A person‐centered approach to commitment research: Theory, research, and methodology

Summary There has been a recent increase in the application of person-centered research strategies in the investigation of workplace commitments. To date, research has focused primarily on the identification, within a population, of subgroups presenting different cross-sectional or longitudinal configurations of commitment mindsets (affective, normative, and continuance) and/or targets (e.g., organization, occupation, and supervisor), but other applications are possible. In an effort to promote a substantive methodological synergy, we begin by explaining why some aspects of commitment theory are best tested using a person-centered approach. We then summarize the results of existing research and suggest applications to other research questions. Next, we turn our attention to methodological issues, including strategies for identifying the best profile structure, testing for consistency across samples, time, culture, and so on, and incorporating other variables in the models to test theory regarding profile development, consequences, and change trajectories. We conclude with a discussion of the practical implications of taking a person-centered approach to the study of commitment as a complement to the more traditional variable-centered approach. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[1]  B. Muthén.  BEYOND SEM: GENERAL LATENT VARIABLE MODELING , 2002 .

[2]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Commitment in organizations: Accumulated wisdom and new directions. , 2009 .

[3]  Athena Xenikou,et al.  Commitment profiles: The configural effect of the forms and foci of commitment on work outcomes , 2010 .

[4]  R. Vandenberg.  Toward a Further Understanding of and Improvement in Measurement Invariance Methods and Procedures , 2002 .

[5]  Liu-Qin Yang,et al.  Commitment and Motivation at Work: the Relevance of Employee Identity and Regulatory Focus , 2010 .

[6]  Chockalingam Viswesvaran,et al.  The construct of work commitment: testing an integrative framework. , 2005, Psychological bulletin.

[7]  L. Bergman,et al.  Developmental science and the holistic approach. , 2000 .

[8]  H. Marsh,et al.  Disentangling Shape from Level Effects in Person-Centered Analyses: An Illustration Based on University Teachers’ Multidimensional Profiles of Effectiveness , 2015 .

[9]  Bengt Muthén,et al.  Auxiliary Variables in Mixture Modeling: Three-Step Approaches Using Mplus , 2014 .

[10]  Kibeom Lee,et al.  A meta-analytic review of occupational commitment: relations with person- and work-related variables. , 2000, The Journal of applied psychology.

[11]  H. Marsh,et al.  Longitudinal tests of competing factor structures for the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale: traits, ephemeral artifacts, and stable response styles. , 2010, Psychological assessment.

[12]  Bryan Dawson,et al.  Method Effects, Measurement Error, and Substantive Conclusions , 2010 .

[13]  B. Muthén,et al.  Performance of Factor Mixture Models as a Function of Model Size, Covariate Effects, and Class-Specific Parameters. , 2007 .

[14]  John S. Uebersax,et al.  Probit Latent Class Analysis with Dichotomous or Ordered Category Measures: Conditional Independence/Dependence Models , 1999 .

[15]  L. Angeles.  Latent Transition Analysis: Modeling Extensions and an Application to Peer Victimization , 2007 .

[16]  R. van Dick,et al.  Organizational Commitment Profiles and Job Satisfaction among Greek Private and Public Sector Employees , 2007 .

[17]  R. Vandenberg,et al.  Statistical and methodological challenges for commitment researchers: Issues of invariance, change across time, and profile differences. , 2009 .

[18]  Michael J. Brusco,et al.  Emergent clustering methods for empirical OM research , 2012 .

[19]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Employee commitment in context: The nature and implication of commitment profiles , 2012 .

[20]  Ian R. Gellatly,et al.  Combined effects of the three commitment components on focal and discretionary behaviors: A test of Meyer and Herscovitch’s propositions☆ , 2006 .

[21]  Daniel J Bauer,et al.  Local solutions in the estimation of growth mixture models. , 2006, Psychological methods.

[22]  B. Muthén,et al.  Investigating population heterogeneity with factor mixture models. , 2005, Psychological methods.

[23]  Thomas E. Becker.  Foci and Bases of Commitment: Are They Distinctions Worth Making? , 1992 .

[24]  Daniel J Bauer,et al.  The integration of continuous and discrete latent variable models: potential problems and promising opportunities. , 2004, Psychological methods.

