The Effect of Attitudinal and Behavioral Commitment on the Internal Assessment of Organizational Effectiveness: A Multilevel Analysis

Using a multilevel analysis including 207 volunteers and paid workers nested within 51 nonprofit organizations (NPOs), this study examines the effect of individual and group attitudinal and behavioral commitment on their assessment of organizational effectiveness. Drawing on classical attitude theories, our results indicate that individuals with higher affective organizational commitment tend to assess their NPO’s effectiveness higher, while individuals staying because of the lack of alternatives assess it lower. However, in line with behavioral commitment theories, both relationships are mediated by the effect of teamwork behavioral commitment. We also found a negative effect of normative attitudinal commitment partially nested at the group level. Overall, our results suggest that encouraging volunteers and paid workers to participate in concrete teamwork behaviors on a daily basis constitutes a twofold benefit: it adds to the effect of affective attitudinal commitment at the individual level, while counter balancing the negative effects related to normative individual and collective resistances.     

Beyond organizational ties: foundations of persistent commitment in environmental activism

ABSTRACT

Movement scholars commonly treat persistent commitment as an aspect of activism that is set in motion when recruits join a group or organization. To investigate the phenomenon of sustained activist commitment that exists separately from or in addition to organizational membership, I examine activist commitment to environmental causes. I base this analysis on thirty open-ended interviews, averaging eighty minutes, with activists whose persistent commitments to environmental causes range from ten to fifty years. I (a) identify patterns that long-term environmental activists express in their personal biographies and activist trajectories, (b) generate insights about commitment mechanisms that exist independently of organizational membership, (c) discuss how existing conceptions of activist commitment might be extended. I recommend that scholars look beyond organizational ties to pinpoint specific mechanisms that produce and sustain activist commitment to causes. I find that committed environmental activists link their activism to strong connections with nature, biographical influences, individual tactics, and personal missions rather than to organizations.     

Job-strain and well-being among Finnish social workers: exploring the differences in occupational well-being between child protection social workers and social workers without duties in child protection

Work-related mental distress and its impact on employees’ working life is a mounting issue among Finnish social workers. This article focuses on identifying the factors associated with child welfare social workers’ occupational well-being. The occupational well-being of Finnish child welfare social workers (N?=?364) and social workers whose duties do not include child protection work (N?=?524) was explored and compared with each other using t-test statistics and logistic regression analysis. The data, collected in 2014/2015, were obtained from an ongoing longitudinal cohort study on work-related well-being among Finnish public sector employees. A multi-dimensional and holistic approach to occupational well-being was used as the outline for the analysis and comparison of the two groups. Child protection social workers reported higher levels of burnout and secondary traumatic stress than social workers without child protection duties. Despite these burdens, both groups showed a similar level of general health, compassion satisfaction and overall occupational well-being. Individual and organizational factors associated with high occupational well-being were identified. Supervision was found to be an important supporting element. This study identified multiple determinants related to social workers’ occupational well-being, comprising positive and negative elements with regard to organizational and individual factors.     

AN ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTITUDINAL COMMITMENT AND BEHAVIORAL COMMITMENT

This article is concerned with the relationship between attitudinal and behavioral commitment. The role of work rewards and status characteristics regarding this issue is also considered. Data from 1,385 workers representing a variety of occupational groups suggest that attitudinal and behavioral commitment have strong reciprocal effects. The two-stage least-squares estimates indicate that behavioral commitment is the strongest predictor of attitudinal commitment, and vice versa. These data further suggest that attitudinal and behavioral commitment may have their roots in different aspects of the work setting. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Does performance management affect nurses’ well-being?

AimThis article focuses on employee performance-management practices in the healthcare sector. We specifically aim to contribute to a better understanding of the impact of employee performance-management practices on affective well-being of nurses in hospitals. Theory suggests that the features of employee-performance management (planning and evaluation of individual performances) predict affective well-being (in this study: job satisfaction and affective commitment).MethodsPerformance-management planning and evaluation and affective well-being were drawn from a survey of nurses at a Flemish hospital. Separate estimations were performed for different aspects of affective well-being.ResultsPerformance planning has a negative effect on job satisfaction of nurses. Both vertical alignment and satisfaction with the employee performance-management system increase the affective well-being of nurses; however, the impact of vertical alignment differs for different aspects of affective well-being (i.e. job satisfaction and affective commitment).ConclusionPerformance-management planning and evaluation of nurses are associated with attitudinal outcomes. The results indicate that employee performance-management features have different impacts on different aspects of well-being.     

Career mobility and satisfaction of women administrators in postsecondary education: A review and research agenda

The purpose of this article is to examine the formal and informal organizational and environmental structures and processes that influence the opportunities, achievements, and satisfaction of women administrators in postsecondary education. A model is developed that synthesizes the research from human capital and structural approaches to occupational mobility and applies it to university contexts. Emphasis is placed on the structural factors, including organizational characteristics, and membership in formal and informal networks. A set of hypotheses is derived from this model. Gaps in current literature and research and proposed avenues for future research are discussed.     

