Relationship between psychological capital and organizational commitment - a comparison of the independent variable’s the first and second order contructs: A case study at non-public Universities in HCMC

Abstract

In the paper, the author builds and tests the relationship between psychological capital (Psycap) and effective commitment. In addition, the study also compares the influences of the overall level of psychological capital and its individual components to the dependent variable. The study is carried out through two phases: qualitative research and quantitative survey, in which the qualitative is used to adjust the scale to suit the context (focus group), and the quantitative one is used to test the model by analyzing the presence of unnecessary variables (A usefulness analysis). convenience sample of 400 elements was collected from 5 universities as data for model testing. the results show that PsyCap has an impact on the dependent variable as considering it as individual components or as the overall level. A usefulness analysis shows that PsyCap would have a stronger relationship with effective commitment than any of the four individual components comprising PsyCap. Applying a usefulness analysis, it was found that the higher-order construct of psychological capital variable better explained its components to the organizational behavior variable. This shows that the results of this study are consistent with previous studies in other countries, that is, the second-order construct of psychological capital better explains its components.