Correlating Affective Commitment with Prosocial Behavior: Does Perceived Meaningfulness at Work Matter?
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
The present work studies the engagement of prosocial behavior as an antecedent of affective commitment within for-profit organizations. In order to accomplish this, the work focuses on the role of positive feelings. It tests a partial least square-structural equation model using a cross-sectional survey of 144 professional employees from several Colombian industries. Results obtained show that prosocial behavior is associated with affective commitment, but only with the intervention of meaningfulness at work. These associations provide insight into professional employees’ attitudes towards the search for intrinsic motivation and engagement in for-profit organizational environments. Further implications revolve around the justification for working on practices that not only found and foster prosocial behavior in the workplace but also promote skill variety, task identity, and task meaningfulness to obtain adequate levels of engagement and commitment. Finally, since most studies have been conducted in developed countries, this study also contributes to a better understanding of the topic in previously unexplored contexts. In this case, a Latin American emerging economy, like Colombia.
Aknin, L. B., Van de Vondervoort, J. W., & Hamlin, J. K. (2018). Positive feelings reward and promote prosocial behavior. Current Opinion in Psychology, 20, 55-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.08.017
Allen, N. J., & Meyer, J. P. (1990). The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance and normative commitment to the organization. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.1990.tb00506.x.
Baruch, Y., O’Creevy, M. F., Hind, P., & Vigoda-Gadot, E. (2004). Prosocial behavior and job performance: Does the need for control and the need for achievement make a difference? Social Behavior and Personality, 32(4), 399-412. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2004.32.4.399
Batson, C. A., & Powell, A. A. (2003). Altruism and Prosocial Behavior (Vol. 5, pp. 463-484). In T. Millon & M. J. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of Psychology. Hoboken, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/0471264385.wei0513.
Baumeister, R. F. (1991). Meanings of Life. NY, USA: Guilford Press.
Bergami, M., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2000). Self-categorization, affective commitment and group self-esteem as distinct aspects of social identity in the organization. British Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 555-577. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466600164633
Cassar, L., & Meier, S. (2018). Intentions for Doing Good Matter for Doing Well: The Negative Effects of Prosocial Incentives (No. AEARCTR-0001962). New York, USA. https://doi.org/10.3386/w24109
Chernev, A., & Blair, S. (2015). Doing Well by Doing Good: The Benevolent Halo of Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Consumer Research, 41(6), 1412-1425. https://doi.org/10.1086/680089
Chin, W. W. (2010). How to write up and report PLS analyses (pp. 655-690). In Esposito, V., Chin, W. W., Henseler, J.,Wang, H., (Eds.), In Handbook of Partial Least Squares: Concepts, Methods and Applications in Marketing and Related Fields. Berlin, Germany: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-32827-8_29.
Christensen, R. K., Paarlberg, L., & Perry, J. L. (2017). Public Service Motivation Research: Lessons for Practice. Public Administration Review, 77(4), 529-542. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12796
Cohen-Meitar, R., Carmeli, A., & Waldman, D. A. (2009). Linking Meaningfulness in the Workplace to Employee Creativity: The Intervening Role of Organizational Identification and Positive Psychological Experiences. Creativity Research Journal, 21(4), 361-375. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400410902969910.
Cooper-Hakim, A., & Viswesvaran, C. (2005). The construct of work commitment: Testing an integrative framework. Psychological Bulletin, 131(2), 241-259. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.2.241.
Dick, R., Knippenberg, D., Kerschreiter, R., Hertel, G., & Wieseke, J. (2008). Interactive effects of work group and organizational identification on job satisfaction and extra-role behavior. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 72, 388-399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2007.11.009.
Dovidio, J. F., Pillavin, J. A., Schroeder, D. A., & Penner, L. A. (2017). The Social Psychology of Prosocial Behavior. New York, USA: Psychology Press - Taylor & Francis Group.
Eisenberg, N., & Mussen, P. H. (1989). The Roots of Prosocial Behavior in Children. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Gao-Urhahn, X., Biemann, T., & Jaros, S. J. (2016). How affective commitment to the organization changes over time: A longitudinal analysis of the reciprocal relationships between affective organizational commitment and income. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 37(4), 515-536. https://doi.org/10.1002/job
George, J. M. (1991). State or Trait: Effects of Positive Mood on Prosocial Behaviors at Work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76(2), 299-307. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.76.2.299.
Grant, A. M., Dutton, J. E., & Rosso, B. D. (2008). Giving Commitment: Employee Support Programs and The Prosocial Sensemaking Process. Academy of Management Journal, 51(5), 898-918. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2008.34789652
Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the Design of Work: Test of a Theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 9(170), 250-279. https://doi.org/10.1016/0030-5073(76)90016-7
Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C., & Sarstedt, M. (2016). A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) (2nd. Ed.). Thousand Oaks, USA: Sage.
Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2-24. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203
He, H., & Brown, A. D. (2013). Organizational Identity and Organizational Identification: A Review of the Literature and Suggestions for Future Research. Group & Organization Management, 38(1), 3-35. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601112473815.
Hooper, D., Coughlan, J., & Mullen, M. R. (2008). Structural Equation Modelling: Guidelines for Determining Model Fit. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 6(1), 53-60. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.12.1.58
Hornung, S. (2010). Alienation matters: Validity and utility of Etzioni’s theory of commitment in explaining prosocial organizational behavior. Social Behavior and Personality, 38(8), 1081-1096. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2010.38.8.1081
Jones, C., & Volpe, E. H. (2011). Organizational identification: Extending our understanding of social identities through social networks. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(3), 413-434. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.694
Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4), 692-724. https://doi.org/10.5465/256287.
Keller, M. L. (2019). Doing good while doing good business: Laying a cornerstone for social responsibility by fostering personal development and prosocial behavior in the workforce. Università Ca’ Foscari. Retrieved from https://repository.gchumanrights.org/handle/20.500.11825/1107
Klein, N. (2017). Prosocial behavior increases perceptions of meaning in life. Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(4), 354-361. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1209541
Lam, L. W., & Yan, L. (2014). The identity-based explanation of affective commitment. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 29(3), 321-340. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-02-2012-0036
Lee, E.-S., Park, T.-Y., & Koo, B. (2015). Identifying Organizational Identification as a Basis for Attitudes and Behaviors: A Meta-Analytic Review. Psychological Bulletin, 141(5), 1049-1080. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000012.
Lowry, P. B., & Gaskin, J. (2014). Partial Least Squares (PLS) Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) for Building and Testing Behavioral Causal Theory: When to Choose It and How to Use It. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 57(2), 123-146. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2014.2312452
Martela, F., & Ryan, R. M. (2016). Prosocial behavior increases well-being and vitality even without contact with the beneficiary: Causal and behavioral evidence. Motivation and Emotion, 40(3), 351-357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-016-9552-z
May, D. R., Gilson, R. L., & Harter, L. M. (2004). The psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability and the engagement of the human spirit at work. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77, 11-37. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317904322915892.
Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1991). A Three-Component Conceptualization of Organizational Commitment. Human Resource Management Review, 1(1), 61-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/1053-4822(91)90011-Z
Ong, M., Mayer, D. M., Tost, L. P., & Wellman, N. (2018). When corporate social responsibility motivates employee citizenship behavior: The sensitizing role of task significance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 144, 44-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2017.09.006
Pratt, M. G., & Ashforth, B. E. (2003). Fostering Meaningfulness in Working and at Work (pp. 309–327). In K. S. Cameron, J. E. Dutton, & R. E. Quinn (Eds.), Positive Organizational Scholarship: Foundations of a New Discipline. San Francisco, USA: Berrett-Koehler.
Shore, L. M., & Wayne, S. J. (1993). Commitment and Employee Behavior: Comparison of Affective Commitment and Continuance Commitment with Perceived Organizational Support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(5), 774-780. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.78.5.774.
Smith, C. A., Organ, D. W., & Near, J. P. (1983). Organizational citizenship behavior: Its nature and antecedents. Journal of Applied Psychology, 68(4), 653-663. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.68.4.653
Stinglhamber, F., Marique, G., Caesens, G., Desmette, D., Hansez, I., Hanin, D., & Bertrand, F. (2015). Employees’ Organizational Identification and Affective Organizational Commitment: An Integrative Approach. PLoS ONE, 10(4), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0123955
Tao, W., Song, B., Ferguson, M. A., & Kochhar, S. (2018). Employees’ prosocial behavioral intentions through empowerment in CSR decision-making. Public Relations Review, 44(5), 667-680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2018.07.002
Vignoles, V. L., Golledge, J., Regalia, C., Manzi, C., & Scabini, E. (2006). Beyond Self-Esteem: Influence of Multiple Motives on Identity Construction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(2), 308-333. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.90.2.308
Weinstein, N., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). When Helping Helps: Autonomous Motivation for Prosocial Behavior and Its Influence on Well-Being for the Helper and Recipient. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(2), 222-244. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016984
Yeung, A., & Ulrich, D. (2019). Reinventing the Organization: How Companies Can Deliver Radically Greater Value in Fast-Changing Markets. Boston, USA: Harvard Business Press.
Zischka, L. (2016). The link between “giving” behaviours and a healthy social environment. The University of Reading. Retrieved from http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/66399/1/18006876_Zischka_thesis.pdf
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.