The role of affective commitment in the relationship between social support and turnover intention

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to argue that affective commitment plays a significant and complex role in the relationship between social support and turnover intention. Design/methodology/approach Surveys were returned by 217 hospital employees with an average tenure of 11.55 years (SD=10.20)...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Management decision 2017-01, Vol.55 (3), p.512-525
Main Authors: Fazio, John, Gong, Baiyun, Sims, Randi, Yurova, Yuliya
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Citizenship
Correlation analysis
Employees
Hypotheses
Job satisfaction
Joint ventures
Salespeople
Social exchange theory
Social support
State employees
Studies
Supervisors
Turnover
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Summary:Purpose The purpose of this paper is to argue that affective commitment plays a significant and complex role in the relationship between social support and turnover intention. Design/methodology/approach Surveys were returned by 217 hospital employees with an average tenure of 11.55 years (SD=10.20). Findings Findings suggest that perceived organizational support and perceived supervisor support (PSS) could directly impact turnover intention without the mediation of affective commitment. Thus, affective commitment only partially mediates the negative relation between perceived support and turnover intention. In addition, the results suggest that enhanced PSS reduced turnover intention more powerfully, when affective commitment increased. For a highly committed employee, support from the supervisor can be more influential than that of a less committed employee. Originality/value This is an initial investigation on the moderating role of affective commitment in the relationship between perceived social support and turnover intention. Further, the findings emphasize the independent impact of perceived social support above and beyond the effect mediated by affective commitment, thus adding evidence to the debate on the extend of the mediating effect of affective commitment.
ISSN:0025-1747
1758-6070
DOI:10.1108/MD-05-2016-0338