Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • Commitment To Organizations and Occupations - Extension and Test of A Three-Component Conceptualization

    Uploaded by

    Elser Llanos
    6 views15 pages

    Original Title

    Commitment to Organizations and Occupations- Extension and Test of a Three-component Conceptualization

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    6 views15 pages

    Commitment To Organizations and Occupations - Extension and Test of A Three-Component Conceptualization

    Uploaded by

    Elser Llanos

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 15
    earl ofAptie cea Base APR aa ri ye Aner Pho At Commitment to Organizations and Occupations: Extension and Test of a Three-Component Conceptualization John P. Meyer, Natalie J. Allen, and Catherine A. Smith ‘The authors tested the generalizability of). P Meyerand N. J. AllenS(1991)3-component model of ‘organizational commitment to the domain of occupational commitment. Measures of affective, continuance, and normative commitment to occupation were developed and used to test hypothe: ses concerning their differential relations with antecedent and consequence variables, Confirma- tory factor analyses conducted on data collected from samples of student and registered muses revealed thatthe 3 component measures of occupational commitment were distinguishable from ‘one another and from measures ofthe 3 components of organizational commitment, Results of correlation and regression analyses were generally consistent with predictions made on the basisof the 3-component model and demonstrated that occupational and organizational commitment contribute independently to the prediction of professional activity and work behavior. Although commitment has been a subject of interest for some time, the past decade has scen a steady increase in the attention given to studying it. Not only has the number of stud- ies directly concerned with the development and consequences of commitment increased dramatically, but also commitments often included as a variable in studies where itis not the pri- ‘mary focus of attention. Indeed, commitment has begun 10 rival job satisfaction in this regard. Commitment theory and research have also been the subjects of several critical reviews in, recent years (eg., Griffin & Bateman, 1986; Mathieu & Zajac, 1990; Meyer & Allen, 1991; Morrow, 1983; Mowday, Porter, & Steers, 1982; Reichers, 1985), With the increased attention given to commitment, there have been many important developments in both theory and research. Two of these are of particular importance for the present research. First, it has become increasingly apparent that commitment isa complex and multifaceted construct. For ‘many years theorists and researchers have been defining and operationalizing commitment in different ways, and, as re- sult, it has been difficult to synthesize the results of the accu- rmulating research, It is now acknowledged that commitment, John P Meyer and Catherine A, Smith, Department of Psychology: [Natalie J. Allen, Centre for Administrative and Information Studies, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada This research was supported by research grants from the Soci Sciences and Humanities Research Couocil of Canada (410-89-370) and from Imperial il ‘We thank the School of Nursing at Queen's Unversity the Collegeof ‘Nurses of Ontario, and the many student nurses and registered nurses ‘who participated in this research, Particular appreciation is extended to Rita Maloney and Ena Howse, at Queens University and to Marilyn Rewak, at the College of Nurses of Ontario, for their assistance in aceessing the research participants, Fall, we gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Annette Chauvin, Alanna Lefley, Tram Nauyen, Joseph Tavares, and Sue Tessier in data collection and analysis. Correspondence concerning this atce shouldbe addressed to John P. Meyer, Department of Psychology, Socal Science Centre, University of ‘Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada NéA SC2 538 ‘can take different forms, and it is therefore imperative that researchers state clearly what form or forms of commitment they are interested in and that they ensure that the measures they use are appropriate for the intended purpose. Second, there has been a broadening of the domain within which com- ‘mitment is studied. Some of the earliest and most influential work within the organizational behavior literature (eg, Bu- ‘chanan, 1974; Mowday Steers, & Porter, 1979; Porter, Steers, Mowday, & Boulian, 1974; Steers, 1977) examined employees’ ‘commitment to their employers, commonly referred to as orga: nizational commitment. More recently, there has been an in- crease in research examining commitment to unions eg. Full- ‘agar & Barling, 1989; Gordon, Philpot, Burt, Thompson, & Spiller, 1980), employment (¢g., Jackson, Stafford, Banks, & Warr, 1983), professions (eg, Aranya, Pollock, & Amernic, 1981; Morrow & Wirth, 1989), careers (¢g, Arnold, 1990; Blau, 1985, 1988, 1989), and so on, Unfortunately, these two developments have taken place somewhat independently. Consequently, researchers examining ‘commitment to entities other than employing organizations of- ten view commitment as a unidimensional construct (eg. Ar- anya et al, 1981; Blau, 1985; Jackson et al, 1983). In cases in which commitment is considered multidimensional, the di- ‘mensions tend to be domain specific. or example, the measure of union commitment developed by Gordon et al. (1980) was found to reflect four underlying dimensions: union loyalty re- sponsibility to the union, willingness to work for the union, and belief in unionism, To date there has not been a systematic attempt to develop a multidimensional conceptualization of commitment that can be applied across domains. The develop ‘ment of such a conceptualization would help to foster commu nication among researchers who are studying commitment within these various domains, This s particularly important as attention begins to focus on the impact of dual or multiple commitments (eg, T. F. Becker, 1992; Darden, Hampton, & Howell, 1989; Gordon & Ladd, 1990; Reichers, 1986; Steffy 8 Jones, 1988). ‘We undertook this research to examine the generalizability COMMITMENT TO ORGANIZATIONS AND OCCUPATIONS 539 of a three-component conceptualization of commitment that ‘was developed by Meyer and Allen (1991) in the context of organizational commitment, In this inital effort, we were inter- ‘ested in determining whether the three-component conceptual- ization could contribute to our understanding of occupational, commitment. If a contribution could be demonstrated, it ‘would be possible to use similar methods to assess generaliz~ ability to still other domains (eg, unions, employment, and management) ‘Meyer and Allen's (1991) Three-Component Model of ‘Commitment In their review of the organizational commitment literature, ‘Meyer and Allen (1991) identified three distinct themes in the

    You might also like