One Nation, Many Cultures

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between commitment forms (organizational commitment, occupational commitment, job involvement, work involvement, and group commitment), personal cultural values (individualism— collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity— femininity), and in-role performance and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). Five groups of Israeli teachers who were assumed to represent different cultural groups (secular Jews, orthodox Jews, kibbutz teachers, Druze, and Arabs) were examined. The findings showed substantial differences among the five groups in the four cultural values. Both membership in a cultural group, measured as a dummy variable, and cultural values were associated with OCB and in-role performance in addition to the effect of multiple commitments. The results also showed that organizational commitment and group commitment were related to forms of OCB more than to the other commitment foci. The findings and their implications for the continuation of research on commitment and culture are discussed.