When Does Affective Organizational Commitment Lead to Job Performance?: Integration of Resource Perspective

Abstract

To address the inconsistent findings on the relationship between affective organizational commitment and job performance, this study examines whether this relationship depends on employee’s occupational commitment and organizational tenure as measured by the stage of their employment (trial stage vs. stabilization stage). Existing evidence has shown that employees with high affective organizational commitment possess a greater willingness to exhibit higher levels of both task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). Integrating social exchange and resources perspectives, we argue that the actualization of such willingness is driven by the perceived value of the resources generated from this behavior. Two specific hypotheses were tested using data from 326 participants (mean age = 26.44; SD age = 4.21; 58.1% male) across two time periods. As hypothesized, occupational commitment moderated both the organizational commitment–task performance and organizational commitment–OCB relationships, while organizational tenure stage only moderated the latter link. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.