ABSTRACT
Current economic, psychological, and sociological theory on quitting behavior either ignores or misspecifies the role that personality plays in defining the work environment and determining workplace behavior. Structural theory posits that complex social institutions like governments, economies and organizations pattern behavior through hierarchical authority relationships, job descriptions, rules and regulations, incentives and disincentives. Quitting and staying are responses to these constraining and enabling work conditions. Psychological theory argues that internal processes like drives, behavioral propensities, and attitudes and values determine when employees are likely to quit their jobs. However, termination of the bond between employees and employers is determined in the context of exchanges between employees, who provide labor and skills, and employers, who provide material and social resources. This chapter examines some this assumption by reviewing economic, sociological, and psychological theory on employee turnover, developing a social exchange theory of quitting behavior, and developing and testing specific hypotheses about the relationship among personality, work conditions, and turnover.
