Side-bet theory and the three-component model of organizational commitment

We tested Becker’s (1960) side-bet conceptualization of commitment within the context of Meyer and Allen’s (1991) three-component model of organizational commitment. Employees (N=202) from various organizations completed a survey including measures of (a) seven categories of side bets (b) affective, normative, and continuance commitment, and (c) turnover intention. The findings provided strong support for Becker’s theory. All seven side-bet categories correlated significantly with a revised measure of high-sacrifice continuance commitment, and structural equation modeling analyses revealed that the relations between the side bets and turnover intention were fully mediated by commitment. The findings also address issues pertaining to the dimensionality and measurement of continuance commitment, and help to explain relations among the three components of commitment.     

The validity of the three-component model of organizational commitment in a Chinese context

This study examined the construct validity of Meyer and Allen’s (1991) three-component model of organizational commitment in a Chinese context and compared levels of OC between the Chinese sample and previously published data from Canada and South Korea. In a study of 226 Chinese employees in six foreign-invested companies, a five-factor oblique model, which included both substantive and method factors, fit the data best. However, the three-component model had a reasonably good fit. The proposed antecedents of each of the three principal OC dimensions tended to associate most strongly with their respective scales. Affective commitment and normative commitment significantly predicted job satisfaction and all three components predicted turnover intention, although associations between continuance commitment and these outcomes were moderated by normative commitment. Finally, we found that normative and affective commitment were significantly higher in the Chinese sample than in previously published samples from Canada and South Korea. Continuance commitment in the Chinese sample was lower than the Canadian and Korean samples. Implications of these findings are discussed in more detail.     

Testing the relationship between three-component organizational/occupational commitment and organizational/occupational turnover intention using a non-recursive model

This study explored the relationship between three-component organizational/occupational commitment and organizational/occupational turnover intention, and the reciprocal relationship between organizational and occupational turnover intention with a non-recursive model in collectivist cultural settings. We selected 177 nursing staffs out of 30 hospitals in Taiwan as our sample, and structural equation modelling analysis was conducted to test our hypotheses. The results showed that normative organizational commitment negatively correlates with organizational turnover intention most strongly, and affective occupational commitment negatively correlates with occupational turnover intention most strongly. Moreover, organizational turnover intention plays a mediating role in the relationship between normative organizational commitment and occupational turnover intention, while occupational turnover intention mediates the relationship between affective occupational commitment and organizational turnover intention. In particular, the reciprocal relationship exists between organizational and occupational turnover intention. Practical implications and suggestions for future research were also discussed.     

Commitment to organizational change: extension of a three-component model

Three studies were conducted to test the application of a three-component model of workplace commitment (J. P. Meyer & N. J. Allen, 1991: J. P. Meyer & L. Herscovitch, 2001) in the context of employee commitment to organizational change. Study 1, conducted with 224 university students, provided preliminary evidence for the validity of newly developed Affective, Continuance, and Normative Commitment to Change Scales. Studies 2 and 3, conducted with hospital nurses (N = 157 and 108, respectively), provided further support for the validity of the three Commitment to Change Scales, and demonstrated that (a) commitment to a change is a better predictor of behavioral support for a change than is organizational commitment, (b) affective and normative commitment to a change are associated with higher levels of support than is continuance commitment, and (c) the components of commitment combine to predict behavior.     

Structural influences on organizational commitment

Relationships of several aspects of organization structure with organizational commitment were examined within a multiple regression framework for 262 public sector employees. As a set, the six structural variables accounted for over 20% (p < .001) of the variation in organizational commitment for the vocationally heterogeneous sample studied. Overall, these results suggest that future model-building efforts should take organization structure into account as one potentially important dimension of influences on organizational commitment.     

Regulatory foci and organizational commitment

We use regulatory focus theory to derive specific predictions regarding the differential relationships between regulatory focus and commitment. We estimated a structural equation model using a sample of 520 private and public sector employees and found in line with our hypotheses that (a) promotion focus related more strongly to affective commitment than prevention focus, (b) prevention focus related more strongly to continuance commitment than promotion focus, (c) promotion and prevention focus had equally strong effects on normative commitment. Implications of these findings for the three-component model of commitment, especially the ‘dual nature’ of normative commitment, as well as implications for human resources management and leadership are discussed.     

Regulatory foci and organizational commitment

We use regulatory focus theory to derive specific predictions regarding the differential relationships between regulatory focus and commitment. We estimated a structural equation model using a sample of 520 private and public sector employees and found in line with our hypotheses that (a) promotion focus related more strongly to affective commitment than prevention focus, (b) prevention focus related more strongly to continuance commitment than promotion focus, (c) promotion and prevention focus had equally strong effects on normative commitment. Implications of these findings for the three-component model of commitment, especially the ‘dual nature’ of normative commitment, as well as implications for human resources management and leadership are discussed.     

Idiosyncratic deals and organizational commitment

This article examines the relationship between idiosyncratic deals and organizational commitment. In particular, it examines how two individual differences which reflect self-worth (core self-evaluations and age) moderate that relationship. We predicted that employees with feelings of high self-worth will expect and will feel entitled to these deals, but employees with feelings of low self-worth will feel particularly obligated to reciprocate positively for special treatment. Data were collected from 375 managers at two points in time. As predicted, the relationship between idiosyncratic deals and affective organizational commitment was stronger for those managers who had low core self-evaluations. While the two-way interaction effect between idiosyncratic deals and age was not significant, we did find modest evidence for a three-way interaction effect. As predicted, the strongest relationship between idiosyncratic deals and organizational commitment occurred for older workers who had low core self-evaluations.     

