When Feeling Bad Leads to Feeling Good: Guilt-Proneness and Affective Organizational Commitment

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Flynn, Francis J.; Schaumberg, Rebecca L.
• 署名单位: Stanford University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/a0024166
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 124-133
• 关键词: guilt-proneness; personality; motivation; COMMITMENT; Justification

摘要

The authors posit that higher levels of guilt-proneness are associated with higher levels of affective organizational commitment. To explain this counterintuitive link, the authors suggest that a dispositional tendency to feel guilt motivates individuals to exert greater effort on their work-related tasks that, in turn, strengthens their affinity for the organization. The authors tested this idea using a laboratory study and field data from 2 samples of working adults. Individuals who are more guilt-prone reported higher levels of organizational attachment compared with less guilt-prone individuals. Furthermore, mediation analyses indicate that the link between guilt-proneness and affective commitment is driven by greater task effort. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for understanding the affective drivers of commitment in organizations.