University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations May 2014 Understanding the Role of Workplace Relationships in Employee Commitment and Engagement: A Complementary Fit Perspective Kyle Ehrhardt University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Human Resources Management Commons, and the Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons Recommended Citation Ehrhardt, Kyle, "Understanding the Role of Workplace Relationships in Employee Commitment and Engagement: A Complementary Fit Perspective" (2014). Theses and Dissertations. 684. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/684 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF WORKPLACE RELATIONSHIPS IN EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT AND ENGAGEMENT: A COMPLEMENTARY FIT PERSPECTIVE by Kyle Ehrhardt A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management Science at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee May, 2014 ABSTRACT UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF WORKPLACE RELATIONSHIPS IN EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT AND ENGAGEMENT: A COMPLEMENTARY FIT PERSPECTIVE by Kyle Ehrhardt The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2014 Under the Supervision of Dr. Belle Rose Ragins For most of us, work is an inherently social experience. We depend on our relationships to accomplish our work tasks. Emerging theory also suggests that work relationships play a role in meeting our social and developmental needs, and in so doing, affect our attitudes toward our jobs and organizations. Specifically, relational systems theory holds that employees have five different „relational needs,‟ and are more likely to become committed to their organization and engaged in their work when they are embedded in a set of workplace relationships that meet these needs. According to the theory, employees‟ experiences of need fulfillment create a state of „psychological attachment to others at work‟, which subsequently affects their organizational commitment and work engagement (Kahn, 2007). Drawing on relational systems theory, I develop and test a model that explains how employees‟ full array of work relationships shape their organizational commitment and work engagement. To more precisely capture employees‟ appraisal of need fulfillment, I also extend relational systems theory by integrating a person-environment fit perspective (Edwards, 1992). This perspective suggests that need fulfillment is best ii evaluated by examining „needs/supplies fit,‟ that is, the congruence between individual preferences and environmental inputs. The model was tested using primary data from 538 employees by means of a multi-wave, web-based survey. I also developed and validated a measure of psychological attachment to others at work using a separate sample of 327 individuals. Results provided overarching support for the theoretical model. Supporting relational systems theory, individuals‟ experiences of need fulfillment across the five relational need dimensions predicted their organizational commitment and work engagement, and these effects were mediated by their psychological attachment to others at work. Psychological attachment to others at work also explained significant variance in organizational commitment and work engagement beyond the influence of perceived organizational support and supplementary person-organization fit. These relationships were further robust to individual differences in employees‟ relational-interdependent self- construal. Finally, supporting PE fit perspectives, results revealed that experiencing relational needs as „over-met‟ versus „under-met‟ can have different consequences for predicting individuals‟ psychological attachment to others at work. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed. iii © Copyright by Kyle Ehrhardt, 2014 All Rights Reserved iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction and Study Background ..................................................................1 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................2 Contributions............................................................................................................4 Contributions to Research and Theory ........................................................4 Practical Implications...................................................................................7 Dissertation Outline .................................................................................................9 Chapter 2: Literature Review .............................................................................................10 Organizational Commitment ..................................................................................10 Nature and Definition of Organizational Commitment .............................10 Antecedents of Organizational Commitment.............................................15 Work Engagement .................................................................................................24 Nature and Definition of Work Engagement .............................................24 Antecedents of Work Engagement ............................................................27 Interpersonal Influences on Commitment and Engagement: Extant Research on Workplace Relationships ...................................................................30 Dyadic Influences ......................................................................................30 Network Influences ....................................................................................38 Issues and Limitations of Extant Research and Current Approaches to Workplace Relationships .......................................................................43 A Relational Systems Perspective on Interpersonal Influences .............................53 Relational Systems Theory: Core Components .........................................53 Assessing Relational Systems: Integrating a Complementary Fit Lens......... ...................................................................................................62 Summary of Chapter 2 ...........................................................................................68 Chapter 3: Theoretical Model and Hypotheses ..................................................................70 Effects of Relational Need Fulfillment ..................................................................72 Effects where Needs are not Met by Supplies ...........................................73 Effects for Congruence at High Versus Low Absolute Values .................75 Effects where Supplies Exceed Needs .......................................................77 Effects of Psychological Attachment to Others at Work .......................................78 Organizational Commitment ......................................................................78 Work Engagement .....................................................................................80 Moderating Role of Relational-interdependent Self-construal ..............................82 Chapter 4: Validation Study...............................................................................................86 Data Collection and Measures ...............................................................................86 Data Collection Procedures ........................................................................86 Measures to be Validated ...........................................................................89 Additional Measures ..................................................................................93 Statistical Analysis and Results .............................................................................94 Preliminary Screening ................................................................................94 Factor Analyses ..........................................................................................95 v Internal Consistency.................................................................................113 Construct Validity ....................................................................................115 Validation Study Summary ..................................................................................124 Chapter 5: Dissertation Study ..........................................................................................125 Sample and Data Collection.................................................................................125 Information on StudyResponse ................................................................125 Data Collection Procedures ......................................................................126 Response Screening .................................................................................130 Sample Description ..................................................................................132 Measures ..............................................................................................................139 Organizational Commitment ....................................................................141 Work Engagement ...................................................................................141 Psychological Attachment to Others at Work ..........................................141