"Job Scope, Affective Commitment, and Turnover: The Moderating Role of Growth Need Strength," Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology

Authors: Zargar, Mahmood Shafeie; Vandenberghe, Christian; Marchand, Catherine; Ayed, Ahmed Khalil Ben

Publication: Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 2013

Abstract:

Using a sample of business alumni from multiple organizations (N = 230), we examined the relationships of job scope to actual turnover, measured 15 months later, as mediated by affective commitment and moderated by growth need strength (which was operationalized through learning goal orientation, need for achievement, and proactive personality as first-order factors). Moderated mediation analyses (Edwards & Lambert, Psychol. Methods, 12, 1-22) revealed that: (1) job scope's relationship to commitment was stronger at high levels of growth need strength; (2) the indirect effect of job scope on turnover was stronger at high levels of growth need strength; and (3) growth need strength had a residual, positive relationship to turnover. We discuss the implications of these findings for our understanding of how motivation-related individual difference variables combine with job characteristics and commitment in explaining turnover decisions. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.