Commitment profiles: The configural effect of the forms and foci of commitment on work outcomes

This study is based upon the conceptual linking of the multidimensional and multi-focal nature of work-related commitment. The main aims of our study were to create, through K-means cluster analysis, commitment profiles based on the three components of organizational and occupational commitment, and to examine their joint effect on key work outcomes. One hundred and fifty seven working adults completed questionnaires measuring the three components of organizational and occupational commitment, and work outcomes. Our findings show (a) the incremental validity of occupational commitment in the prediction of work-related variables, (b) the compatibility of occupational and organizational commitment as reflected in the four form-oriented commitment profiles that emerged (highly committed, affective–normative dominant, continuance dominant, and non-committed), and (c) the positive effect of the highly committed profile (dually foci-committed employees with high AC, CC, and NC) on focal and discretionary behaviors. On a practical level, our results can foster the practice of management concerning control of withdrawal behaviors and development of desirable discretionary behaviors.     

Affective, Continuance, and Normative Commitment to the Organization: A Meta-analysis of Antecedents, Correlates, and Consequences

The authors conducted meta-analyses to assess (a) relations among affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organization and (b) relations between the three forms of commitment and variables identified as their antecedents, correlates, and consequences in Meyer and Allen's (1991) Three-Component Model. They found that the three forms of commitment are related yet distinguishable from one another as well as from job satisfaction, job involvement, and occupational commitment. Affective and continuance commitment generally correlated as expected with their hypothesized antecedent variables; no unique antecedents of normative commitment were identified. Also, as expected, all three forms of commitment related negatively to withdrawal cognition and turnover, and affective commitment had the strongest and most favorable correlations with organization-relevant (attendance, performance, and organizational citizenship behavior) and employee-relevant (stress and work-family conflict) outcomes. Normative commitment was also associated with desirable outcomes, albeit not as strongly. Continuance commitment was unrelated, or related negatively, to these outcomes. Comparisons of studies conducted within and outside North America revealed considerable similarity yet suggested that more systematic primary research concerning cultural differences is warranted.     

The combined influence of affective, continuance and normative commitment on employee withdrawal

In a sample of 288 hospital nurses, commitment profiles were compared to turnover intentions, job search behavior, work withdrawal (absenteeism and lateness) and job stress. Five empirically-derived commitment profiles emerged: highly committed, affective-normative dominant, continuance-normative dominant, continuance dominant, and uncommitted. Results indicated that the most positive work outcomes were associated with the affective-normative dominant profile which included lower turnover intentions and lower levels of psychological stress. There were no differences among the commitment groups for lateness, and unexpectedly, the continuance-normative dominant group had the lowest levels of absenteeism. It was suggested that future research focus on the combined influence of commitment on work outcomes.     

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.     

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.     

An evaluation of a three-component model of occupational commitment: dimensionality and consequences among United Kingdom human resource management specialists

This study evaluated the J. P. Meyer, N. J. Allen, and C. A. Smith (1993) model of occupational commitment using a sample of 678 United Kingdom human resource management specialists. Support was found for the 3-component model, and findings suggest that the consequences of the affective, normative, and continuance components differ. Affective and continuance commitment were negatively related to occupational withdrawal cognitions, whereas normative commitment was negatively related to withdrawal cognitions only when continuance commitment was low. Affective and, to a lesser extent. normative commitment were related to intention to participate in professional activities. Continuance commitment had no significant relationship with intention to participate in professional activities.     

The Three‐Component Model of Organisational Commitment: An Application to South Korea

We conducted two studies to determine whether the three‐component model of organisational commitment (Meyer & Allen, 1991) is generalisable to a non‐Western culture using data from South Korea. In Study 1, we found that when the 6‐item versions of the scales (Meyer, Allen, & Smith, 1993) were translated into Korean, the psychometric properties of the Affective Commitment Scale were similar to those found in North America, but problems were identified in the Continuance and Normative Commitment Scales. In Study 2, we found that these problems could be overcome by adopting a revised set of items written in North America. The new scales demonstrated good psychometric properties in terms of factorial validity, internal consistency, and criterion‐related validity with respect to turnover intention. We concluded that the three commitment constructs are likely to generalise to non‐Western cultures, but that there might be a need to refine the measures for cross‐cultural research.     

