Behavioural Norms as a Moderator of the Relationship between Affective Commitment and Discretionary Citizenship Behaviour

In a sample of 302 business-school alumni, we found that relations between affective commitment and discretionary citizenship behaviour were contingent on criterion-relevant norms. Our findings suggest that affective commitment may increase one's motivation to comply with behavioural norms, regardless of whether the norms denote low or high performance. The practical and theoretical implications were discussed.