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Journal of Applied Psychology1993, Vol.78, No. 4,538-551

Copyright 1993 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.0021-9010/93/$3.00

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 gen eralizability of J. P.Meyer and N. J. Allen's (1991) 3-component model oforganizational commitment to the domain of occupational commitm ent. Measures of affective,

continuance, and normativ e commitment to occupation were developed and used to test hypothe-ses concerning their differential relations with antecedent an d consequence variables. Confirma-

tory factor analyses conducted on data collected from samples of student and registered nursesrevealed that the 3 component measures of occupational commitment were distinguishable from

on e another and from measures of the 3 components of organizational commitment. Results ofcorrelation and regression analyses were generally consistent with predictions made on the basis of

the 3-component model and demonstrated that occupational and organizational commitmentcontrib ute independen tly to the prediction of professional activity and w ork behav ior.

Although commitment ha s been a subject of interest forsome time, the past decade has seen a steady increase in the

attention given to stu dying it. Not only has the num ber of stud-iesdirectly concerned with the development and consequences

of comm itment increased dramatically, but also commitmen t isoften included as a variable in studies where it is not the pri-mary focus of attention. Indeed, commitment has begun torival job satisfaction in this regard. Commitment theory and

research hav e also b een the subjects of several critical reviews inrecent years (e.g., 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 andresearch. Two of these are of particular importance for thepresent research. First, it has become increasingly apparentthat com mitment is a complex and multifaceted construct. Formany years theorists an d researchers have been defining an doperationalizing commitment in different ways, and, as a re-sult, it has been difficult to synthesize the results of the accu-mulating research. It is now acknowledged that commitment

John P. Meyer and Catherine A. Smith, Department of Psychology;Natalie J. Allen, Centre fo r Administrative an d Information Studies;University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.

This research wa s supported by research grants from the Social

Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (410-89-370)an d from Imperial Oil.

We thank the School of Nursing at Queen's University, the College ofNurses of Ontario, and the m any student nurse s and registered nurseswho participated in this research. Particular appreciation is extendedto R ita Ma loney and Ena Howse, at Queen's University, and to MarilynRewak, at the College of Nurses of Ontario, for their assistance inaccessing the research participants. Finally,we gratefully acknowledgethe assistance of Annette Chauvin, Alanna Leffley, Tram Nguyen,Joseph Tavares, and Sue Tessier in data collection and analysis.

Correspondence concerning t his article should be addressed to John P.Meyer, Departm ent of Psychology, Social Science Centre, University ofWestern Ontario, London, Ontario, C anada N6A 5C2.

can take different forms, and it is therefore imperative thatresearchers state clearly what form or forms of com mitm entthey are interested in and that they ensure that the measuresthey use are appropriate for the intended purpose. Second,there has been a broadening of the dom ain within which com-mitment is studied. Some of the earliest and most influentialwork within the organizational behavior literature (e.g., Bu -chanan, 1974; Mowday, Steers, & Porter, 1979; Porter, Steers,

Mowday, & Boulian, 1974; Steers, 1977) examined employees'commitment to their employers, commo nly refe rred to as orga-

nizational commitment. More recently, there ha s been an in-

crease in research examining commitment to unions (e.g., Full-

agar & Barling, 1989; G ordon, Philpot, Burt, Thompson, &

Spiller, 1980), employment (e.g., Jackson, Stafford, Banks, &Warr, 1983), professions (e.g., Aranya, Pollock, & Amernic,1981; Morrow & Wirth, 1989), careers (e.g., Arnold, 1990; Blau,1985,1988,1989), and so on .

Unfortunately, these tw o developments have taken placesomewhat independently. Consequently, researchers examiningcommitment to entities other th an em ploying organizations of-

ten view commitment as a unidimensional construct (e.g., Ar-anya et al., 1981; Blau, 1985; Jackson et al., 1983). In cases inwhich commitment is considered multidimensional, the di-mensions tend to be dom ain specific. For example, the me asureof union commitment developed by Gordon et al. (1980) wa sfound to reflect four underlying dimensions: union loyalty, re-

sponsibility to the union , w illingness to work for the union,and belief in u nionism . To date there has not been a systematicattempt 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 commitmentwithin these various domains. This isparticularly important as

attention begins to focus on the impact of dual or multiplecommitments (e.g., T. E. Becker, 1992; Darden, Hampton, &Howell, 1989; Gordon & Ladd, 1990; Reichers, 1986; Steffy &

Jones, 1988).We undertook this research to examine the generalizability

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540 J. M E Y E R , N. ALLEN, AND C. SMITH

the meaning of career. Career can be denned as a planned pat-tern of work from entry into the work force to retirement or asinvolvement in a particular job, organization, occupation, orprofession. Because we were interested in assessing commit-ment to a particular line of work, we felt that the term occupa-

tion was more appropriate.

Th e value of taking a multidimensional approach to the

study of occupational commitment is that, as in the case oforganizational commitment, it provides a more complete un-derstanding of a person's tie to his or her occupation. Althoughall three forms of commitment might be related to an indiv id-ual's likelihood of remaining in an occupation, the n ature ofthe person's involvement in tha t occupation might be quite dif-ferent depending on which form of commitment is predomi-

nant. A person who is affectively committed (i.e., has a strongdesire to rem ain in the occupation) might be m ore likely thansomeone w ho is not so attached to keep up with dev elopmentsin the occupation (e.g., by subscribing to trade journals or at-

tending conferences), to join and participate in relevant associa-tions, and so on. The same might be true of individuals who

have a strong normative commitment (i.e., a sense of obligationto remain). In contrast, individu als who have a strong continu-ance com mitm ent (i.e., who recognize high costs associatedwith leaving the occupation) might be less inclined tha n thosewh o remain for other reasons to involve themselves in occupa-tional activities besides those required to continue member-ship. As hasbeen found to be the case with organizational com-mitment (e.g., Meyer et al., 1989), continuance comm itment tothe occupation migh t be expected to correlate negatively withthe tendency to engage in behav iors that are beneficial from thestandpoint of the occupation or profession (e.g., promotion ofthe occupation to the pub lic or compliance w ith professionalstandards).

As was true in the case of organizational commitment de-

scribed earlier, we also expected the antecedents of the threecomponents of occupational commitment to differ. Affective

commitment was expected to develop when involv ement in theoccupation proved to be a satisfying experience (e.g., providedthe opportunity to do satisfying work or afforded the opportu-nity to develop valued skills). Continuancecommitment should

have developed as the individual made investments (side bets)that would be lost or reduced in value if he or she were tochange occupations. Exam ples of such inv estments are the sta-tus associated with membership in an occupation and the timean d effort pu t into a cquiring occupation-specific skills. Finally,normative commitment was expected to develop as the result ofthe internalization of normative pressures to pursue a course of

action, and the receipt of benefits that created a sense of obliga-tion to reciprocate. For example, being a member of a family

with a history of involvement in a particular occupation orreceiving financial support to pursue a career could contributeto the development of normative commitment.