Affective, Continuance, and Normative Commitment to the Organization: An Examination of Construct Validity

Within the past few years, several studies have used the Affective, Continuance, and Normative Commitment Scales (Allen & Meyer, 1990; Meyer & Allen, 1984, 1991) to assess organizational commitment. The purpose of this paper is to review and evaluate the body of evidence relevant to the construct validity of these measures. Although some empirical questions remain at issue, the overall results strongly support the continued use of the scales in substantive research.     

A Person-Centred Perspective on Social Support in the Workplace

This research seeks to identify employees’ profiles characterised by distinct perceptions of three sources of social support at work (i.e., organisation, supervisor, and colleagues), and the extent to which these profiles generalise across two samples of workers (N = 185 and 387). This research also investigates the associations between the profiles and a series of outcomes. Latent profile analysis revealed five identical profiles in both samples: (1) moderately supported; (2) isolated; (3) supervisor supported; (4) weakly supported; and (5) highly supported. The most desirable outcomes (job satisfaction, performance, and affective commitment) were associated with Profile 5 (highly supported), while the highest levels of emotional exhaustion were observed in Profile 2 (isolated).     

Students’ Need Satisfaction Profiles: Similarity and Change over the Course of a University Semester

Self-determination theory positions the satisfaction of students’ needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness as important determinants of various educational outcomes. In this study, we identify subpopulations of students characterized by distinct configurations of need satisfaction in the educational context, and assess the extent to which the nature of these configurations, and students’ individual profiles, remain stable over the course of a university semester. We also examine the role of perfectionism in the prediction of profile membership, and how these profiles relate to a variety of educational outcomes. A total of 521 first-year undergraduate university students completed our measures at the beginning and end of a university semester. We identified five need satisfaction profiles, which remained unchanged over the course of the study. Students characterized by higher levels of self-oriented perfectionism were more likely to be a member of a profile characterized by high levels of relatedness and global needs satisfaction associated with average levels of competence need satisfaction (“Globally Satisfied and Highly Connected” profile) relative to the other ones, and into the “Globally Satisfied” profile relative to the “Globally Dissatisfied, Highly Connected, and Competence Deficient” profile. Finally, the “Globally Dissatisfied, Highly Connected, and Competence Deficient” profile was associated with the least desirable outcomes (the lowest levels of students’ interest toward their studies, satisfaction, and attendance, and the highest levels of dropout intentions).     

Patterns of attachment to organizations: Commitment profiles and work outcomes

Commitment profiles were studied with a sample of 572 hospital workers. Seven of the eight commitment profiles in Meyer and Herscovitch's (2001) typology emerged using K‐means clustering including: highly committed, affective dominant, continuance dominant, affective‐continuance dominant, affective‐normative dominant, continuance‐normative dominant, and uncommitted. Outcome variables included: turnover intentions, turnover, absenteeism, and person–organization value congruence. Results were consistent with prior findings in that normative commitment alone and in conjunction with continuance commitment enhanced the benefits of affective commitment. Turnover rates were much higher for poorly socialized employees suggesting that there is a self‐corrective effect in which uncommitted employees are more likely to leave their organizations.     

Goal projection in public places

Three studies investigated the phenomenon of goal projection in everyday life considering three moderators: goal commitment, the perceived similarity of the target person, and goal attainment. Moviegoers' (Study 1) highly committed to see a particular movie projected this goal onto other movie patrons. Commuters (Study 2) highly committed to catch a certain train projected this goal onto other commuters, given that these commuters were perceived as similar. Shoppers (Study 3) projected buying a particular item when both their goal commitment and the perceived similarity of another shopper were high, and the goal was not yet attained. The results imply that goal projection is part of our everyday life and is fostered by high‐goal commitment, perceiving others as similar, and ongoing goal striving.     

