Attachment Dimensions as Moderators of the Relationship between Commitment to Supervisors and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Milica Schraggeová,Zuzana Stupková

doi:10.31577/sp.2021.01.813

Abstract

The aims of this study are to examine the correlation between the commitment to supervisors and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) by using two different commitment conceptions and to determine whether this relationship is moderated by personal internal attachment dimensions. The theoretical framework was provided by the concept of Affective Commitment (AC), derived from Meyer and Allen’s Three-Component Model (TCM), the target-free approach of Klein et al., and attachment personality theory. The study used the Affective Commitment to Supervisors (ACS) scale and Klein’s Unidimensional and Target-free (KUT) scale. The predictive value of supervisory commitment was confirmed by both methods. However, depending on the scale, the results revealed different links between commitment, OCB, and attachment personal dimensions as moderating factors. The ACS scale interacted with the dimension of attachment anxiety: In the case of a low or moderate supervisory commitment, anxiety decreased engagement in OCB. By contrast, the moderating model indicated that there was no such interaction when using the KUT scale.

Highlights

Organizations want to have dedicated employees who identify with the organization, its values, and goals, and who have good relationships with colleagues and supervisors
The results support the hypothesis of moderation effects of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance dimensions on the relationship between supervisory commitment and organizational citizenship behavior
Affective commitment to supervisor interacted with the dimension of attachment anxiety; when a supervisory commitment was low or moderate, anxiety decreased one’s engagement in citizenship behavior

Summary

Introduction

Organizations want to have dedicated employees who identify with the organization, its values, and goals, and who have good relationships with colleagues and supervisors This may explain why researchers and practitioners have been paying attention to the concept of commitment as the key factor in understanding positive behavior and attitudes in the workplace for over fifty years (Klein et al, 2012; Meyer, 2009; van Rossenberg et al, 2018). Employees develop an attachment and commitment to multiple workplace foci both within an organization (e.g., supervisors, work teams, and co-workers) as well as outside of it (e.g., clients) This is why scholars emphasize the need to pay attention to different targets of commitment, which would allow for a description of various forms of work behavior in a more specific way (Becker, 2016; Becker et al, 1996; Klein et al, 2012; Meyer & Herscovitch, 2001; Reichers, 1985). Among the various targets of commitment, commitment to a career (Goulet & Singh, 2002), profession (Blau, 2003), work team (Rikketa & Van Dick, 2005), and supervisor (Vandenberghe & Bentein, 2009) are most often examined

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