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.