Employee Commitment and Motivation: A Conceptual Analysis and Integrative Model.

TLDR

Researchers in employee commitment and motivation have not fully integrated each other's work, with commitment scholars rarely addressing the motivational processes that drive behavior and motivation scholars overlooking key distinctions in commitment forms, foci, and bases. The authors aim to promote cross‑fertilization by proposing an integrative framework that positions commitment as one of several energizing forces for motivated behavior. The framework builds on Locke’s work‑motivation model and Meyer & Herscovitch’s workplace‑commitment model, incorporating a new concept of goal regulation drawn from self‑determination and regulatory‑focus theories. Including goal regulation reveals that motivated behavior can involve distinct mindsets, which are crucial for explaining and predicting discretionary work behavior.

Abstract

Theorists and researchers interested in employee commitment and motivation have not made optimal use of each other's work. Commitment researchers seldom address the motivational processes through which commitment affects behavior, and motivation researchers have not recognized important distinctions in the forms, foci, and bases of commitment. To encourage greater cross-fertilization, the authors present an integrative framework in which commitment is presented as one of several energizing forces for motivated behavior. E. A. Locke's (1997) model of the work motivation process and J. P. Meyer and L. Herscovitch's (2001) model of workplace commitments serve as the foundation for the development of this new framework. To facilitate the merger, a new concept, goal regulation, is derived from self-determination theory (E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan, 1985) and regulatory focus theory (E. I. Higgins, 1997). By including goal regulation, it is acknowledged that motivated behavior can be accompanied by different mindsets that have particularly important implications for the explanation and prediction of discretionary work behavior.