[25]  Daniel J. Bauer.  Observations on the Use of Growth Mixture Models in Psychological Research , 2007 .

[26]  Jeroen K. Vermunt,et al.  Latent Class Modeling with Covariates: Two Improved Three-Step Approaches , 2010, Political Analysis.

[27]  S G West,et al.  Putting the individual back into individual growth curves. , 2000, Psychological methods.

[28]  S. A. Wasti,et al.  Commitment profiles: Combinations of organizational commitment forms and job outcomes , 2005 .

[29]  A. Cohen.  Multiple Commitments in the Workplace: An Integrative Approach , 2003 .

[30]  David J. Stanley,et al.  Affective, normative, and continuance commitment levels across cultures: A meta-analysis , 2012 .

[31]  S. A. Wasti,et al.  Commitment across cultures: progress, pitfalls, and propositions , 2008 .

[32]  A. Morin,et al.  Statistical power of latent growth curve models to detect quadratic growth , 2014, Behavior research methods.

[33]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Commitment to organizations and occupations: Extension and test of a three-component conceptualization. , 1993 .

[34]  J. Diefendorff,et al.  A Profile Approach to Self-Determination Theory Motivations at Work. , 2012 .

[35]  Paul J. Kobulnicky,et al.  Commitment in the workplace: Theory, research and application , 1998 .

[36]  W. Gibson.  Three multivariate models: Factor analysis, latent structure analysis, and latent profile analysis , 1959 .

[37]  L. Corrado.  Generalized Latent Variable Modeling: Multilevel, Longitudinal, and Structural Equation Models , 2005 .

[38]  Brown,et al.  Organizational Commitment: Clarifying the Concept and Simplifying the Existing Construct Typology , 1996, Journal of vocational behavior.

[39]  Christophe Maïano,et al.  General Growth Mixture Analysis of Adolescents' Developmental Trajectories of Anxiety: The Impact of Untested Invariance Assumptions on Substantive Interpretations , 2011 .

[40]  W. Holmes Finch,et al.  Conducting Confirmatory Latent Class Analysis Using Mplus , 2011 .

[41]  J. Vermunt,et al.  Latent class cluster analysis , 2002 .

[42]  Enno Siemsen,et al.  Common Method Bias in Regression Models With Linear, Quadratic, and Interaction Effects , 2010 .

[43]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Commitment in the workplace: toward a general model , 2001 .

[44]  Tom Redman,et al.  An evaluation of a three-component model of occupational commitment: dimensionality and consequences among United Kingdom human resource management specialists. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[45]  Arnon E. Reichers,et al.  A review and reconceptualization of organizational commitment. , 1985, Academy of management review. Academy of Management.

[46]  Denise M. Rousseau,et al.  Why workers still identify with organizations , 1998 .

[47]  John P. Meyer,et al.  A three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment , 1991 .

[48]  M. Riketta,et al.  Attitudinal organizational commitment and job performance: a meta‐analysis , 2002 .

[49]  A. Morin,et al.  Probing into commitment's nonlinear relationships to work outcomes , 2013 .

[50]  Jay Magidson,et al.  Latent Class Factor and Cluster Models, Bi-Plots, and Related Graphical Displays , 2001 .

[51]  Daniel A. Newman,et al.  Using Mixed-Measurement Item Response Theory With Covariates (MM-IRT-C) to Ascertain Observed and Unobserved Measurement Equivalence , 2011 .

[52]  Katherine E. Masyn,et al.  Exploring the Latent Structures of Psychological Constructs in Social Development Using the Dimensional-Categorical Spectrum. , 2010, Social development.

[53]  Florence Stinglhamber,et al.  Leader-member exchange and affective organizational commitment: the contribution of supervisor's organizational embodiment. , 2010, The Journal of applied psychology.

[54]  John P. Meyer,et al.  AFFECTIVE, CONTINUANCE, AND NORMATIVE COMMITMENT TO THE ORGANIZATION: A META-ANALYSIS OF ANTECEDENTS, CORRELATES, AND CONSEQUENCES , 2002 .

[55]  Marcel Croon,et al.  Estimating Latent Structure Models with Categorical Variables: One-Step Versus Three-Step Estimators , 2004, Political Analysis.

