Personality trait and subjective work experience fit (P-SWE fit) as an explanation for voluntary turnover

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present study was to show that examining the interactions between personality traits and subjective work experience (SWE) can be an interesting approach to understanding turnover. During the months following their enlistment, 186 resigning and 77 nonresigning military personnel were questioned about six SWE dimensions. During the recruitment process, they had undergone a Big Five personality test. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to study the effects of personality and SWE on turnover. Binomial generalized linear models enabled us to identify interaction effects between personality traits and SWE. These showed that open individuals who feel a high level of specialty satisfaction are less likely to quit. Similarly, individuals with high levels of neuroticism or conscientiousness are more inclined to resign if the environment is perceived to be stressful. The same applies to agreeable individuals who have negative perceptions of their interpersonal relationships. This study highlights the complexity of voluntary turnover and the need to investigate the transactions between personality and contextual characteristics with nonlinear models.

KEYWORDS:

• Turnover
• person-organization fit
• person-job fit
• Big Five

Data

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Compliance with ethical standards

All procedures performed in studies that involved human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the national research committee and the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.