Research O bjectives and Ov erview

We conducted this research to develop measures of affective,

continuance, and normative commitment to occupations and

to use these measures to test the generalizability of Meyer and

Allen's (1991) three-component model. To develop measures,

we followed procedures similar to those used by Allen an dMeyer (1990) in the dev elopment of their organizational com-mitment scales. To test the generalizability of the three-com-ponent model, we correlated the occupational commitmentmeasures with variables identified aspotential antecedents and

consequences of comm itment. Finally, in response to concernsthat have b een raised in the literature about the proliferation of

commitment measures (e.g., Morrow, 1983), we attempted todemonstrate that organizational an d occupational commit-ment are relatively independent constructs and that each con-tributes uniquely to the understanding of, and ability to pre-dict, work behavior.

We conducted the research with tw o samples of participantsinvolved in a single occupation, nursing. The first sample con-sisted of student nurses; the second sample was composed ofregistered nurses who, as a group, had considerable experiencein the nursing profession. W e collected data from the student-nurse sample primarily to develop scales, but we measuredsome additional v ariables to use in testing the differential-rela-

tions hypothesis. For example, we expected satisfaction with

the n ursing program to correlate positively with affective com-mitment, and possibly with normative commitment, to thenursing profession, but not with continuance commitment. W e

expected th at continuance comm itment would increase as stu-dents progressed through the 4-year program because of theincreased time an d effort they had invested. Finally, we ex-pected that affective and normative commitment would beposi-

tively associated with extracurricular nursing-related activities(e.g., hav ing a sum mer job related to nursing) and with the in-tention to establish a long-term career in nursing. Theoretically,continuance commitment should also tie individuals to theiroccupation. Bu t because these students were in the very earlystages of their nursing careers, it was not clear wh ether we couldexpect continuance commitment to correlate with long-term

intentions. We did expect, how ever, that continuance com mit-ment, in and of itself, would not b e related to students' involve-ment in nursing-related activities beyond those required fortheir degrees.

Th e questionnaires adm inistered to registered nurses con-tained a much wider range of variables and afforded a better

opportunity to test the differential-relations hypothesis. We ex-pected that affective commitment to the occupation would begreater among those nurses who were satisfied with theircurren t em ploymen t situation (e.g., where they worked and thework they w ere doing). W e expected continuance commitm entto correlate positively with variables reflecting increased in-vestment in the professio n (e.g., age, years in nursing, an d full-

time as opposed to pa rt-time status). Finally, we expected nor-

mative commitment to be greater among those nurses with a

strong general sense of obligation to others.The outcome variables examined w ith the registered-nurse

sample can b e divided into tw o groups: those that are of directrelevance to the profession (e.g., intention to leave nursing andprofessional involvement) and those that are relevant to theemploying organization (e.g., intention to leave the organiza-tion, performance, and citizenship). Although commitment tothe nursing profession should have a greater impact on theformer, we expected that commitment would also affect thelatter. W e expected all three compon ents o f occupational com-

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COMM ITMENT TO ORGANIZATIONS AND OCCUPATIONS 541

mitment to be negatively related to intention to leave the nurs-

ing profession (and possibly the organization); however, we ex-

pected, consistent with previous research (e.g., Meyer et al,

1989), that affective commitment would be positively asso-

ciated, and continuance commitment negatively associated,

with activities that benefit the profession, the organization, or

both (e.g., professional involvement and job performance).

There is less basis for prediction concerning links with norma-tive commitment, but, given the nature of the construct, we

expected that it would be positively associated with desirable

professional and organizational activities.

Method

Participants and Data Co llection Procedures

We collected data for this study from two samples, one consisting ofstudent nurses and the other o f registered nurses.

Student Nurses

For 2 consecutive academic years (1988-1989 and 1989-1990), we

collected data at the b eginning and the end of the year from students ina 4-year nursing program at Queen's University, Kingsto n, Ontario. Forpurposes of this study, we combined data obtained in the first andsecond years of the study. Questionnaires were administered duringregular class meetings in required courses. This ensured that we w ouldreach the majority of students in each year of the program.

The first questionnaire was administered in September, approxi-mately 2 weeks after the start of classes, and was completed by 366students. Of these, 123 were in the first year of the program, 90 were inthe second year, 79 were in the third year, and 74 were in the final year.

The average age of participants at this administration was 21.68 years.Nine of the student s were men and 352 were women; 5 students did notindicate their sex. The second questionnaire was administered inMarch during the second to the last w eek of classes in the winter termand was completed by 296 students (286 women , 8 men, and 2 who didnot report t heir sex). The number of students in successive years of theprogram was 98,83,63, and 52, respectively.The averageage of respon-dents was 21.98 years.

Registered Nurses

Questionnaires were mailed to 1,000 randomly chosen registerednurses from the membership of the College of Nurses of Ontario. Of

the questionnaires delivered (24 were returned undelivered), 603 werereturned w ith usable data, fora response rate of6I.8%. Of those wh oparticipated, 98% were women, 79% were married, 56% worked full

time, 35% worked part time, 2% were casual employees, and 7% wereno t currently employed. Average tenure in the nursing profession wa sapproximately 15 years. Of those who were employed, the majoritywere staff nurses (64%); head nurses composed the next largest grouprepresented (10%). The majority of the participants were working ingeneral hospitals (55%); others were doing hom e or extended care (9%)

or were working in doctors'offices (5%), nursing homes (4%), psychiat-ric hospitals (4%), educational institutions (3%), public health (3%), andother settings (12%). Participants ranged in age from 21 to 70 years,with a m ean age of 40 years.

Measures

Student Nurses

Commitment , Questionnaires administered to the student nursesincluded 30 items, each of which was written to assess affective, contin-uance, or normative commitment to the nursing profession. Responsesto these items were made on 7-point scales (1 = strongly disagree and 7

= strongly agree). Because one purpose of this study was to developmeasures of three components of occupational commitment, we in-cluded m ore items than we would ultimately use. This allowed us theflexibility to condu ct item analyses and select the best items for inclu-sion in the comm itment scales.

Antecedent and outcome variables. Other measures obtained to

demonstrate construct validity of the commitment scales included sat-isfaction with the nursing program, involvement in career-relatedwork, and career plans. W e assessed satisfaction wit h the nursing pro-

gram by asking students to indicate, on a 7-point scale, how satisfiedthey were with course v ariety, course content, quality of instruction,amount of practical experience, and quality of practical experience.We averaged responses to these questions to form a composite index ofsatisfaction with the nursing program.

We assessed involvement in career-related work in both question-

naires. At the beginning of the academic year, we asked studentswhether they had worked at nursing-related jobs the previous summer(1 = no and 2 = yes); at the end of the year, we asked whether they had anursing-related summ er job lined up or if they planned to look for on e(1 = no, and not looking and 2 = yes, or no, but looking).

