Perceived organisational support and organisational commitment: the mediational influence of psychological well being

Abstract

Organizational commitment (OC) is perhaps one of the most researched topics in organizational behavior studied. It characterizes employee relationship with their organization and influences their decision to continue with the organization. Organizational commitment has been found to have three distinct yet related components – affective, normative and continuance commitment. Employees with effective commitment (AC) to the organization continue with their employment because they want to, with continuance commitment (CC) continue because they feel they need to, and with normative commitment (NC) feel they ought to remain in the organization. While organizational commitment refers to the commitment of employees towards their organization, another commitment-related concept – perceived organizational support (POS) discusses the employees’ global perception of an organization’s commitment to them. Based on the social exchange theory organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being will reciprocate through increased commitment to the organization. Previous studies have found a strong link between POS and AC, and POS and NC. However, the link between POS and CC has been found to range from moderately significant to insignificant. Also, none of the studies have examined this link in the Indian context. This study examined the link between POS and three components of OC in the Indian context. It was hypothesized that POS would be positively related to AC and NC and negatively related to CC. While research has been carried out to identify factors that influence organizational commitment, not much wok has been done to study the processes through which these factors influence OC. Previous research has found felt obligation, positive mood and trust in management to mediate between POS and AC. This suggest that various psychological processes influence the link between POS and AC. This study proposes psychological wellbeing as a mediator that influences the link between POS and AC. The study also explores the meditational role of PWB between POS and NC, and POS and CC. Psychological well-being (PWB) is a psychological state that influences the mental health of an individual. It consists of six elements (self-acceptance, autonomy, environmental mastery, positive relation with others, purpose in life and personal growth) which, in combination, indicate whether the individual is working towards realizing one’s true potentials. This study proposes that an individual’s PWB is influenced by positive work experiences (POS). This well-being in turn will influence the work attitudes (commitment) of the employee and will mediate between POS and the three components of OC. Data was collected from 513 managers working in two large Indian manufacturing organizations. Standardized measures of OC, PWB and POS were administered. The results supported most of the hypotheses. POS was found to have a significant influence on PWB. POS was also found to be positively associated with AC and NC. CC was explored in terms of its two sub factors, namely high sacrifice (HiSac) and low alternative (LoALt). POS was found to be positively related to HiSac component and negatively related to LoAlt component. PWB was also found to be significantly associated with AC, NC and LoAlt components of CC. PWB partially mediated the relation between POS and AC and totally mediated the relation between POS and LoAlt. Perception of organization support influence the employees’ attitudes towards the organization, the present study supported the strong association found between POS and AC and POS and NC in previous studies. It provides support to the evidence that continuance commitment is a two factor rather than a single factor construct. This study suggests that psychological well-being is an important mental state which is influenced by organizational actions (POS) and affects employee attitudes (OC). Complete mediation by PWB between POS and LoALt suggests that in the absence of PWB, organizational efforts will not help reduce the feelings of entrapment for the employees. Organizations thus need to encourage positive mental health among employees so that the employees may have a positive attitude towards their organization. Greater PWB may also encourage employees to be more productive and take greater initiative at work.