How personality type influences decision paths in the unfolding model of voluntary job turnover: an application to IS professionals

A new model for understanding job turnover was introduced into the management literature a decade ago [26], analyzing the process by which employees decide to leave their jobs. This "unfolding model of voluntary turnover" is a radical departure from traditional models of job turnover, positing that turnover is not necessarily triggered by job dissatisfaction. In addition to empirical testing with nurses, accountants, and other knowledge workers, the unfolding model has also been applied to study IS personnel. Based on a study of IS graduates from two American universities, Niederman and Sumner [34] concluded that IS employees appear not to follow the common decision paths identified by Lee and Mitchell in their initial conceptualization of the unfolding model; instead, a vast majority of respondents followed turnover decisions path not specified in the model. Although other modifications to the model have since been made [12], it is still not clear why the study of IS professionals diverged so much from prior studies of other types of knowledge workers. We first explore and identify the divergence of results between IS employees and other occupations that have been studied with the model, and then propose that an individual's personality type can affect the likelihood that he or she will follow specific decision paths in the model -- such as leaving without having a new job arranged in advance. We contribute to the IS personnel literature by offering a novel explanation for the divergence in prior empirical results. In addition, by examining personality type, we seek to open a new area of study, in terms of examining the relationship between personality type and employees' preferences for following certain paths leading to job turnover.