Union commitment: Assessment of dimensionality

In most research, union commitment is viewed as an instrumental construct with rational decision making behavior as an underlying assumption. While this assumption does hold true for many forms of behavior, there remains an emotional or affective dimension of commitment that has not been thoroughly examined. Human behavior has been demonstrated to have normative and instrumental dimensions, therefore it is reasonable to assume that union commitment is also manifested in these two dimensions. Normative commitment is envisioned as being the value-based linkages with the organization. Calculated involvement is thought of as the cost-benefit associated with membership.; This research demonstrates that the normative dimension of commitment is a significant predictor of union member participation in union activities and of member extra-role behaviors. Antecedents to the commitment process, union instrumentality and union socialization are the primary predictors of both normative commitment and calculated involvement.