[56]  Xitao Fan,et al.  Modeling Unobserved Heterogeneity Using Latent Profile Analysis: A Monte Carlo Simulation , 2013 .

[57]  C. Lance,et al.  What Reviewers Should Expect from Authors Regarding Common Method Bias in Organizational Research , 2010 .

[58]  Katherine E. Masyn,et al.  General Growth Mixture Analysis with Antecedents and Consequences of Change , 2010 .

[59]  A. Gouldner.  Cosmopolitans and locals : toward an analysis of latent social roles-II , 1957 .

[60]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Profiles of dual commitment to the occupation and organization: Relations to well-being and turnover intentions , 2015 .

[61]  Paul E. Spector.  Method Variance in Organizational Research , 2006 .

[62]  Daniel J Bauer,et al.  Distributional assumptions of growth mixture models: implications for overextraction of latent trajectory classes. , 2003, Psychological methods.

[63]  R. Vandenberg,et al.  The role of change in the relationship between commitment and turnover: a latent growth modeling approach. , 2005, The Journal of applied psychology.

[64]  Stephanie T. Lanza,et al.  Latent Class and Latent Transition Analysis: With Applications in the Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences , 2009 .

[65]  Nilam Ram,et al.  Methods and Measures: Growth mixture modeling: A method for identifying differences in longitudinal change among unobserved groups , 2009, International journal of behavioral development.

[66]  B. Muthén,et al.  Models and Strategies for Factor Mixture Analysis: An Example Concerning the Structure Underlying Psychological Disorders , 2013, Structural equation modeling : a multidisciplinary journal.

[67]  R. P. McDonald,et al.  Structural Equations with Latent Variables , 1989 .

[68]  Todd D. Little,et al.  A Non-arbitrary Method of Identifying and Scaling Latent Variables in SEM and MACS Models , 2006 .

[69]  Douglas Steinley,et al.  Examining Factor Score Distributions to Determine the Nature of Latent Spaces , 2007, Multivariate behavioral research.

[70]  Surajit Ray,et al.  BIC and Alternative Bayesian Information Criteria in the Selection of Structural Equation Models , 2014, Structural equation modeling : a multidisciplinary journal.

[71]  Jennifer S. Tucker,et al.  Performance differences among four organizational commitment profiles. , 2005, The Journal of applied psychology.

[72]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Multiple-Group Analysis of Similarity in Latent Profile Solutions , 2016 .

[73]  Hans De Witte,et al.  Unraveling the Importance of the Quantity and the Quality of Workers' Motivation for Well-Being: A Person-Centered Perspective. , 2013 .

[74]  Denny Borsboom,et al.  The attack of the psychometricians , 2006, Psychometrika.

[75]  R. Cudeck,et al.  A realistic perspective on pattern representation in growth data: comment on Bauer and Curran (2003). , 2003, Psychological methods.

[76]  Daniel S. Nagin,et al.  Analyzing developmental trajectories: A semiparametric, group-based approach , 1999 .

[77]  Geoffrey J. McLachlan,et al.  Finite Mixture Models , 2019, Annual Review of Statistics and Its Application.

[78]  Thierno M. O. Diallo,et al.  Power of Latent Growth Curve Models to Detect Piecewise Linear Trajectories , 2015 .

[79]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Normative commitment in the workplace: A theoretical analysis and re-conceptualization , 2010 .

[80]  Stephanie T. Lanza,et al.  Latent Class Analysis With Distal Outcomes: A Flexible Model-Based Approach , 2013, Structural equation modeling : a multidisciplinary journal.

[81]  Thomas E. Becker,et al.  Profiles of commitment: An empirical test , 1993 .

[82]  H. Marsh,et al.  School life and adolescents' self-esteem trajectories. , 2013, Child development.

[83]  John P. Meyer,et al.  A person-centered approach to the study of commitment , 2013 .

[84]  E. Higgins.  Promotion and Prevention: Regulatory Focus as A Motivational Principle , 1998 .

[85]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Employee commitment and well-being: A critical review, theoretical framework and research agenda , 2010 .

