Organizational commitment : a simultaneous test of antecedents, consequences, and correlates

Abstract

The Canadian military is focused on attracting dedicated people to join and maintain membership in the military (National Defence, 2001). Comprehensive organizational commitment research is critical for the military to conduct in order to attain its strategic goals. The primary purpose of the current study was to develop and confirm a comprehensive model of organizational commitment within a military context. The second purpose of the study was to assess whether method variance affects the validity of results generated using the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ; Mowday, Steers, & Porter, 1979). Data from 1680 randomly selected Regular Forces Air Command members from various Canadian provinces were used to test the OCQ dimensionality and the model of organizational commitment developed in the current study. The best fitting OCQ model was an orthogonal, two-factor structure representing affective commitment and method variance. The model fit the data well based on several fit indices and was confirmed using an independent sample. The model also was structurally invariant across gender, language, officer status, and career stage/age groupings, further supporting its generalizability within Air Command. Results are discussed in terms of their application within a military context.