An investigation of the relationship between individual-culture congruence and affective, continuance, and normative commitment in selected Christian colleges and universities in southern California

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between individual-culture congruence and affective, continuance, and normative, commitment in organizations that have both an overall culture and multiple work-unit subcultures. One major premise of this investigation is that individual-culture congruence will influence a person's level of organizational commitment where it is strongest. This could be at the overall culture or work-unit subculture level. The study population under consideration includes three private, non-profit Christian universities in Southern California. This research assessed commitment by utilizing the Meyer and Allen (1997) organizational commitment scales to measure three components including affective, continuance, and normative commitment. Individual-culture congruence was measured utilizing the culture section of the Institutional Performance Survey developed by Krakower and Niwa (1985). The independent variable is individual-culture congruence. The dependent variables are affective, continuance, and normative commitment. Nine null-hypotheses were tested using single linear regression to determine the causal relationship between the variables in the context of overall culture and work-unit subculture in the sample organizations. Results indicate individual-culture congruence and certain components of commitment do correlate statistically but it is not a useful predictor of commitment in the study sample as hypothesized. Also discussed are implications for leaders and organizational behavior scientists and practitioners, the limitations of the study, and recommendations for future research.