Finally, we asked students, at both the beginning and end of the year,to indicate whether they planned to continue to w ork full time in somecapacity in the nursing profession unt il they retired and whether theyexpected to change careers and do something unrelated to nursing. W ealso asked them to estimate the numb er of years they expected to workin the nursing profession and the total num ber of years they expectedto remain in the work force. W e standardized the ratio of years innursing to years in the work force and combined it with standardizedscores on t he work-full-time and change-career items to yield a compos-

ite measure of plans to continue in nursing.

Registered Nurses

The questionnaire administered to our registered-nurse sample wasquite extensive and was designed to address a variety of issues. Thevariables of particular interest for this study were the occupational andorganizational commitment scales, as well as several variables identi-fied as potential antecedents and consequences of com mitment.

Commitment. The affective, continuance, and normative occupa-tional-commitment scales included on this questionnaire each com-prised six items selected on the basis of item analyses conducted withthe student-nurse sample (to be described later). The correspondingorganizational commitment scales were modified versions of thosereported by Allen and Meyer (1990). Modification in the case of affec-

tive comm itment included eliminating the two items found to have th eweakest loadings on the relevant factor in the confirmatory factoranalyses (CFAs) reported by Meyer et al. (1990). These items were ex-cluded m ore for the sake of brevity than because they were inappropri-ate items. To increase clarity,we removed three items from the Continu-ance Commitment Scale, including two reverse-keyed items, andadded a new item modified from the new occupational commitmentscale (i.e., "If I had not already put so much of myself into this organiza-tion, I m ight consider w orking elsewhere"). C hanges to the N ormativeCo mmitment Scale were more extensive. Items were rewritten to em-phasize mo re clearly the sense of obligation to the organization t hat ischaracteristic of normative commitment as conceptualized by Meyerand Allen (1991). Responses w ere made on 7-point scales (1 = strongly

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542 J. MEYER, N. ALLEN, AND C. SMITH

disagree and 7 = strongly agree) and were av eraged to yield compositecommitment scores.

Antecedent a nd consequence variables. Th e demographic and em-

ployment v ariables we examined in this study as correlates of com mit-ment included age, years in n ursing, and employm ent sta tus (1 = ca -

sual 2 = part t ime, and 3 = full time). W e also asked nu rses to indicatewhether they were working in the clinical area of their choice and in

the geographic area of their choice.We assessed job satisfaction using Quinn and Staines's (1979) five-

item Facet-Free measure. The nurses' general sense of obligation toothers was assessed using a five-item scale developed for this study.Items were written to reflect a general belief in, and need to fulfill,

one's obligations to others (e.g., "There are things in life that on e oughtto do w hether he/she likes it or not" and "I feel obligated to live up tothe expectations of those who have helped me along the way"). Re-sponses were made on 7-point scales (1 = strongly disagree and 7 =strongly agree) and were averaged across items to yield composite sense

of ob ligation scores.

Among the outcome variables considered were self-report m easuresof behavioral intentions, behav ior, and p erform ance of relevance to the

nursing profession, to the organization, or to both. Th e outcomes ofmost direct relevance to the profession included intention to leave the

profession and professional involv ement. Organization-relevant out-comes included intention to leave the organization as well as severalmeasures of on-the-job activities.

We measured in tention to leave the nur sing profession with threeitems asking participants how frequently they thought ab out gettingout o f nursing, how likely it was that they w ould explore other career

opportunities, and how likely it was that they would leave the nursingprofession within the next year. Responses were made on appropri-ately labeled 7-point scales and were av eraged across items to yieldcomposite intention scores.

We assessed professional involvement using a measure that was

based on an instrument developed by Kramer (1974). Participantswere asked to indicate on 4- to 6-point scales how many professionalcourses they had taken since becoming a nurse (adjusted for years innursing), how man y journals they currently subscribed to or read on a

regular basis, how many professional books they had purchasedwithin the last 5 years, their degree of involvement in professionalassociations, an d the amo unt of nursing-related volun teer work they

had done. Responses to these questions were standardized and com-bined to form a composite professional-activity score.

We measured intention to leave the organization with three itemsparalleling those in the intention-to-leave-the-occupation measure.Specifically, we asked nurses how frequently they thought about leav-

ing their current employer, ho w likely it was that they would search fora job in another organization, and how likely it was that they wouldactually leave the organization within the next year. Responses were

madeon appropriatelylabeled 7-point scales and were averaged across

items to yield intention-to-leav e scores.

Among the on-the-job behaviors we measured were three modes ofresponding to dissatisfaction at work identified by Hirschman (1970)and Farrell (1983): voice, loyalty, and neglect. (Note that exit, the othermajor response variable identified by Farrell, 1983, and by Hirsch-

man, 1970, was measured as inten tion to leave the organization). Voice,loyalty, and neglect we re each assessed with two-item measures that wedeveloped for this study. The voice items reflected a willingness tomake suggestions for improv ement (e.g., "Wh en I see ways that patientcare can be improved I generally try to bring it to the attention of mysuperiors"). Th e loyalty items reflected a willingness to accept thingsas they are (e.g., "I generally tru st the judgment of the decision-makersin this organization"). The neglect items reflected passive withdrawalin the face of dissatisfaction (e.g., "I get so frustrated at time s with theway things get done in this organization that I just stop caring"). Re-

sponses were made on 7-point scales (1 = strongly disagree and 7 =

strongly agree) and were averaged to form composite scores for voice,loyalty, and neglect.

We also obtained self-report measures of absenteeism, tardiness, jobperformance, an d organizational citizenship. W e asked participants to

indicate how man y days in the past year they had been absent from

scheduled work. To help distinguish voluntary from involuntary ab-

sence, we also asked them to indicate how many of these days weremissed because they "didn't feel like going to work." Tardiness wa smeasured by asking participants to indicate on a 7-point rating scalehow frequently they arrived for work at least 10 min late.

We assessed job performance with two items. We first asked partici-

pants to indicate the ov erall evalua tion they received from their super-visor on the ir most recent performance appraisal. W e then asked themto provide their own assessment of their overall performance. Bothratings were made on 7-point scales (1 = p o o r and 7 = excellent).

We measured organizational citizenship using scales we developedspecifically for this study. Several items were writt en to describe behav-iors that reflect good or poor (reverse-keyed) examples of organiza-tional citizenship (as described by Organ, 1987) within a nursing con-text. A principal-components analysis led to the identification of twocitizenship factors that we labeled Helping Others (four items, e.g.,

"When my own work is completed, I try to help other nurses who mayhave a particularly heavy load") and Use of Time (five items, e.g.,"When my work load gets particularly heavy, I wo rk extra hou rs [e.g.,through breaks or lunch, ov ertime] withou t pay to get things done ontime"). Responses were made on 7-point scales (1 = strongly disagree

and 7 = strongly agree) and were averaged across items.

