Does Commitment Develop in the Same Manner for Male and Female Coaches? An Examination of Personal and Job Characteristic Antecedents

Abstract

Over the years, many researchers have examined organizational commitment and how it develops. However, few have looked at differences in antecedents of commitment based on gender. Three hundred and twenty-eight athletic coaches (women = 88; men = 240) from Divisions I (n = 156) and III (n = 172) responded to a questionnaire that measured four bases of organizational commitment (affective [AC], normative [NC], continuance-high sacrifice [CC:HiSac], and continuance-low number of alternatives [CC:LoAlt]) and two specific groups of antecedents (personal characteristics and job characteristics). Differences between male and female respondents were examined to determine if their commitment developed in similar manners. The regression equation with all four job characteristic variables was significantly related to the bases of organizational commitment, cumulatively explaining 37.9% of the variance in females’ NC and 29.6% of the variance in women’s AC; for men, the job characteristic variables explained 30.0% and 24.4% for NC and AC, respectively. In addition, the regression equation with all four personal characteristic variables was significant for CC:HiSac for both male and female coaches. Overall, employer commitment was the job characteristic variable that had the greatest effect on organizational commitment for both men and women.