The protestant ethic among college students in two Chinese societies

The Mirels‐Garrett Protestant Ethic scale along with several sociodemographic and attitudinal measures was administered to a sample of Taiwanese college students and a sample of Hong Kong college students in an attempt to empirically investigate the Protestant Ethic in the Chinese culture. Analyses indicated that both samples of Chinese students exhibited lower scores on the scale than American students. The data suggests that compared to Taiwanese students, Hong Kong college students embraced less the Protestant Ethic and just world beliefs, and were less alienated and sexually permissive. However, they adhered more to authoritarianism than their counterparts in Taiwan. Among sociodemographic measures, type of parenting ,was found to be the only significant variable for the Protestant Ethic scores in both samples. Students raised in the dictatorially‐parented families tended to show stronger belief in the Protestant Ethic than those raised in the democratically‐parented families. Religion was not related to the Protestant Ethic scores, suggesting that the Protestant Ethic as not Protestant but represented a general value orientation cutting across all social groups among college students in Taiwan and Hong Kong.     

Volunteer Engagement: Exploring the Distinction Between Job and Organizational Engagement

Retaining engaged volunteers is crucial to many non-profit organizations. However, research on volunteer engagement is limited, and the distinction between job and organizational engagement in volunteers remains to be investigated. In this paper, we examine both organizational- and job-level engagement, and specifically, whether perceived organizational support would enhance volunteer engagement and associated attitudes. We surveyed 221 volunteers, and asked them about their perceptions of organizational support; their engagement with their volunteer job and the organization they volunteer for; satisfaction; commitment; and turnover intentions. Both organizational and job engagements had significant relationships with the attitudinal variables. However, we found that organizational rather than job engagement mediated the relationship between organizational support and volunteer satisfaction and commitment. While organizational engagement correlated with turnover intentions, neither job nor organizational engagement mediated the relationship between support and the intent to leave. Our findings advance the research on volunteer engagement, and highlight the importance of organizational engagement for this important, but too often overlooked, workforce.     

Transportation of Older People in a Rural Community

Abstract

This paper documents changes over the period 1982 to 1997 in the risks and costs of involuntary job loss among different occupational groups. Using data from the Displaced Workers Surveys, it shows that the rate of job loss increased among white-collar workers. This increased displacement risk results from the growing proportion of jobs lost because positions or shifts were abolished, a reason that likely captures the much-publicized effects of corporate restructuring. The evidence regarding occupational shifts in the costs of job loss is mixed: The reemployment rates of all occupational groups rose during the recent economic expansion, and the reemployment chances of those displaced from professional and managerial jobs remained comparatively high. However, the post-displacement wage losses of managerial employees have increased both over time and relative to those of other occupational groups. The increase in the proportionate wage loss of this occupational group is not explained by compositional effects and may be the result of organizational change.     

Assessing Public Support for State Government Social Welfare Expenditures

Abstract

This study compared two different approaches to assessing the level of public support for social welfare spending at the state government level. The first approach focuses on the degree to which the public supports state government's involvement in public welfare spending. The second approach identifies the importance the public places on social welfare spending when compared to other possible functions of state government. Using Alabama data, the paper examined changes in general and comparative public support for state budget expenditures from 1980 to 2000 in Alabama. In addition, we examined the effectiveness of sociodemographic and attitudinal characteristics of respondents as predictors of both general and comparative support for three social welfare functions of state government. Support for “benefits for poor people” grew both generally and comparatively in the 20-year period; support for programs for older people remained steady; and support for mental health services declined. Sociodemographic predictors of general and comparative sup port were generally consistent with a self-interest model     

Health Services Utilization Among Graduate Students: Patterns of Use,Access, and Satisfaction

Abstract

Utilization of health services by graduate students has been a neglected area of college health research. This paper describes the access problems and utilization patterns of a systematic random sample of the graduate student population at the University of Mississippi.

Survey methodology was used to assess sociodemographic, health status, and attitudinal characteristics of the study sample. In addition to type and number of visits for various health services, other utilization-related items included access to and satisfaction with care, and information received about these health services.

The results indicated that graduate students and their dependents were reliant to a large degree on local health care. Inadequacy of information was viewed as a major problem relating to access. Satisfaction with care appeared to be a function of the quality of care received.     

