A longitudinal analysis of the relationship between multiple commitments and withdrawal cognitions

This paper examines the relationship between multiple commitments (affective organizational commitment, continuance organizational commitment, occupational commitment, and job involvement) and withdrawal cognitions, with three different time intervals between the two. One hundred and twenty-two community center employees (a 37% response rate) in Israel participated in the study. The findings showed that commitment forms were related to withdrawal cognitions, even when withdrawal cognitions measured earlier than or at the same time as commitment forms were controlled for. The results also showed that the timing of the measurement of the research variables had a strong effect on the findings. More specifically, the prediction of withdrawal is better, the shorter the interval between its measurement and the measurement of multiple commitments. The findings also showed that commitment and withdrawal are both dynamic concepts. That is, the effect of timing on the accuracy of the prediction can be a result of more immediate changes in commitment forms across time, or more immediate changes in withdrawal cognitions over time. Other implications of the findings for future research on commitment and withdrawal are also discussed.