Results

Scale Development

Our first objective in analyzing the student-nurse data was to

identify items to be included in measures of affective, continu-

ance, and normative commitment to the nursing profession. We

conducted principal-components analyses on the 30 commit-

ment items. Analyses of data obtained at both the beginningand end of the year revealed that items generally loaded on the

factor representing the construct they were intended to mea-

sure. In selecting items, we examined the pattern of loadings

over the two analyses, looking for items with consistently high

loadings on the intended factor and low loadings on the other

two factors. We also tried to minimize item redundancy. The

final scales each included 6 items.

To determine whether the three commitment scales indeed

measured distinct constructs, weconducted CFAsof the covari-

ance matrices derived from the data obtained from the student-

and registered-nurse samples. We obtained maximum likeli-

hood solutions using LISREL 7 (Joreskog & Sorbom, 1989).

Only the analysis conducted on the registered-nurse samplewas

truly confirmatory; the results of the analyses conducted with

the student-nurse data were biased by the fact that items were

selected on the basis of earlier analyses. Nevertheless, these

additional analyses allowed us to determine whether an oblique

three-factor structure fit the data better than an alternative

structure. The alternative structures chosen for comparison

were a one-factor solution (all commitment items loading on

one factor) and an oblique two-factor solution (affective and

normative commitment items defining one factor and continu-

ance commitment defining the other). Inclusion of the two-fac-

tor model was based on the previous finding that affective and

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COMMITMENT TO ORGANIZATIONS AND OCCUPATIONS 543

Table 1Overall Fit Indexes for O ccupational Commitment Scales

Model d f RN I PNFI

Nursing students: beginningof year (N = 312)

Null model

1 factor2 factors3 factors

7,871.98

1,005.51597.66347.88

171135134132

—.887.940.972

—.782.823.845

Nursing students:end of year (N = 275)

Null model1 factor2 factors3 factors

6,455.651,165.08

679.85353.42

171135134132

—

.836

.913

.965

—.738.800.833

Registered nurses (N = 530)

Null model1 factor2 factors3 factors

16,644.641,602.871,037.79

475.72

171145134132

—.911.945.979

—

.804

.828

.845

Note. Dashes indicate that the fit index was not applicable to the nullmodel. RNI = relative noncentrality index; PNFI = parsimoniousnormed-fit index.

normative commitment, although distinct, are positively corre-

lated (Allen & Meyer, 1990).

We assessed the fit of the various models by computing two

indexes: the relative noncentrality index (RNI; McDonald &

Marsh, 1990) and the parsimonious normed-fit index (PNFI;

Mulaik et al, 1989). For both indexes, higher values indicate

better fit to the data; the PNFI corrects for the number of pa-

rameters estimated (see Mulaik et al., 1989). The RNI and

PNFI values for the various modelsare reported, along with thechi-square valueson which they were based, in Table 1. As can

be seen, the three-factor solution provided the best fit to the

data, even when a correction was made for the greater number

of estimated parameters.

Examination of the correlations among the factors in the

three-factor solution revealed that, as expected, affective and

normative commitment to the nursing profession correlated

significantly in all three data sets (M = .403). The correlation

between affective and continuance commitment was somewhat

smaller and negative, but was also significant (M = -.227).

There was also a low, but significant, positive correlation be-

tween continuance an d normative commitment (M = .234).

To determine whether occupational commitment could be

distinguished from organizational commitment, weconducted

a further CFA using the registered-nurse data. Here we com-

pared the fit of a six-factor solution (three occupational- and

three organizational-commitment factors) with the fit of a

three-factor solution in which all affective commitment items

defined one factor, all continuance commitment items a second

factor, and all normative commitment items a third factor. The

fit indexes are reported in Table 2. As can be seen, the six-factor

solution provided the better fit. The scale items and their load-

ings on the six factors are reported in Table 3.

Correlations among the commitment factors are presented in

Table 4. The largest correlations across domains (i.e., occupa-

tional and organizational commitment) tended to be between

corresponding forms of commitment. The largest of these

correlations wasbetween continuance commitment to the oc-

cupation and to the organization. Those nurses whoindicated

that it would be costly to leave their current employers also

indicated that it would be costly to leave the nursing profession.

Correlations between constructs within domain were similar tothose obtained in the analysis of the occupational commitment

items reported above, and in previous CFAs of the organiza-

tional commitment scales. The one exception to this is a larger

than expected correlation between affective and normative

commitment to the organization.

Correlates o f Occupational Commitment Among

Student Nurses

The means, standard deviations, and reliability estimates (co-

efficient alpha) for variables included in the correlation analy-

ses conducted on the student-nurse data are reported in Table 5.The correlations are reported in Table 6.

Age, in spite of the restriction in range forthis sample,corre-

lated negatively with affective commitment an d positively with

continuance commitment both at the beginning and end of the

year. Year in the program correlated positively with continu-

ance commitment and negatively with affective and normative

commitment on both occasions of measurement. Thus, as stu-

dents progress through the nursing program, their recognition

of the cost associated with leaving the nursing profession in-

creases but their desire and sense of obligation to remain de-

creases. Asexpected, affective commitment to the nursing pro-

fession correlated significantly (positively) with ratings of satis-

faction with the nursing program when both are measured early

in the academic year. However, the correlation between thesemeasures obtained near the end of the year was not significant.

By examining the behaviorand behavior-intention measures,

one can see that continuance commitment measured at the

beginning of the year correlated positively with reports of hav-

ing had a nursing-related job the previous summer. Affective

commitment measured at the end of the year correlated posi-

tively with having secured, or intending to look for,a nursing-

related job during the upcoming break. Thus, whereas the per-

ceived cost associated with leaving the nursing profession is

greater among those who have already had nursing experience,

Table 2Overall Fit Indexes for Occupational- and

Organizat ional -Commitment Scales

Model

Null model3 factors6 factors

x2

36,838.972,851.371,588.15

d f

66 6591579

RNI

_.938.972

PNFI

.880

.893

Note. N = 530 for all models. Dashes indicate that the fit index wasno t applicable to the null model. RNI = relative noncentrality index;PNFI = parsimonious normed-fit index.

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544 J. M E Y E R , N. ALLEN, AND C. SMITH

Table 3

Standardized Parameter Estimates for Six-Factor Solution

ItemParameterestimate Item

Parameterestimate

Factor 1

Nursing is importa nt to my self-image. .406I regret hav ing entered the nu rsing profession. (R) .736I am proud to be in the nursing profession. .709I dislike being a nurse. (R) .819I do not identify with the nursing profession. (R) .639I am enthusiastic about nursing. .733

Factor 2

I have put too much into the nursing profession .469to consider changing now.

