The Effect of Personality on IT Personnel's Job-Related Attitudes: Establishing a Dispositional Model of Turnover Intention across IT Job Types

Abstract

Research on IT personnel has observed that the major predictors for turnover intention are job satisfaction and organizational commitment. However, less is known about how these predictors are determined and how they vary according to the different job types of IT personnel. Hence, we develop and evaluate a dispositional model of turnover intention across IT job types as the first approach in IT turnover research combining the personality traits of the five-factor model and the basic turnover model found among Western IS professionals into one research model. By the help of the model we analyze the role of personality in IT personnel turnover across four groups of IT roles: consultants, programmers, system engineers, and system administrators. The results of an empirical analysis of 813 IT personnel reveal significant differences across the four groups in terms of personality and job-related attitudes. In terms of personality traits, system engineers rank highest in openness and conscientiousness, IT consultants in extraversion, programmers in neuroticism, and system administrators in agreeableness. In 50% of all cases, personality traits are significant predictors for job-related attitudes. Additionally, they indirectly affect IT personnel turnover intention. Neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness are also important indirect predictors for turnover intention, whereas openness has only a weak effect and agreeableness no measurable effect.