Career commitment and expected utility of present job as predictors of turnover intentions and turnover behavior

Abstract

This study investigated two hypotheses relevant to the employee withdrawal process as it relates to career commitment and expected utility of present job for attaining valued career outcomes. Data pertaining to career commitment, expected utility of present job, turnover intentions, and actual turnover of 244 nursing professionals were examined. Expected utility of present job for attaining valued career outcomes was found to interact with career commitment in predicting intent to leave. The relation between expected utility of present job and turnover intent was negative for subjects with high career commitment, but positive for subjects with low career commitment. Further, it was found that (i) while career commitment interacted with expected utility of present job to predict turnover intentions and (ii) while turnover intentions had a direct effect on turnover, (iii) neither career factor was related directly to turnover when holding turnover intentions constant, thus intimating that the individual career factors affect turnover through turnover intentions. Both the theoretical and the practical implications of these results for understanding the psychology of the withdrawal process are discussed.