The identity-based explanation of affective commitment

Purpose – Drawing on social identity and self-categorization theories and building on Meyer and Herscovitch's (2001) work on affective commitment, this study aimed to examine the relationship between organizational identification and affective commitment, and the relationships between these two variables and employees' attitude and behavior. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected on-site from 158 automobile dealership employees in central China. Regression analysis and hierarchical linear modeling were used to analyze the survey data. Findings – Organizational identification was positively related to affective commitment. Affective commitment was negatively related to turnover intention and positively related to job performance. Affective commitment mediated the relationship between organizational identification and turnover intention, but did not mediate the relationship between organizational identification and job performance. Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to the literature by integrating organizational identification and affective commitment, the two distinct types of employees' organizational attachment. However, results should be cautioned with the limitations of the study. Practical implications – Managers can use employees' organizational identification to foster affective commitment since it leads to a variety of positive work attitudes and behavior. Social implications – Society as a whole may benefit by having more loyal and committed workforce in organisations. Originality/value – This study develops a model that aligns employee commitment and identification. Doing so answers the call for more efforts to integrate the two forms of organizational attachment in order to make more progress in this line of research.