Physical aggression in unmarried relationships: The roles of commitment and constraints.

Using commitment theory, the present study explored longitudinal associations between physical aggression and various aspects of commitment and relationship stability. Participants (N = 1,278) were unmarried adults between the ages of 18 and 35 who were in a heterosexual romantic relationship at the time of the initial assessment. Of these, 51.6% reported never experiencing physical aggression in their current relationship, 12.8% reported experiencing physical aggression in the past, but not in the last year, and 35.6% reported experiencing physical aggression in the last year. As hypothesized, those who had experienced aggression in the last year were more likely to have broken up 1 year later. They also generally reported lower levels of dedication and higher levels of constraint commitment compared with those with no history of physical aggression. Among those who had experienced aggression in the last year, constraints and other commitment-related variables explained more about who broke up over time than did relationship adjustment alone, indicating the importance of measuring commitment constructs in future research about which aggressive couples are most likely to end their relationships. Clinical implications of these results are discussed, particularly in regard to preventive relationship education programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors and consequences of promotion stress: A bad situation made worse by employment dependence.

This study examined the key role that employment dependence played in intensifying both the level of promotion stress experienced as well as its effects in a sample of 257 government employees. Workers who tended to have higher levels of promotion stress were (a) less likely to have experienced career support from their supervisors; (b) less likely to perceive attractive opportunities; (c) more likely to have promotion aspirations; (d) more likely to perceive the existence of competition for positions; and (e) more likely to be dependent on their organization for employment (employment dependence). Moreover, such workers were less committed to their organization and were more likely to be looking for another job. Employment dependence intensified the effects of promotion aspirations and a lack of supervisory support on promotion stress, as well as the negative effect of promotion stress on affective commitment. Affective commitment ameliorated the association between promotion stress and the intention to leave the organization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological contract breaches, organizational commitment, and innovation-related behaviors: A latent growth modeling approach.

This study examined the relationships among psychological contract breaches, organizational commitment, and innovation-related behaviors (generating, spreading, implementing innovative ideas at work) over a 6-month period. Results indicate that the effects of psychological contract breaches on employees are not static. Specifically, perceptions of psychological contract breaches strengthened over time and were associated with decreased levels of affective commitment over time. Further, increased perceptions of psychological contract breaches were associated with decreases in innovation-related behaviors. We also found evidence that organizational commitment mediates the relationship between psychological contract breaches and innovation-related behaviors. These results highlight the importance of examining the nomological network of psychological contract breaches from a change perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Engagement envers le supérieur et l'organisation, et rétention des employés: Le r?le modérateur de l'identité organisationnelle per?ue du supérieur.

The authors examined the relationships of commitments to organisations and supervisors with turnover intentions and turnover, as a function of supervisors' perceived organisational identity. In Study 1, the authors show that commitment to supervisors is associated with reduced turnover intentions only when employees perceive their supervisors to possess strong organisational identity, whilst organisational commitment is associated with lower turnover intentions irrespective of the strength of supervisors' perceived organisational identity. In Study 2, the authors demonstrate that when employees perceive their supervisors to possess strong organisational identity, only commitment to supervisors predicts voluntary turnover, whilst when supervisors are viewed as possessing weak organisational identity, only organisational commitment predicts turnover. The implications of this research for the study of commitment-turnover relationships are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Language exclusion and the consequences of perceived ostracism in the workplace.

The current research examined the impact of workplace ostracism on work-related attitudes and behaviors. Participants read a vignette describing a series of workplace interactions between the participant and two coworkers. During the interactions, participants were included in a group discussion, ostracized by coworkers in English or ostracized in Spanish. Consistent with predictions, ostracized participants reported lower levels of organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behaviors than included participants. Ostracism by language resulted in lower work group commitment and higher levels of symbolic threat compared with included participants and those ostracized in English. Increased prejudice was also reported by participants exposed to language ostracism. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for general attitudinal processes and employee-related work attitudes and behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Designing a safer workplace: Importance of job autonomy, communication quality, and supportive supervisors.

The direct and indirect effects of work characteristics on self-reported safe working were investigated in a longitudinal study of frontline manufacturing employees (N?=?161). The work characteristics included job autonomy, role overload, role conflict, supportive supervision, training adequacy, job security, and communication quality. Job autonomy and communication quality were positively associated with safe working after prior levels of these variables were controlled for, and supportive supervision had a lagged positive effect on safe working 18 months later. Additional analyses showed that organizational commitment fully mediated the effect of job autonomy on safe working and partially mediated the effect of communication quality on safe working. The study suggests that work characteristics are important antecedents of safe working. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organizational commitment: A further moderator in the relationship between work stress and strain?

