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Examination of the combined effects of work values and early work experiences on organizational commitment
Author(s) -
Meyer John P.,
Irving P. Gregory,
Allen Natalie J.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of organizational behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.938
H-Index - 177
eISSN - 1099-1379
pISSN - 0894-3796
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1379(199801)19:1<29::aid-job818>3.0.co;2-u
Subject(s) - organizational commitment , psychology , normative , continuance , social psychology , value (mathematics) , work (physics) , epistemology , mechanical engineering , engineering , philosophy , machine learning , computer science
We tested the hypothesis that the influence of early work experiences on organization commitment would be moderated by the value employees place on these experiences. We measured work values in two samples of recent university graduates prior to organizational entry, and obtained measures of commensurate work experiences and three forms of commitment (affective, continuance, and normative: Allen and Meyer, 1990) on different occasions following entry. Regression analyses revealed that values and experiences did interact in the prediction of affective commitment and normative commitment, but that the nature of the interaction was different for different work value/experience combinations. The findings provide some challenge to the common sense assumption that positive work experiences will have the strongest effect on commitment among those who most value such experiences. Implications for research and practice are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.