A Psychometric Comparison of Two Organizational Commitment Scales Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • This study evaluated the equivalence of two alternative organizational commitment measures found in the social sciences literature, particularly in business disciplines. The results indicate that the 1974 organizational commitment measure developed by Porter, Steers, Mowday, and Boulian demonstrates better internal and external consistency than the 1984 four-item Hunt, Chonko, and Wilcox scale. Both measures were given to a group of 207 professional auditors employed at all levels in the hierarchy of a large public accounting firm. The auditors averaged 27 yr. of age, with 4.4 yr. of public accounting experience. 61.7% were men, 56.8% were married, and 50.2% had been professionally certified. The factor analysis indicates that the Hunt measure represents one of the three defined aspects of the Porter measure of organizational commitment, an individual's desire to maintain membership in the organization. Based on the results, researchers should be aware that the two scales measure somewhat different constructs and should consider the appropriateness of substituting one measure for the other.

author list (cited authors)

  • Shaub, M. K

citation count

  • 5

complete list of authors

  • Shaub, Michael K

publication date

  • January 1991