In recent years, a growing interest in the relations between organizational commitment of employees and their experiences of job strain can be noted. Besides main effects on these consequences, two competing hypotheses have postulated moderating effects of commitment on the relationship of work stress to measures of strain. According to the first hypothesis highly committed employees experience the adverse effects of stress more than less committed employees, whereas according to the second hypothesis commitment operates as a buffer in the stress-strain relationship. Data from 506 staff members of a municipal administration provided evidence in favor of the buffer hypothesis. The effects of high stress on the burnout dimensions of exhaustion and depersonalization were reduced with increasing commitment to the organization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job mobility, its determinants, and its effects: Longitudinal data from the Maastricht cohort study.

This prospective study of 12,140 employees examined the effects of work characteristics and situational, psychological, and health aspects on job mobility. Before job change, the mobility group reported significantly more conflicts with the supervisor, higher physical and emotional strain, higher degree of job insecurity, lower job satisfaction, and lower degree of commitment compared with employees who did not change jobs. After job change, the mobility group reported improved autonomy, task diversity, decreased occurrence of conflicts with the supervisor, decreased physical and emotional strain, and improved training possibilities and job security than before the change. Changing jobs had a positive effect on employees with respect to job perception and job satisfaction and led to reduced fatigue and need for recovery. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Occupational stress and intention to leave among employees in small and medium enterprises.

This paper examines the relationship between the occupational stress of employees in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and their intentions to leave the organization. A sample of 154 employees from SMEs completed written questionnaires. The responses from the sample are used to test the hypotheses that job satisfaction, affective commitment, and perceived organizational support (POS) will mediate the relationship between stress and intention to leave. The results of the regression analyses indicate that POS fully mediates the relationship between stress and intention to leave, while job satisfaction and affective commitment are partial mediators of the aforementioned relationship. The implications of the findings for management—particularly those in SMEs—are discussed, as are the limitations of the research and directions for future research in this domain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Premarital education, marital quality, and marital stability: Findings from a large, random household survey.

One of the limitations of experimental studies on the effectiveness of premarital education is the reliance on samples of mostly White, middle-class couples. In contrast, although survey methods allow only weak inferences about causal relations, representative surveys can yield important information about use and estimated effects across a diverse population. Using a large random survey of 4 middle American states, the authors found that participation in premarital education was associated with higher levels of satisfaction and commitment in marriage and lower levels of conflict-and also reduced odds of divorce. These estimated effects were robust across race, income (including among the poor), and education levels, which suggests that participation in premarital education is generally beneficial for a wide range of couples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A trickle-down model of organizational justice: Relating employees' and customers' perceptions of and reactions to fairness.

This study developed and tested a trickle-down model of organizational justice that hypothesized that employees' perceptions of fairness should affect their attitudes toward the organization, subsequently influencing their behaviors toward customers. In turn, customers should interpret these behaviors as signals of fair treatment, causing them to react positively to both the employee and the organization. The model was tested on a sample of 187 instructors and their students. The results revealed that instructors who perceived high distributive and procedural justice reported higher organizational commitment. In turn, their students reported higher levels of instructor effort, prosocial behaviors, and fairness, as well as more positive reactions to the instructor. Overall, the results imply that fair treatment of employees has important organizational consequences because of customers' attitudes and future intentions toward key service employees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Type A behavior, components, and outcomes: A study of Canadian employees.

This study examined the relationship of global Type A behavior and its components (time pressure and hard-driving competitiveness) with individual and organizational outcomes. Data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire from hospital employees (n=175) and telecommunication employees (n=110) in a large Canadian city. Global Type A behavior and its 2 components were significantly related to job stress, health problems, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover motivation in both samples. Limited support for the differential effects of Type A component measures on outcomes was found. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Autonomy and workload among temporary workers: Their effects on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, life satisfaction, and self-rated performance.

This study investigates the role of autonomy and workload in explaining responses of temporary employees (N=189) compared with permanent employees (N=371) on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, life satisfaction, and performance. Results based on regression analyses suggest that the effects of contract type are not mediated by autonomy or by workload. Rather, this study partially supports hypotheses on the differential reactions of temporaries and permanents to autonomy or workload; autonomy was not predictive for temporaries' job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and workload was not predictive for temporaries' life satisfaction, whereas they were predictive for permanents' responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychophysiological reactions to telework in female and male white-collar workers.

Information technology has created greater flexibility and mobility for employees, such as teleworkers. However, research on stress and health is limited. This study investigated psychophysiological arousal in 26 highly educated white-collar workers (12 women and 14 men) while (a) working at the office, (b) working at home (telework), and (c) relaxing at home. Blood pressure was significantly higher during work at the office than when teleworking at home, and men had significantly elevated epinephrine levels in the evening after telework at home. It was assumed that the lower cardiovascular arousal during telework is due to different work tasks and that elevated epinephrine levels in men after telework are caused by continued work after normal working hours. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of parental divorce on marital commitment and confidence.

