| Allen and Meyers' 3-component model of organizational commitment identifies 3 mindsets that jointly influence workers' attitudes and behaviors: affective (AC), continuance (CC), and normative commitment (NC). These components collectively form the basis for the commitment profile. Despite the theoretical and practical appeal of profile approaches to commitment research, only a small number of profile-driven studies have taken place; these have yielded inconsistent numbers of profiles, generated profiles with varied commitment natures, and focused on a narrow range of outcomes. This study used cluster analysis and MANOVA to develop a 5-profile solution that best accounted for commitment component and outcome variances between profiles, using a convenience sample of more than 300 airline employees. Notable findings include that people in profiles with high relative AC and NC had higher job satisfaction, organizational and interpersonal citizenship, and leader trust, and also had lower disengagement and exhaustion, work environment stress, excuse-making and absenteeism frequencies, and resignation-related withdrawal than people in profiles with high relative CC or low commitment. No statistically significant differences emerged between profiles for interpersonal deviance, time-related stress, or retirement-related withdrawal. The study findings have strong potential benefits to society: If transformational leaders recognize the strategic importance for emphasizing individual differences in the workplace, they may use this information to improve human resources approaches that increase citizenship and address the lack of commitment in organizations that is estimated to cost more than... |
