC was not directly related to perceptions of organizational embeddedness.

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Discussion
The purpose of this study is to examine the antecedents of organizational embeddedness, particularly the role of internal LOC. The results here demonstrate that employees with high internal LOC are signicantly more likely to obtain idiosyncratic employment deals for themselves and to develop more social networks. In turn, these non-replicable employment deals, along with greater social networks, lead employees to feel more embedded in their organizations. Moreover, COR theory provided a useful lens through which individual differences in embeddedness could be explained. Individuals with high internal LOC are better able to acquire more resources, such as unique employment deals and wide networks of social relationships. The accumulation of these additional resources, in turn, creates stronger perceptions of organizational embeddedness, since highly embedded employees would experience greater sacrices if they had to leave those resources behind for new positions. While Hobfoll (1989) and others have noted that individual differences may play a role in resource acquisition and accumulation, there has been limited research on identifying those individual differences. In this study, we found that a dispositional trait (internal LOC) accounts for a signicant amount of variance in how proactively employees acquire and retain valuable resources at work. We proposed that internal LOC is particularly valuable in that regard because internal LOC fuels individuals beliefs about their ability to control their environments. To our knowledge, this study is the rst to incorporate personality traits into embeddedness research and to show that individual differences, too, can drive the acquisition and accumulation of resources which further embed employees in their rms. At the same time, it is important to point out that personality traits may only have indirect effects on perceptions of organizational embeddedness, as was the case with internal LOC in the present study. That is, personality traits may not affect embeddedness directly, but rather do so by inuencing how well employees acquire and accumulate resources at work which in turn is a more proximal antecedent of embeddedness. Thus, further research that identies additional personality traits which facilitate the acquisition and accumulation of resources is clearly warranted, since these resources appear to mediate the effects of personality on organizational embeddedness. We also attempted to extend research on the COR theory by addressing what employees do about resources when they are not confronted with stressors. A unique aspect of COR theory is that it not only addresses how employees cope with stress, but how they prepare for future stressful situations before they occur (Hobfoll, 1989). Surprisingly, though, relatively little attention has been given to the prevention of stress component of COR theory (Ghorpade et al., 2009; Halbesleben, 2006; Smith & Freedy, 2000). To address that gap, we conceptualized organizational embeddedness as a state of resource surplus which results from employees continuous acquisition and accumulation of resources even when they are not directly facing any stressors (Halbesleben & Wheeler, 2008). Therefore, the current study extends the application of COR theory in the organizational sciences by focusing on resource accumulation in peaceful times rather than in stressful times. Nonetheless, the current study has some methodological constraints which should be addressed in future research. First, while we collected three waves of data over an 8-month period, our research design did not allow for strong causal inferences. The variables of interest were not measured on all three surveys and therefore cross-lagged panel analyses were precluded. Second, even though the effect size for the relationship

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between social networking and embeddedness was signicant, the effect might have been even stronger if we had extended the study period beyond 8 months because the number of social ties (and therefore the strength of the embedding force) should increase as time passes. Third, all the constructs in the proposed model were measured via self-reports. As such, our results might be affected by common method bias. Use of more objective comparative measures of employment deals, such as comparing ones pay to others in the company and/or industry average, would be especially helpful in addressing this concern. Fourth, following Crossley et al. (2007), we conceptualized and operationalized embeddedness from a global perspective. As such, we did not have the data to evaluate whether the results we observed could be replicated if we used the three component scales (t, links, sacrice) created by Mitchell et al. (2001). Finally, as noted above, while we believe that internal LOC has particularly strong relevance in the context of embeddedness research, there are certainly other personality variables that are germane to embeddedness as well, such as traits that promote a tendency to negotiate for idiosyncratic deals (ambition, proactivity) and traits that facilitate the development of social relationships (extraversion, agreeableness). In conclusion, then, we hope that the current study heightens researchers interest in investigating the role of individual differences in general, and internal LOC in particular, in how employees get embedded in their organizations. We also hope this paper encourages researchers to incorporate additional theoretical perspectives such as the COR theory into their studies of the social psychological processes underlying embeddedness. Finally, we hope that the current study stimulates greater use of longitudinal research designs to examine embeddedness and more attention on the interplay between personality and organizational embeddedness.

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