| A number of studies have been conducted to examine ways to minimize the strain that employees experience as a result of organizational change. There has been little research, however, focused on alleviating this strain in realms outside of the organization. Self-affirmation theory (Steele, 1988) provides a framework to explore ways to minimize the strain, referred to as threat to self-integrity, that employees associate with organizational change. Based on self-affirmation theory, it is predicted that organizations can maintain or increase individuals' organizational commitment by providing employees with the opportunity to participate in activities that affirm their self-integrity outside of the organization. The present study focused on corporate volunteerism as a reaffirming activity that may alleviate change-related threat and lead to increased organizational commitment. This study examined the moderating effect of self-affirmation through corporate volunteerism on the inverse relationship between threat to self-integrity and organizational commitment. A cross-sectional survey design was utilized, involving a sample of 613 corporate employees across two companies in different industries. The model was tested in the context of small- and large-scale organizational change. Hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regression analysis. Overall, the results indicated that a relationship exists between corporate volunteerism and organizational commitment. There was limited support, however, for the moderating effect of corporate volunteerism during times of organizational change. An alternative model was tested, providing support for the mediating effect of self-affirmation on the relationship between corporate volunteerism and organizational commitment. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. |
