| This dissertation was motivated by the changing nature of the workforce (i.e., older, more predominately female, and having less entrants) and was conducted within a broader landscape of change in the structure of employing organizations (e.g., adhocracy vs. bureaucracy). A series of well-developed measures were used to gather data using multiple methods (i.e., survey respondents, supervisor ratings, personnel file data). The relationships between the antecedents of the development of multiple commitments and important work organizational outcomes (i.e., organizational citizenship behavior, job performance, turnover intentions) were explored using linear structural relations modeling and other techniques. The results provided some support for the incremental value of including nonwork-related antecedents for predicting important work outcomes. A number of variables were identified as potentially important antecedents of multiple commitments, including perceived organizational support (and in particular perceived organizational support for work), conscientiousness, work autonomy (control over schedule, methods, and outcomes), and conflict from outside influences (e.g., family) interfering with work.;Additionally, commitment to family and commitment to other organizations were found to moderate the relationship between relevant support perceptions and important work outcomes (e.g., in-role job performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and turnover intentions were more closely related to an organization's support for an individual's family involvement when an individual's commitment to family was high). Further, the dimensionality of organizational commitment and perceived organizational support was explored with several key findings noted (i.e., commitment to one organization appeared to be rather orthogonal relative to commitment to other organizations; however, support perceptions for involvement in a variety of organizations appeared to be more closely related). These are important findings as employers consider the potential negative impact on employees' support perceptions if they fail to provide support for important nonwork involvements.;Finally, the results demonstrated the power of perceived organizational support to predict a range of important work outcomes (in many cases showing stronger relationships than organizational commitment). Perceived organizational support, in a context of increasingly diffuse and fluid employee-organization attachments, is discussed as a powerful framework for understanding employee performance and withdrawal behaviors. |