An integrative process model of organizational commitment for working women and men

Previous organizational commitment models may not be complete since few combined more than one theory, none looked at gender differences, and nearly all ignored the impact of a feedback mechanisms on the overall process. A new model presented here shows a three-stage organizational commitment process. The first, or preorganizational, stage consists of personal characteristics. These are modified in stage two by job and other external characteristics, and in stage three all of these moderate the six independent variables that have major direct impact on organizational commitment. They are 1. need satisfaction, 2. work/job satisfaction, 3. job commitment, 4. work commitment, 5. role stress, and 6. personal/organizational goal congruence. Implications are discussed.Leonard H. Chusmir is an Associate Professor of Management at Florida International University. He received his Ph.D. in Management/Psychology from the University of Miami. He has written numerous articles for management, organizational behavior, and psychology journals, and presented papers at several academic conferences. He is the author of the bookMatching Individuals to Jobs: A Motivational Answer to Personnel and Guidance Professionals. AMACOM Books, 1985.     

The incremental validity of organizational commitment,organizational trust,and organizational identification

Organizational commitment (OC), organizational trust (OT), and organizational identification (OI) are three types of psychological attachment to an organization. Each of these three variables captures an organization-targeted attitude toward an employment relationship, but it is unclear whether they have incremental validity over each other. To address this question, this study examined the incremental validity of each variable in predicting job involvement, job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and non-self-report measures of task performance and citizenship behavior. It also examined whether perceived organizational support and psychological contract breach, two other organization-targeted attitudinal variables, were related to OC, OT, and OI when the latter were considered jointly. Meta-analytical evidence suggests that OC, OT, and OI have incremental validity over and above one another in their relationships with some, but not all, of the above correlates. This highlights the need for future research to distinguish these three types of psychological attachment to an organization.     

Using a person-environment fit model to predict job involvement and organizational commitment

Using a sample of registered nurses from a large urban hospital, this longitudinal study tested the applicability of a person-environment fit model for predicting job involvement and organizational commitment. The personal variables in this model were Protestant work ethic and growth need strength, and the environmental variable was perceived job scope. Prior to testing the person-environment fit model, the discriminant validity of job involvement and organizational commitment scales was empirically established through factor analysis. The results of this study indicated that the proposed person-environment fit model is useful for predicting job involvement, but not organizational commitment. Results and limitations of the study are discussed.     

Influencing organizational commitment through office redesign

Prior research on the effects of office redesign on work-related outcomes has been largely atheoretical and yielded mixed and conflicting findings. Expanding on individual reactions to office design changes as specified by social interference theory, we propose that office redesign affects organizational commitment and this relationship is mediated by employee perceptions of the broader work environment. This conceptual model is tested using 121 financial services employees who experience office redesign and 136 who do not. Results indicate that perceptions of innovation and collaboration mediate the effects of office redesign over and above negative personal reactions such that affective organizational commitment is enhanced among those experiencing reconfigured offices. Findings provide support for an expanded rendition of social interference theory that provides for favorable (as well as unfavorable) employee reactions to office redesign. Such a theoretical explanation is asserted to increase understanding of how the physical environment influences employee attitudes.     

A study of antecedents of organizational commitment

Various theories of organizational behaviors suggest that there should be significant relationships between the work-related variables and commitment to an organization. This study shows that, for a sample of 203 Japanese industrial workers, four components (attachment, internalization, normative, and continuance) of organizational commitment are predicted by organizational climate, supervisory behavior, organizational tenure, and role clarity. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Culture masquerading,identity and organizational commitment

This mixed method study examines the impact of culture masquerading among 488 Filipino customer service representatives handling international accounts. Culture masquerading is practised via taking on foreign names, locations and nationalities. Applying social identity theory, it is hypothesized and supported that masquerading of nationality is negatively related to cultural identity. As predicted, there is a positive relationship between cultural identity and organization commitment. No support is found for the hypothesis that cultural identity mediates the relationship between culture masquerading. Situated identity theory and economic, social, and historical influences are used to explain these findings.     

Pride and respect in volunteers' organizational commitment

As volunteer organizations cannot rely on instrumental means to motivate their workers, we examine organizational commitment as a focal indicator of work motivation among volunteers. Based on a social identity analysis and previous work among paid employees, we argue that pride in the organization and respect from the organization predicts organizational commitment among volunteers. We further propose that among volunteers the perceived importance of volunteer work is an antecedent of pride, and that perceived support from the organization is an antecedent of respect. In this study among volunteer workers, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) offers empirical support for our hypothesized model. In addition to the theoretical significance of developing a model that explains organizational commitment among volunteer workers, this study also has practical relevance, as it indicates that volunteer organizations might convey the importance of volunteer work and provide organizational support to induce pride and respect as a means of enhancing organizational commitment among their volunteers. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance differences among four organizational commitment profiles

The authors drew from prior research on organizational commitment and from configural organizational theory to propose a framework of affective and continuance commitment profiles. Using cluster analyses, the authors obtained evidence for 4 of these profiles in an energy industry sample (N=970) and a sample of 345 employed college students. The authors labeled the clusters: allied (i.e., moderate affective and continuance commitment), free agents (moderate continuance commitment and low affective commitment), devoted (high affective and continuance commitment), and complacent (moderate affective and low continuance commitment). Using a subset of the employed student sample (n=148), the authors also found that the free agents received significantly poorer supervisor ratings of performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and antisocial behavior than any other group.