THE CONSTRUCT-VALIDITY OF INSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENT - A CONFIRMATORY FACTOR-ANALYSIS

The present study examined the underlying structure of the variable Institutional Commitment by testing for the convergence, or lack thereof, among different indicators of the construct as represented by three theoretical frameworks (Tinto, 1975, 1987; Bean, 1985; Huselid and Day, 1991). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that Institutional Commitment could be decomposed into two multiple indicators of the same latent construct: a general factor that groups items related to institutional quality, practical value of an education, utility of an education, fit between student and institution, and loyalty to the institution and another factor represented by items indicating similarity of values (Affinity of Values). Moreover, the study established the predictive validity of each subcomponent on different outcomes related to student persistence. While Institutional Commitment was found to have a significant direct effect on both students' intents to persist and actual persistence behavior, Affinity of Values was not as equally predictive of measures of student retention.