Chan ging professions now would be difficult for .693me to do.Too mu ch of my life would b e disrupted if I were .754

to change my profession.It would be costly for me to change my profession .590

now.There are no pressures to keep me from changing .347

professions. (R)Changing professions now would require .631

considerable personal sacrifice.

Factor 3

I believe people who have been trained in a .561profession have a responsibility to stay in that

profession for a reasonable period of time.I do not feel any obligation to remain in the .596nursing profession. (R)

I feel a responsibility to the n ursing profession to .792continue in it.

Even if it were to my advantage, I do not feel that .647it would be right to leave nursing now.

I would feel guilty if I left nursing. .580I am in nursing because of a sense of loyalty to it. .645

Factor 4

I would be very happy to spend the rest of my .645career w ith this organization.I really feel as if this organization's problems are .410

my own.I do not feel a strong sense of "belonging" to my .735

organization. (R)I do not feel "emotionally attached" to this .680

organization. (R )I do not feel like "part of the fam ily" at my .735

organization. (R)This organization has a great deal of personal .749

meaning for me.

Factor 5

Right now, staying with my organization is a .504matter of necessity as much as desire.

It would be very hard for me to leave my .592organization right now, even if I wanted to.Too much of my life would be disrupted if I .678

decided I wanted to leave my organization now .I feel that I have too few options to consider .700

leaving this organization.If I had not already put so muc h of myself into .454

this organization, I might consider workingelsewhere.

One of the few negative consequences of leaving .483this organization would be the scarcity ofavailable alternatives.

Factor 6

I do not feel any obligation to remain with my .580current employer. (R)

Even if it were to my advantage, I do not feel it .638would be right to leave my organization now.I would feel guilty if I left my organization now. .658This organization deserves my loyalty. .718I would not leave my organization right now .735

because I have a sense of obligation to thepeople in it.

I owe a great deal to my organization . .691

Note. Factors 1-3 reflect affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the occupation, respectively; Factors 4-6 reflect affective,continuance, and normative commitment to the organization , respectively. Only estimated parameters are reported here; all other values werefixed at zero. All parameter estimates reported here are significant (p < .05). (R) = reverse keyed.

desire to remain in the profession is associated with efforts to

obtain such experience.

Both affective and normative commitment correlated signifi-

cantly in a positive direction with intention to remain in the

nursing profession. Continuance commitment correlated nega-

tively with intention to continue in nursing, although only the

correlation for data obtained at the beginning of the year was

significant.

To determine whether the three components of occupational

commitment contributed independently to the prediction of

intention to continue in nursing, we regressed the intention

measure on the three commitment scales. For data obtained at

the beginningof the year, commitment accounted for 10% of

the variance in intention to continue, and both continuance

commitment (0 = —.20) and normative commitment (0 = .20)made significant independent contributions to prediction.

Commitment measured at the end of the year also accounted

for 10% of the variance in intention, with affective commitment

( ft = .24) and normative commitment (0 = . 18) making signifi-

cant independent contributions to prediction.

Correlates of Occupational and Organizat ionalCommitment Among Registered Nurses

Means, standard deviations, and reliability estimates for the

variables included in the correlational analyses are reported in

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COMMITMENT TO ORGANIZATIONS AN D OCCUPATIONS 54 5

Table 4

Corre la t ions Among Latent Variables in Six-Factor Solution

1 .2.

3.4.5.6.

Latentvariable

ACS-OCCCCS-OCC

NCS-OCCACS-ORGCCS-ORGNCS-ORG

1

_-.117*

.485*

.431*-.191*

.355*

2

—

.215*

.027

.743*

.119*

3

—.333*.152*.618*

4

—

-.062.737*

5 6

—.151* —

Note. ACS-OCC = affective commitment to the occupation;CCS-OCC = continuance commitment to the occupation; NCS-OCC =normative commitment to the occupation; ACS-ORG = affectivecommitment to the organization; CCS-ORG = continuancecommitment to the organization; NCS-ORG = normative commit-ment to the organization.* p < 05.

Table 7. The correlations are reported in Table 8. With one

exception (age and continuance commitment to the occupa-

tion), all three forms of commitment to the profession and to

the organization correlated significantly and positively withage

and years in nursing.Affective commitment to both the organi-

zation and occupation were positivelycorrelated with ratings of

whether the individual was currently working in the clinical

area, and in the geographical location, of his or her choice.

Ratingsof job satisfaction correlated positivelywith affective

and normative commitment and negatively with continuance

commitment to both the occupation and organization. As ex-

pected, normative commitment both to the organization and

the occupation correlated positivelywith the sense of obligation

to others. Continuance commitment to the organization and to

the occupation also correlated positively with sense of obliga-

tion.As expected, all three forms of commitment to the occupa-

tion correlated negatively with intention to leave the nursing

profession. Affective and normative commitment also corre-

lated positivelywith involvement in professional activities; con-

tinuance commitment did not correlate significantly. The orga-

nizational commitment measures also correlated significantly

with intention to leave the occupation and with professional

activity. Specifically, affective and normative commitment were

negatively related to intention to leave. Normative commitment

was positively related and continuance commitment was nega-

tively related to professional activity.

Both organizational and occupational commitment corre-

lated significantly with several of the organization-relevant out-

come measures. For example, affective and normative commit-

ment to both the organization and the occupation correlated

negatively with intention to leave the organization. These same

commitment variables correlated positively with two of the re-

sponses to dissatisfaction, voiceand loyalty, and negatively with

a third, neglect. They also correlated positively with effective

use of time and negativelywith voluntary absence. Both contin-

uance commitment to the organization and continuance com-

mitment to the occupation correlated positively with the ne-

glect measure. Only the organizational commitment measures

correlated significantly with supervisor performance-appraisal

estimates. Consistent with previous findings (Meyer et al.,1989), affective commitment correlated positively and continu-

ance commitment correlated negatively with reported supervi-

sor evaluation of performance.

It is clear from these correlations that both commitment to

the organization and commitment to the occupation are related

to occupation- and organization-relevant activities. To deter-

mine whether occupational commitment made a unique con-

tribution to the prediction of these outcome variables, we con-

ducted hierarchical regression analyses in whichweentered the

organizational commitment variables into the equations first,

followed by the occupational commitment variables. The re-

sults of these regression analyses are reported in Table 9.