Downsizing Survival: The Experience of Work and Organizational Commitment

Although downsizing has become a common feature of American workplaces, the existing literature has focused on the effects of how downsizing is conducted, rather than considering how downsizing affects the experience of work for downsizing survivors. Using data from the 1997 National Employee Survey and structural modeling techniques, this study compares downsizing survivors and workers unaffected by downsizing on a variety of sociodemographic indicators, job characteristics, and organizational environment measures in order to explain the lower levels of organizational commitment among survivors. The model in which downsizing survival was directly and indirectly associated with commitment was generally supported. Survivors reported less commitment than unaffected workers. In addition, downsizing survival was positively associated with job-related stress and negatively associated with perceived organizational support, which translated into survivors' lower levels of commitment. This research suggests that organizations that downsize should consider ways to redesign work processes so as to reduce job-related stress and should engage in organizational practices that demonstrate organizational support for surviving employees.     

Tuning-In 1 to Organizational Song as Aesthetic Discourse

In this article, the author explores organizational songs, referring to songs that are created by members of an organization as an expression of organizational culture. More specifically, the author is concerned with organizational songs as an expression of organizational culture, versus the better-known occupational songs that act as an expression of occupational culture. First, the study differentiates the genre of work songs (defined by the occupation of 'laborer') to discern organizational songs (defined by the occupation of "manager"). Second, this exploration reveals a musical expression of organizations; a musical expression that also serves as a form of organizational communication or organizational discourse--specifically an aesthetic communication or aesthetic discourse. A significance for organizational studies is asserted, as the study identifies organizational songs as expressive strategies: song as a form of organizational action and an attempt at organizational intervention; song as an organization's attempt to construct its own history and autobiography; and song as a means of celebrating the identity of organizational leaders and organizational values. The approach is to provide a comprehensive literature review followed by case vignettes of organizational songs.     

The impact of labor shortage on the employee commitment

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the impact of the shortage of labor on individuals’ workplace attitudes, strangely their commitment. It is beneficial for organizations to develop their management strategies in view of employees’ loyalty attitudes. As a conceptual paper, the article contains a theoretical deduction. The characteristics of the labor market (macro level), the organizational needs and responses (meso level), and the set of the employees’ commitment (micro level) are linked to a theoretical process. According to our results, the average levels of the different dimensions of employee commitment will be changed in the future. The levels of continuance commitment and professional commitment will be higher, while the levels of deliberate commitment and affective commitment will be lower in the employee commitment profiles. By increasing continuance commitment and professional commitment, the toolkit of the HR strategy needs to be transformed to make it more relevant external motivation tools and training-development solutions. Meanwhile, it is important to note that the interactions among the employees will be less frequent and they will have less affection for their workplace. Labor shortage transforms individuals’ workplace attitudes. Understanding of employees’ decisions to maintain their organizational membership is supported by the relationships found in this research.     

Variables related to patterns of union Stewards’ commitment

This article examines whether the union and employer commitment of stewards can be predicted by the same antecedent factors and whether any o f those factors are related to dual or unilateral commitment. It modifies a conceptual framework of organizational commitment to recognize the presence of a union and then applies that framework to both union and employer commitment. The analysis found that the predictors of union and employer commitment were mostly different, and structural characteristics of the union, employer, and work significantly differentiated between stewards with high and low dual commitment and between standards with high and low unilateral commitment.     

General Statement of Ethical Principles and Guidelines

Objective: The authors examined the effects of relational commitment (high commitment versus low commitment) and relationship maintenance goals (high threat versus low threat) on decisions to request the use of a condom. Methods: The authors conducted a 2-part study using a survey of responses to hypothetical scenarios and decisions in actual relationships. Results: Results indicated that people with high relational commitment were less likely to request a condom than were people with low relational commitment. People who perceived threats to relationship maintenance goals if a condom was requested were less likely to request a condom than were people who did not perceive threats to relationship maintenance goals. Conclusions: Findings from this study highlight the influence that relational threats and commitment levels have on condom use decision making.     

AN ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORK SATISFACTION AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

This article investigates the interrelationship between individual characteristics, work rewards, work satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Data obtained from 1,385 workers representing a variety of occupational groups are analyzed. Generally, the data suggest that individual characteristics have very little impact on either satisfaction or commitment, while work rewards are found to be better predictors of satisfaction than commitment. More important, the data further indicate that satisfaction and commitment have reciprocal effects; however, it appears that satisfaction has a significantly greater effect on commitment than the reverse. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Using the integrative model of behavioral prediction to understand college students’ STI testing beliefs,intentions, and behaviors

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To identify salient behavioral determinants related to STI testing among college students by testing a model based on the integrative model of behavioral (IMBP) prediction. Participants: 265 undergraduate students from a large university in the Southeastern US. Methods:Formative and survey research to test an IMBP-based model that explores the relationships between determinants and STI testing intention and behavior. Results: of path analyses supported a model in which attitudinal beliefs predicted intention and intention predicted behavior. Normative beliefs and behavioral control beliefs were not significant in the model; however, select individual normative and control beliefs were significantly correlated with intention and behavior. Conclusions: Attitudinal beliefs are the strongest predictor of STI testing intention and behavior. Future efforts to increase STI testing rates should identify and target salient attitudinal beliefs.