Development of Affective Organizational Commitment: A Cross-Sequential Examination of Change with Tenure

Much of the theoretical and empirical research devoted to affective organizational commitment has been based on the assumption that this form of commitment develops with tenure, displaying a rapid decrease after entry, followed later by a steady increase. The present study used the cross-sequential design, advocated in the life-span development literature, to examine changes in commitment with tenure and found evidence for a developmental trend in affective organizational commitment. However, contrary to theory and past results, the developmental function indicated a steady, persistent decrease with increasing tenure (from 1 to 9 and 15 to 19 years) in a sample of 479 Australian police officers. This is the first study designed explicitly to examine how commitment changes over an extended period of tenure, therefore replications are required to test for similar or other nonconforming trends in other organizations. If persistent decreases in commitment, resulting in low levels of commitment in groups of experienced employees, are found in other organizations, managers will need to be aware that low commitment norms may impact on new employees and will need advice on ways to improve commitment levels. If different trends are found, the influence of various characteristics of the culture or structure of organizations will need to be given greater consideration in theories devised to explain the development of commitment. © 2000 Academic Press