[86]  A. Morin,et al.  Multiple targets of workplace affective commitment: Factor structure and measurement invariance of the Workplace Affective Commitment Multidimensional Questionnaire , 2009 .

[87]  H. Klein,et al.  The assessment of commitment: advantages of a unidimensional, target-free approach. , 2014, The Journal of applied psychology.

[88]  Kathleen Bentein,et al.  Commitment profiles and employee turnover , 2013 .

[89]  Herbert W. Marsh,et al.  Tracking the Elusive Actual-Ideal Discrepancy Model Within Latent Subpopulations , 2015 .

[90]  P. Hanges,et al.  Latent Class Procedures: Applications to Organizational Research , 2011 .

[91]  Michael J. Zyphur,et al.  When Mindsets Collide: Switching Analytical Mindsets to Advance Organization Science , 2009 .

[92]  Alexandre J. S. Morin,et al.  A Multifoci Person-Centered Perspective on Workplace Affective Commitment: A Latent Profile/Factor Mixture Analysis , 2011 .

[93]  Ulrich Trautwein,et al.  Please Scroll down for Article Structural Equation Modeling: a Multidisciplinary Journal Classical Latent Profile Analysis of Academic Self-concept Dimensions: Synergy of Person-and Variable-centered Approaches to Theoretical Models of Self-concept , 2022 .

[94]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Dual commitment to organization and supervisor: A person-centered approach , 2015 .

[95]  Bengt Muthén,et al.  Statistical and substantive checking in growth mixture modeling: comment on Bauer and Curran (2003). , 2003, Psychological methods.

[96]  C. Judd,et al.  Statistical difficulties of detecting interactions and moderator effects. , 1993, Psychological bulletin.

[97]  Robert G. Lord,et al.  Leadership Processes and Follower Self-identity , 2003 .

[98]  L. Cronbach,et al.  Assessing similarity between profiles. , 1953, Psychological bulletin.

[99]  M. Somers.  Patterns of attachment to organizations: Commitment profiles and work outcomes , 2010 .

[100]  H. Klein,et al.  Reconceptualizing Workplace Commitment to Redress a Stretched Construct: Revisiting Assumptions and Removing Confounds , 2012 .

[101]  R. H. Franke.  The Ultimate Advantage: Creating the High-Involvement OrganizationThe Ultimate Advantage: Creating the High-Involvement Organization By LawlerEdward E.III, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1992—371 pages. $29.95 , 1992 .

[102]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Organizational Commitment in the Military: Application of a Profile Approach , 2013 .

[103]  H. Marsh,et al.  Applications of latent-variable models in educational psychology: The need for methodological-substantive synergies. , 2007 .

[104]  M. Somers.  The combined influence of affective, continuance and normative commitment on employee withdrawal , 2009 .

[105]  E. Higgins,et al.  Beyond pleasure and pain. , 1997, The American psychologist.

[106]  Marcia J. Simmering,et al.  A Tale of Three Perspectives , 2009 .

[107]  M. Brewer,et al.  Who is this "We"? Levels of collective identity and self representations. , 1996 .

[108]  J. Vermunt,et al.  Latent Gold 4.0 User's Guide , 2005 .

[109]  Florence Stinglhamber,et al.  Organizations and supervisors as sources of support and targets of commitment: a longitudinal study , 2003 .

[110]  Robert A. Roe,et al.  On Becoming (Un)Committed: A Taxonomy and Test of Newcomer Onboarding Scenarios , 2013, Organ. Sci..

[111]  John P. Meyer,et al.  Are Commitment Profiles Stable and Predictable? A Latent Transition Analysis , 2016 .

[112]  Ian R. Gellatly,et al.  Staff Nurse Commitment, Work Relationships, and Turnover Intentions: A Latent Profile Analysis , 2014, Nursing research.

[113]  R. Vandenberg,et al.  A Review and Synthesis of the Measurement Invariance Literature: Suggestions, Practices, and Recommendations for Organizational Research , 2000 .

[114]  Cedric E. Ginestet.  Latent Curve Models: a Structural Equation Perspective , 2008 .

[115]  Karen Nylund-Gibson,et al.  A Latent Transition Mixture Model Using the Three-Step Specification , 2014 .