Research on the intergenerational transmission of divorce has demonstrated that compared with offspring of nondivorced parents, those of divorced parents generally have more negative attitudes toward marriage as an institution and are less optimistic about the feasibility of a long-lasting, healthy marriage. It is also possible that when entering marriage themselves, adults whose parents divorced have less personal relationship commitment to their own marriages and less confidence in their own ability to maintain a happy marriage with their spouse. However, this prediction has not been tested. In the current study, we assessed relationship commitment and relationship confidence, as well as parental divorce and retrospectively reported interparental conflict, in a sample of 265 engaged couples prior to their first marriage. Results demonstrated that women's, but not men's, parental divorce was associated with lower relationship commitment and lower relationship confidence. These effects persisted when controlling for the influence of recalled interparental conflict and premarital relationship adjustment. The current findings suggest that women whose parents divorced are more likely to enter marriage with relatively lower commitment to, and confidence in, the future of those marriages, potentially raising their risk for divorce. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A field experiment examining the effects of membership in voting majority and minority subgroups and the ameliorating effects of postdecisional voice.

This field study used 80 employees of a data-processing firm to examine the consequences of membership in voting majority and minority subgroups after implementation of a decision and the ability of postdecisional voice to ameliorate the negative consequences of membership in the voting minority. In the absence of postdecisional voice, employees in the minority subgroup perceived the decision process as less fair, were less satisfied with the decision outcome, reported lower levels of task commitment, and produced 41% less output than employees in the voting majority subgroup. Following postdecisional voice, employees in the voting minority subgroup reported improved perceptions of fairness and task commitment, and their output increased by 34%. Postdecisional voice had no detectable effect on employee satisfaction with the decision outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Placing perceptions of politics in the context of the feedback environment, employee attitudes, and job performance.

The authors proposed a model suggesting that organizational environments supporting high levels of informal supervisor and coworker feedback are associated with lower employee perceptions of organizational politics. Furthermore, these lowered perceptions of politics were proposed to result in higher employee morale (as reflected in job satisfaction and affective commitment) and, through morale, to higher levels of task performance and organizational citizenship. The proposed mediational model was supported with empirical results from 150 subordinate-supervisor dyads sampled across a variety of organizations. Higher quality feedback environments were associated with lower perceptions of organizational politics, and morale mediated the relationships between organizational politics and various aspects of work performance. These findings suggest that when employees have greater access to information regarding behaviors that are acceptable and desired at work, perceptions of politics are reduced and work outcomes are enhanced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Employment discrimination: Authority figures' demographic preferences and followers' affective organizational commitment.

The authors used theories of organizational commitment and obedience to authority to explain employment discrimination. In Study 1, employees participated in an experimental simulation of their work. An organizational authority's demographic preferences led to employment discrimination. As expected, affective organizational commitment moderated this effect, such that it was stronger for more committed employees. In Study 2, another sample of employees completed a survey that included an employment discrimination scenario. A model of linkages from affective organizational commitment to submissiveness to organizational authorities to employment discrimination fit the data well, after controlling for prejudicial attitudes and authoritarianism. Submissiveness to organizational authorities mediated the relationship between affective organizational commitment and employment discrimination. The authors discuss the importance of studying employment discrimination as an organizational and not just an intergroup phenomenon. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Abusive supervision and subordinates' organization deviance.

The authors developed an integrated model of the relationships among abusive supervision, affective organizational commitment, norms toward organization deviance, and organization deviance and tested the framework in 2 studies: a 2-wave investigation of 243 supervised employees and a cross-sectional study of 247 employees organized into 68 work groups. Path analytic tests of mediated moderation provide support for the prediction that the mediated effect of abusive supervision on organization deviance (through affective commitment) is stronger when employees perceive that their coworkers are more approving of organization deviance (Study 1) and when coworkers perform more acts of organization deviance (Study 2). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other: Problems With Working Fixed and Rotating Shifts.

This study examined the relationship between shift patterns and role stressors and strains, as well as the extent to which situational variables and individual variables mediate the relationship between shift patterns and strains. Using survey data from 397 Israeli nurses, the author found that nurses working fixed day (vs. rotating) shifts reported less strains, but more stressors. Individual and situational variables mediated the relationship between shift pattern and both affective commitment and intention to leave, respectively. Younger age and higher role ambiguity might account for fully rotating shift nurses' reports of intention to leave, and being an older, full-time employee with little role conflict and ambiguity might explain why fixed day (vs. rotating) shift nurses report greater affective commitment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)