Do Applicants Fake Their Personality Questionnaire Responses and How Successful are Their Attempts? A Case of Military Pilot Cadet Selection

This paper presents the results of three interrelated studies investigating the occurrence of response distortion on personality questionnaires within selection and the success of applicants in faking situations. In Study 1, comparison of the Big Five personality scores obtained from applicants in a military pilot cadet selection procedure with participants responding honestly, faking good, and faking an ideal candidate revealed that applicants responded more desirable than participants responding honestly but less desirable than respondents under fake instructions. The occurrence of faking within the military pilot selection process was replicated in Study 2 using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and another comparison group. Finally, in Study 3, comparison of personality profiles obtained in selection and ‘fake job’ situations with experts' estimates indicated that participants were partially successful in faking the desirable profile.     

Managerial motivational profiles: Composition,antecedents, and consequences

Using a person-centered approach, we identified managers' (N = 321) motivational profiles and tested a model of the antecedents and consequences of these profiles. The profiles were based on four motivational types delineated by self-determination theory (i.e., external, introjected, identified, intrinsic). Latent profile analysis revealed six distinct motivational profiles. One of these was a self-determined profile (high identified and intrinsic motivation, moderately low introjected motivation, and low external motivation). Four other profiles combined average levels of external motivation with either very low, low, moderately low, or high internal (i.e., introjected, identified, and intrinsic) motivation. The final profile involved moderately high levels of all four motives. The antecedents of profile membership examined were perceived supervisor support and perceived organizational politics. The career-related outcomes of profile membership were work attitudes and promotability. The self-determined and high internal motivation profiles were associated with the most favorable work attitudes, followed by the moderately high motivation profile. The low internal motivation profiles were associated with the least favorable attitudes. Promotability did not differ across the profiles. With respect to the antecedents, low levels of supervisor support and high levels of politics increased the odds that a manager would exhibit profiles that were less desirable than the self-determined profile. Our findings provide initial information about managers' motivational profiles, as well as the antecedents and consequences of these profiles. Further, these results demonstrate the promise of a person-centered approach for advancing motivation research and management development.     

Assessing Organisational Commitment in a Belgian Context: Evidence for the Three-dimensional Model

Cette étude investigua la pertinence de la conceptualisation tri-dimensionnelle de I'implication organisationnelle (Meyer & Allen, 1991) dans un contexte belge. Les trois composantes de la théorie furent mesurées à I'aide des échelles affective, de continuation, et normative de I'implication, développées par Allen et Meyer (1990). Une analyse factorielle confirmatoire de données provenant d'un échantillon de 277 infirmières et aides-soignantes corrobora la structure factorielle hypothétique basée sur une représentation à trois facteurs obliques. Cependant, contrairement aux résultats de recherches antérieures, la présence de deux sous-dimensions au sein de I'échelle de continuation ne fut pas confirmée. La portée de ces résultats est discutée et des suggestions pour analyser plus avant les conditions de généralisation de I'implication organisationnelle dans le domaine interculturel sont avancées.
This study investigated the usefulness of the three-dimensional conceptualisation of organisational commitment (Meyer & Allen, 1991) in a Belgian context. The three components of the theory were assessed using the Affective, Continuance, and Normative Commitment scales developed by Allen and Meyer (1990). A confirmatory factor analysis of data from a sample of 277 nurses and nursing aides yielded support for the hypothesised factorial structure of the scales, based on a three-factor, oblique representation. However, contrary to prior findings, the existence of two related subdimensions inside the continuance commitment scale was not confirmed. The scope of these results is discussed, and suggestions to further analyse the boundary conditions of organisational commitment in cross-cultural assessment are proposed.     

Psychological contract breach,affective commitment to organization and supervisor,and newcomer adjustment: A three-wave moderated mediation model

This study examines the relationship of psychological contract breach to newcomer adjustment outcomes using affective commitments to organizations and supervisors as mediators and also looks at the moderating role of affective commitment to supervisors. Drawing from data collected at three points in time among a sample of newcomers (N = 224), we found that Time 2 affective organizational commitment mediated a positive relationship between Time 1 psychological contract breach and Time 3 turnover intention and emotional exhaustion. Moreover, affective commitment to supervisors interacted with organizational commitment such that the latter was more negatively related to Time 3 outcomes at low levels of commitment to supervisors. Similarly, the indirect relationships of psychological contract breach to Time 3 outcomes were stronger and negative at low levels of commitment to supervisors. Affective commitment's role in the psychological contract breach-outcome relationships during the entry period is discussed.     