Of particular interest in Table 9 is the change in the squaredmultiple correlation attributable to the inclusion of the occupa-

tional commitment measures. As can be seen, including occu-

pational commitment did increase the ability to predict impor-

tant outcome variables. Most notable was the increase in ability

Table 5

Means , Standard Deviat ions , and Reliabilities for Measures Obtained F r o m Student Nurses

Beginning of year End of year

Variable

Affective commitmentContinuance commitmentNormative commitmentAgeYear in programSatisfaction with nursing

programHad nursing-related

summer jobHave or seek nursing-related

summer jo bIntent to continue in

nursing

M

5.573.843.37

21.192.22

4.03

1.49

—

0.01

SD

1.161.411.193.591.12

1.22

0.50

—

0.77

No. ofitems

6661

1

5

1

—

3

a

.87

.79

.73NANA

.77

NA

N A

.67

M

5.383.833.30

21.512.18

4.29

—

1.85

0.07

SD

1.141.431.143.241.10

1.18

0.36

2.36

No. ofitems

66611

5

1

3

a

.85

.83

.77NANA

NA

NA

N A

.71

Note. Dashes indicate that these measures were no t obtained. NA = not applicable.

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546 J. M E Y E R , N. ALLEN, AND C. SMITH

Table 6

Correlations A m o n g Variables and the Three Components of Occupational Commitmenta t Beginning and End of Nursing Students' Academic Year

Beginning of year

Variable

AgeYear in programSatisfaction with nursing

programHad nursing-related

summer jo bHave or seek a nursing-related

summer jobIntent to continue in

nursing

AC S

-.14*-.40**

.37**

-.06

—

.59**

CC S

.33**

.49**

-.09

.25**

—

-.22**

NC S

-.10-.20**

.07

.07

—

.32**

End of year

AC S

-.14*-.39**

.05

—

.28**

.59**

CC S

.23**

.43**

-.06

—

.00

-.11

NC S

-.06-.14*

.04

—

.05

.33**

Note. Dashes indicate t hat these m easures were no t obtained. ACS = affective comm itment scale; CCS =continuan ce comm itment scale; NCS = n ormativ e comm itment scale.*p<.05. **p<.01.

to predict intention to leave the nu rsing profession. However,occupational com mitm ent also added significantly to the pre-

diction of professional activity, intention to leave the organiza-tion, loyalty, neglect, v olu nta ry absence, tardiness, helpingothers, and use of time. It should also be noted that, of theoccupational commitment measures, affective commitmentcontributed most frequently to prediction, particularly in thecase of the organization-relevant outcomes.

Discussion

Th e results of this research provide p reliminary evidence for

the generalizability of Meyer and Allen's (1991) three-compo-nent model of commitment. Specific contributions made bythe research include (a) the development of reliable measures of

affective, continuance, an d normative commitment to occupa-tions; (b) evidence that the three components of occupationalcommitment are differentially related to variables consideredto be antecedents or consequences of commitment; and (c) evi-dence that organizational and occupational commitment con-tribute independently to the prediction of important organiza-tion-relevant outcome v ariables (e.g., turnov er intention, perfor-mance, and citizenship).

Our CFAs of the occupational and organizational commit-ment measures revealed that it is indeed possible to disting uishamong three aspects of commitment, both within and acrossdoma ins. It was also apparent, however, that the components ofcommitment to occupations and organizations are not com-pletely independent. In fact, some fairly strong correlationswere identified. The positive correlation, w ithin doma in, be-tween affective an d normative commitment is consistent withprevious research (e.g., Allen & Meyer, 1990;Hackett et al.,1992; Randall et al., 1990). The correlation between affectivean d normative commitment to the organization obtained inthis study, however, was stronger tha n that found in the past.

Unfortunately, we cannot determine from the data availablewhether this difference is due to something unique about the

sample we used or to the modifications m ade to the normativecommitment scale in this study.

That a positive correlation emerged consistently between af-fective an d normative commitment might be explained, inpart, by the fact that the two have many common antecedents.Fo r example, affective an d normative commitment were found

in this study to be associated with positive wo rk experiences. Itappears that hav ing such experiences can lead one to developan affective attachment, a sense of obligation, or both, to theentity associated with those experiences (e.g., an occupation oran organization). There has not been sufficient attention givento date to the investigation of the processes by which affective

and normative commitment develop; therefore, it is not possi-

ble to predict in advance whether the dominant response willbe attachment or obligation. Moreover, although uniqu e ante-cedents of normative com mitmen t may well exist, little atten-tion ha s been paid to identifying them. Given that affective an dnormative commitment both tend to be associated with desir-able outcome variables, it might be reasonable to questionwhether these issues matter. M eyer and Allen (1991) suggested,

however, that there may be important differences in the conse-quences of affective and normative commitment. A mon g otherthings, they hypothesized th at th e beneficial effects of norma-tive commitment might be more short-lived (i.e., lasting onlyunti l a debt ha s been repaid) tha n those resulting from affective

commitment. Th e antecedents an d processes involved in thedevelopment of affective and normative commitment, there-

fore, warrant further investigation.Normative commitment was also found to correlate posi-

tively, within both the occupational and organizational do-mains, with continuan ce commitment. These correlations, al-though significant, were modest and do not challenge the prop-osition that they are different forms of commitment. Again,this positive association migh t be explained, in part, by the factthat normative and continuance commitment were found to

have common correlates. Although initially predicted to be anantecedent of normative commitment, the measure of generalsense of obligation to others wasalso found to correlate posi-

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COMMITMENT TO ORGANIZATIONS AN D OCCUPATIONS 547

Table 7

Means, Standard Deviations, and Reliabilities for Measures

Obtained From Registered Nurses

Variable

ACS-ORG

CCS-ORGNCS-ORGACS-OCCCCS-OCCNCS-OCCAgeYears in nursingEmployment statusClinical area of choiceGeographic area ofchoiceJob satisfactionSense of obligationLeave occupationProfessional activityLeave organizationVoiceLoyaltyNeglectTotal absenceVoluntary absenceTardinessSupervisor evaluation of

performanceOwn evaluation of

performanceHelping OthersUse of Time

M

3.91

4.033.045.384.733.04

39.8515.39

1.570.920.883.445.132.750.003.005.774.862.814.600.481.48

5.92

5.896.415.65

SD

1.47

1.391.411.261.371.449.708.780.550.270.321.140.681.690.581.821.071.331.50

19.361.301.02

1.10

0.790.561.05

No. ofitems

6

66666111115635322211

1

1

145

a

.82

.74

.83

.82

.76

.80NANANANANA.85.61.83.50.83.48.41.40NANANA

NA

NA.58.53

Note. ACS = affective commitment scale; CCS = continuancecommitment scale; NCS = normative commitment scale; OR Gindicates an organizational focus; OCC indicates an occupationalfocus. NA = not applicable.

lively with continuance commitment. This finding is consistent

with H. S. Becker's (1960) suggestion that "the existence of

generalized cultural expectations provides penalties fo r those

who violate them," and therefore serves as a type of "side bet"

(p. 36). Thus, feeling a need to live up to others' expectations

can contribute to either an obligation-based or cost-based com-

mitment, or both.

Correlations between affective commitment and continu-

ance commitment to both the occupation and the organization

were consistently negative. Again, however, the correlations

tended to be relatively small. The link between affective and

continuance commitment has received considerable attention

elsewhere (e.g., Hackett et al, 1992; McGee & Ford, 1987;Meyeret al., 1990)and will not be discussed further here, other than to

reiterate the call for further research to address the extent to

which the two forms of commitment might be related overtime.

