Occupational commitment from a life span perspective

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this review is to integrate and organize past research findings on affective, normative and continuance occupational commitment (OC) within an integrative framework based on central life span concepts. Design/methodology/approach The authors identified and systematically analyzed 125 empirical articles (including 138 cases) that examined OC with a content valid measure to the here applied definition of OC. These articles provided information on the relationship between OC and four distinct life span concepts: chronological age, career stages, occupational and other life events, and occupational and other life roles. Furthermore, developmental characteristics of OC in terms of construct stability and malleability were reviewed. Findings The reviewed literature allowed to draw conclusions about the mentioned life span concepts as antecedents and outcomes of OC. For example, age and tenure is more strongly positively related to continuance OC than to affective and normative OC, nonlinear and moderating influences seem to be relevant in the case of the latter OC types. The authors describe several other findings within the results sections. Originality/value OC represents a developmental construct that is influenced by employees’ work- and life-related progress, associated roles, as well as opportunities and demands over their career. Analyzing OC from such a life span perspective provides a new angle on the research topic, explaining inconsistencies in past research and giving recommendation for future studies in terms of dynamic career developmental thinking.

Newcomers’ profiles of workplace affective commitment.

“…However, from a person-centered perspective, research has examined a wider range of outcomes (e.g., Meyer et al, 2021; Morin, Morizot, et al, 2011). In this study, we focus on a series of organizational (performance and turnover intentions) and personal (life satisfaction) outcomes traditionally associated with WAC (Cooper-Hakim & Viswesvaran, 2005; Lee et al, 2000; Meyer et al, 2002; Meyer & Morin, 2016; Spurk et al, 2019; Wang et al, 2019).…”

Enterprising spirit rejuvenated: entrepreneurship education in shaping company employees' career commitment and turnover intentions

“…time, knowledge, opportunity and loyalty) in their current role within a professional path (Lin, 2020). A considerable body of evidence indicates that employees' dedication to their careers is an essential factor in the success of any organization, as a highly committed workforce is likely to display greater work motivation, exhibit more organizational citizenship behavior and have less intention to leave (Spurk et al, 2019). When employees are committed to their careers, they are more likely to act for the common good of the organization, leading to better performance and productivity (Zhu et al, 2021).…”

Cross-country evaluation of the ISSP Occupational Commitment Scale (ISSP-OCC): A valid scale across countries?

“…Several interchangeable terms for occupational commitment, such as career commitment, job commitment, and professional commitment, have evolved in the literature [1][2][3][4][5] though occupational commitment seems to be most consistently used. Occupational commitment has three components, normative, affective, and continuance commitment [6,7]: Normative commitment refers in the occupational commitment context to "a sense of obligation to remain in the occupation"; a person with strong affective commitment has "a strong desire to remain in the occupation"; and a person with strong continuance commitment recognizes "the high costs associated with leaving the occupation" [6, p. 540].…”