The affective shift hypothesis: The functions of emotional changes following sexual intercourse

This article develops the Affective Ship Hypothesis, which suggests that women experience positive affective shifts following first‐time intercourse as a means to facilitate a longer‐term, more committed relationship. The hypothesis predicts a negative affective shift in men who pursue a short‐term mating strategy; this shift is hypothesized to function to curtail commitment by motivating the man to terminate the relationship. Study 1 (N= 177) documented sex differences predicted by the affective shift hypothesis. Study 2 (N= 203), using a somewhat different methodology involving reports of presex and postsex feelings, found that men with high numbers of sex partners, but not men with low numbers of partners, experienced a decrease in their partner's physical and sexual attractiveness following first‐time sexual intercourse. In contrast, women, more than men, experienced increases in feelings of love and commitment following first‐time sex.     

Engagement organisationnel,coping, et affects en contexte organisationnel : test d’un modèle intégrateur

This study examines a model relating components of organizational commitment to positive and negative affect through the partial mediation of problem solving coping. The results of a study conducted among a sample of 647 employees from various organizations show that affective commitment relates positively to positive affect and negatively to negative affect, with the relation to positive affect being partially mediated by problem solving coping. Normative commitment was positively related to negative affect. Finally, continuance commitment based on few alternatives was negatively related to positive affect and positively related to negative affect, with the relation to positive affect being partially mediated by a weaker problem solving coping. Continuance commitment based on perceived sacrifice had no effects.     

Motivational clusters in a sample of British physical education classes

Objectives: Based on recommendations from a recent review of self-determination theory (Vallerand, R. J. (1997). In: M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (pp. 271–360). New York: Academic Press) the present study aimed to uncover the different motivational profiles in physical education. It was expected that at least two motivational profiles would emerge: a self-determined profile and a controlling motivation/amotivation profile.Design: Cross-sectional survey.Method: Questionnaires were administered to 428 British students, aged between 14 and 16 years, from two schools in the Northwest of England.Results: A cluster analysis produced three motivational profiles in the first school, which were replicated in the second school. The first was named the ‘self-determined profile’ because the students displayed high self-determined motivation, effort, enjoyment, and cooperative learning, and low controlling motivation, amotivation, boredom, and unequal recognition. The second profile was the ‘moderate motivation profile’ with moderate scores on all variables measured. The third was named the ‘controlling motivation/amotivation’ profile because the students demonstrated high controlling motivation, amotivation, boredom, and unequal recognition, and low self-determined motivation, effort, and enjoyment.Conclusions: The results demonstrate the importance of developing self-determination in physical education, as it is associated with desirable behavioural and affective outcomes.     

The “good” professional: Effects of trait-profile gender type,androgyny, and likableness on impressions of incumbents of sex-typed occupations

Three studies utilizing an impression formation paradigm assessed perceived desirability of masculine, feminine, and androgynous trait profiles attributed to incumbents of sex-typed occupations. Participants in all three studies were predominantly upper middle class Caucasians. Approximately 60% were women and 40% were men. While a general masculinity bias was observed, several important qualifications to this bias were suggested. In Study I, trait likableness had a greater influence than did trait gender typing on impressions across occupations, suggesting the occurrence of centrality effects. Context effects also occurred in impressions of various combinations of particular masculine and feminine traits. Study 2 controlled trait likableness, and while a masculinity bias was still observed, androgynous profiles were rated as equally desirable as masculine profiles across occupations. Study 3 demonstrated that high levels of both masculinity and femininity resulted in favorable impressions, and support was obtained for an “interactive model” of androgyny, i.e., androgynous profiles were rated as more desirable than either gender-typed masculine or feminine profiles across occupations. Nonetheless, some evidence of a “matching bias” between trait gender typing and occupational sex typing was obtained in all three studies, especially for the male-typed occupation of lawyer and the female-typed occupation of nurse. The results are discussed in terms of the operation of “occupational role schemas” in perceptions of incumbents.