Organizational Commitment: A Reconceptualization And Empirical Test Of Public-Private Differences

Abstract

This article examines the public-private dimension as an antecedent of organizational com mitment and assesses the effect of publicness on individual attachment to the organization. The findings suggest that (1) the strength of an individual's attachment to the organization is a function of several dimensions of organizational experience which can be inconsistent in their effects; and (2) that, public employees, in particular, may be simultaneously attracted to and repelled by the organization, with their desire to serve important values undercut by low or negative feelings of affiliation.