We extend turnover research by proposing and testing the counterintuitive idea from the suicide literature that a type of attachment to one’s workplace can increase turnover intentions. Specifically, we argue that employees’ perceptions of perceived entrapment - a negative form of attachment to their workplace - arise from perceptions of defeat at work and ultimately lead to turnover intentions. Across two studies, we found consistent evidence supporting this model, showing that employees feeling “brought down” through workplace defeat experience heightened sensations of entrapment, further escalating their intentions to leave. Our findings contribute primarily to the turnover literature by challenging prevailing paradigms. In contrast to established constructs like job satisfaction, employee engagement, organizational commitment, and job embeddedness that suggest stronger organizational attachment decreases turnover, our research reveals a counterintuitive insight: excessive feelings of a negative type of attachment in the form of perceived entrapment can paradoxically increase turnover intentions. This novel insight underscores the importance of considering both positive and negative organizational attachments, raising questions about how different “types” of attachments affect turnover.