We also found significant correlations between correspond-ing forms of commitment across domains. This was most evi-

dent in the case ofcontinuance commitment. One might expect

a strong correlation between continuance commitment to the

occupation and to the organization in cases in which(a) contin-

ued employment in an organization requires continued involve-

ment in the occupation, or (b) there are relatively few organiza-

tions that employ members of a particular occupation. The

former is very likely to be the case for members of the nursing

profession; the latter might also be true, particularly for nurses

working in small communities. It remains to be determined

whether the correlation between continuance commitment to

the occupation and continuance commitment to the organiza-

tion will be as large forother occupations.As noted above, the pattern of correlations obtained with

occupational commitment measures and variables identified as

potential antecedents or consequences wasgenerally consistent

with predictions generalized from Meyer and Allen's (1991)

three-component model. Affective commitment wasrelated to

positive experiences (e.g., satisfaction with the job or training

experience), continuance commitment was related to variables

reflecting increased investment (e.g., year in the nursing pro-

gram, years in nursing,and employment status), andnormative

commitment was related to positive work experiences and to a

general sense of obligation to others. Wefound that both affec-

tive and normative commitment to the occupation correlated

positively with desirable behaviors orbehavioral intentions(e.g.,

professional activity, voice, and citizenship)and negatively with

undesirable behaviors (e.g., intention to leave the occupation

and the organization, absenteeism, and neglect). On the other

hand, although negatively related to intention to leave the nurs-

ingprofession, continuance commitment was found to be gen-

erally unrelated to professional involvement and on-the-job be-

havior among registered nurses. Exceptions included a positive

correlation with neglect and, unexpectedly, a positive correla-

tion with effective use of time. These findings, then, suggest

that individualscan become bound to occupations in different

ways but that the implications fo r occupation-relevant behavior

other than intention to remain, and for organization-relevant

behavior, can be quite different.

Some of the correlations obtained in these analyses are ofparticular interest because of their theoretical and practical

implications. For example, the finding that continuance com-

mitment waspositively correlated with year in the program for

nursingstudents isconsistent with the expectation that continu-

ance commitment will increase with the accumulation of in-

vestments. Presumably,asnursing studentsadvance in the pro-

gram they recognize that they have contributed a great deal of

time, effort, and money toward obtaining a degree in nursing

and, therefore, acknowledge that it becomes increasingly costly

to leave the program. What is also interesting to note, however,

is that ascontinuance commitment increases, affective and nor-

mative commitment decrease. Thus, compared with when they

enter the program, nursingstudents' commitment to the pro-

fession is based more on cost considerations and less on desireor obligation as they continue in the program. This might be

considered a warning for educators and future employers of

these students, when combined with the following evidence: (a )Among student nurses, affective and normative commitment

correlated positively and continuance commitment correlated

negatively1with intention to establish a long-term career in

1Although we did not expectcontinuance commitment to the nurs-

ing profession to be positively related to intention to remain in the

profession, we did not anticipatethe significant negative correlation

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548 J . MEYER, N. ALLEN, AND C. SMITH

Table 8

Correlations A m o n g Variables and the Three Components of Organizat ional

a nd Occupational Commitment for Registered Nurses

Organizational commitment

Variable

AgeYears in nursingEmployment statusClinical area of

choiceG eographic area of

choiceJo b satisfactionSense of obligationLeave occupationProfessional activityLeave organizationVoiceLoyaltyNeglectTotal absence

Voluntary absenceTardinessSupervisor evaluation of

performanceOw n evaluation of

performanceHelping OthersUse of Time

AC S

.20**

.18**

.03

.13**

.10*

.49**

.08-.37**

.07-.45**

.23**

.41**-.38**

.03

-.13**-.01

.16**

.04

.10*

.13**

CC S

. 1 1 *

.21**

.05

-.07

-.04-.22**

.14**

.00-.15**-.02-.04-.03

.25**

.03

-.05.01

-.12**

-.03-.06

.08

NC S

.18**

.18**

.06

.08

.04

.37**

.15**-.30**

.14**-.34**

.17**

.40**-.23**

.08

-.15**-.00

.06

-.00.00.11**

Occupational commitment

AC S

.18**

.17**-.01

.15**

.18**

.53**

.05-.52**

.18**-.35**

.15**

.26**-.29**

.04

-.21**-.11*

.07

.05

.23**

.10*

CCS

.07

.16**

.11**

-.02

-.06-.14**

.16**-.15**-.05-.05

.00-.02

.15**

.04

-.03-.04

-.07

-.01.03.12**

NC S

.22**

.24**

.01

.07

.07

.25**

.14**-.35**

.12**-.19**

.10*

.29**-.11*

.11**

-.16**-.06

-.05

-.02.05.14**

Note. AC S = affective commitm ent scale; CCS = continuance com mitment scale; NCS = normativecommitment scale.* / > < .05 . **/?<.01.

nursing; and (b) among working nurses, affective an d norma-tive comm itment were more likely than continuance commit-

ment to be associated with desirable occupation- and organiza-tion-relevant behav ior. Additional research is necessary to de-termine whether the changing profile of commitment observedhere is unique to the students in our sample or to the nursingprofession. If our findings do generalize to o ther nu rsing pro-grams or professions, training institutions might be encouragedto explore the reasons behind the decline in affective and nor-mative commitment and the increase in continuance commit-ment among their students.

Also of interest is the pattern of correlations obtained withthe summer job-activity measures administered to studentnurses. At the beginning of the academic year, continuancecommitment correlated positively with reports of havingworked the previous summer in a nursing-related job, w hereas

at the end of the year affective commitment correlated posi-tively with reports of looking for, or hav ing secured, a nursing-related sum mer job. Thus, itappears that thosewhoindicatean

affective attachment to the profession are interested in seeking

obtained. It is possible that the high continuance commitment somestudents experienced wasdirected more to the completion of theirdegree requirements than to the pursuit of a career in nursing. Thosewho recognize that their intent to continue in the program is largely afunction of avoiding lossof investment (e.g., time and effort) might alsorealize that they have little interest in nursing per se and therefore dono t expect a Jong career in the profession.

ou t relevant work experience, but that, once ob tained, this expe-rience contributes to a feeling of greater cost associated with

leaving nursing. Although no t predicted in advance, this find-ing can b e easily interpreted w ithin the framework of the three-component model. Affective commitment is expected to bepositively related to prospective behav ior (e.g., experience seek-ing), whereas continuan ce commitm ent is expected to be sensi-tive to retrospective assessment of accumulated investments

(e.g., time and effort spent in acquiring unique skills).The results of the correlational analyses provide pre limin ary

evidence for the utility of taking a multidimensional approachto the study of occupational commitment. Th e fact that thethree components of commitment w ere differentially related tooccupation-relevant behaviors in both the student- and regis-tered-nurse samples supports the argument advanced earlierthat taking a multidimensional perspective provides a better

understanding of individuals' involvement in their occupa-tions. This research included only very general measures ofoccupation-relevant activities, however. Additional research is

needed to examine in greater depth the links between the com-ponents of commitment and various types of occupational in-volvement.

