A PATH MODEL OF PERCEIVED ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT

Abstract

According to the social exchange model of perceived organizational support (Eisenherger, Htmtingtrm, Hutchison. & Sowa. I9fi6) employees exchange their loyalty and effort for material and .social rewards from the organization. Employees' perceptions of support from the organization serve as the link between actions taken hy the organization and actions taken by the employee. Surveys measuring employees' perceptions of the organization's actions (i.e., role ambiguity, role conflict, decision centralization. supervi,wr consideration, and participation in decision making) were administered to a sample of 205 members of the faculty and staff of a large western state universit\. Path analysis provided results that were consistent with the social exchange model. Employees' perceptions of the organization's actions had direct effects on their perceptions of support from their supervisors, management and the organization, but did not have direct effects on their commitment to the organization. Consistent with the social exchange model, only employees' perceptions of support from the organization had direct ^effects on their commitment to the organization. Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison, and Sowa (1986) proposed that employees' commitment to their organization is based, in part, on their perception of the organization's commitment to them. This built on Blau's (1964) description of social exchange as an opwn-ended stream of transactions that result in diffuse and unspecified obligations on the part of both parties involved in social interaction. The organization's commitment to its employees was conceptualized as the employees' perceptions of support from the organization (i.e., perceived organizational support). Several studies have reported that employees with high levels of perceived organizational support are absent less often and are more conscientious about carrying out their work responsibilities than are employees with low levels of perceived organizational support (Eisenberger etal., 1986; Eisenberger, Fasolo,&Davis-LaMastro, 1990). Author's Note: t would like lo thank Martin Chemers, H. Kandy Rohde. and Rick Crandall for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.