We predicted that, in addition to its l ink to occupation-rele-vant activity, occupational comm itment would be related toorganization-relevant behavior. The correlations obtained in

this study were consistent w ith this prediction. It is also appar-ent, however, that the correlations observed for occupationalcommitment were similar to, and often lower in magnitude

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COMMITMENT TO ORGANIZATIONS AND OCCUPATIONS 549

Table 9

Regression Analyses: Predicting Outcome Variables From the Three Components o f Occupat ional Commitment fo r Registered Nurses

Step 1: organizational commitm ent Step 2: occupational commitment

Full equation

Variable AC S CCS NC S AC S CCS NC S

Note. ACS = affective commitment scale; CCS = continuance commitment scale; NCS = normative commitment scale.* /?< .05 . **p<.01.

d fo

Leave occupationProfessional activityLeave organizationVoiceLoyaltyNeglectTotal absenceVoluntary absenceTardinessSupervisor evaluation of

performanceOwn evaluation of

performanceHelping OthersUse of Time

-.30**-.06-.39**

.20**

.25**-.34**-.02-.07-.01

.18**

.06

.15**

.12*

-.01-.17**-.03-.04-.04

.23**

.02-.04

.01

-.10*

-.02-.04

.08

-.11*.20**

-.10*.05.25**

-.04.09

-.11.00

-.04

-.04-.09

.03

.14**

.05**

.21**

.06**

.20**

.20**

.01

.03**

.00

.04**

.00

.02*

.02**

-.42**.13**

-.22**.06.06

-.15**.00

-.17**-.11

.03

.04

.23**

.04

-.18**-.02-.04

.03-.06

.05

.02-.01-.07

-.02

.00

.10

.10

-.10*.02.06.01.10*.03.09

-.05-.04

-.10

-.02-.01

.07

.20**

.02*

.04**

.00

.02*

.02**

.01

.03**

.02*

.01

.00

.05*

.01*

.34

.07

.24

.06

.22

.22

.01

.06

.02

.05

.00

.07

.04

47.63**6.57**

29.77**5.99**

25.68**25.48**

1.275.61**1.68

3.25**

0.406.49**3.72**

6,5586,5426,5566,5506,5506,5566,5536,5436,556

6,413

6, 5496,5496,542

than, the correlations obtained for organizational commit-

ment. To justify including the occupational commitment mea-

sures in future studies of organizational behavior it was neces-

sary to demonstrate that they contributed to prediction inde-

pendently of the organizational commitment measures. This

was the purpose of the hierarchical regression analyses.

The results of the regression analyses indicated that occupa-

tional commitment did make a significant, albeit small, contri-

bution to the prediction of organization-relevant outcomes

even when organizational commitment wascontrolled. Thus, itappears that how an employee behaves on the job may be in-

fluencedjointly by commitment to the organization and to the

occupation. It might be interesting in future research to exam-

ine more carefully how commitments to these domains com-

bine to influence behavior. For example, it is possible that the

relative influence of occupational and organizational commit-

ment is determined by an individual's perception of how rele-

vant the behavior is to the occupation compared with the orga-

nization. If helping another nurse, for instance, is seen as a

professional responsibility, it might be influenced more by oc-

cupational commitment than by organizational commitment.

The reverse might be true if the behavior is perceived as helpful

to the organization.

Our findings are generally consistent with, and extend, theresults of earlier research that has taken a unidimensional ap-

proach to the studyof organizational and occupational (career)

commitment (e.g., Aranya et al,1981; Arnold, 1990; Blau, 1985;

Morrow &Wirth, 1989). There are, of course, limitations to the

present research that must be acknowledged. Among these is

the fact that we studied members of only one occupation. We

would like to see these findings replicated with other occupa-

tions. The occupational commitment scales we developed can

be easily adapted for use with other occupations or professions

by inserting the appropriate descriptors.

Other limitations include the absence of causal analyses, the

use of self-report measures of work behavior, and the modest

reliability of some measures. With regard to the first of these,

the data we relied on most in testing the differential-relations

hypothesis, the registered-nurse data, were obtained on a single

occasion. Although the findings invite speculation concerning

causal relations, further testing will be required for verifica-

tion. With regard to the measurement issues, at this stage of the

research our primary objective was to develop reliable mea-

sures of occupational commitment that could be shown to be

conceptually distinct from existing measures of organizationalcommitment. Our inclusion of other measures was in the ser-

vice of this objective. For example, although there are obvious

problems associated with the use of self-report measures (e.g.,

confounding because of common method variance), their use

in this case was convenient in that it allowed us to measure a

number of relevant variables quite efficiently. Similarly, for the

sake of brevity, we developed short measures of several con-

structs (e.g., exit, voice, loyalty, and citizenship) and used single-

item measures of complex constructs (e.g., voluntary absence

and job performance), recognizing that wewould sacrifice reli-

ability. The fact that these measures correlated with our pri-

mary measures in a manner generally consistent with our ex-

pectations, in spite of the attenuating effect of unreliability,

should perhaps increase confidence in the meaningfulness of

these findings. At any rate, we hope that these findings will

encourage others to test specific relationsexamined here using

more reliable measures and procedures that are less prone to

the problems associated with the use of self-report measures.

Conclusion

These findings contribute to a growing body of research that

illustrates the need to take a multidimensional approach to the

study of commitment. In this case, we have demonstrated the

importance of considering not only different forms of commit-

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550 J. M E Y E R , N. ALLEN, AND C. SMITH

ment to the same entity (e.g., organization), but also comm it-ment to different entities that might be relevant to the behaviorof interest. Specifically, we were able to show that the predic-tion of various behav iors (e.g., turno ve r inten tion and responsesto dissatisfaction) can be improved by considering commit-ment to b oth the organization and the occupation. It is conceiv-able that prediction could be improved further by including

measures of commitm ent to the un ion, to the work group, tothe m anager, and to other entities in the regression equation.

Th e procedures used here to develop occupational com mit-ment measures could be easily applied to develop multiface tedmeasures of commitment to other en tities. The underlying con-structs of affective, continuance, an d normative commitmentappear to be generalizable across domains. This is not in-

tended, however, to encourage the pro liferation of com mit-ment measures (cf. Morrow,1983). Research directed at further

extensions of the model should focus on comm itment to entitiesthat are theoretically important for understand ing the behaviorof interest.

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Received April 16,1992

Revision received October 8,1992

Accepted October 8,1992 •

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