A CROSS-LEVEL NONRECURSIVE MODEL OF THE ANTECEDENTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT AND SATISFACTION

A cross-level nonrecursive model of the antecedents of organizational commitment and satisfaction was developed and tested with survey responses from 588 ROTC cadets. Organizational commitment and satisfaction were depicted as reciprocally related, and individual characteristics and group attributes were depicted as exogenous variables. Several indirect relationships were specified as mediated by role strain and perceived training characteristics. The model was tested with LISREL VII and rejected on the basis of several fit indices. A series of model comparisons based on the hypothesized model indicated that satisfaction and commitment were related but that the nature of their relationship was not clear. Similar contrasts based on a revised model indicated that the two variables were reciprocally related but that the influence of satisfaction on commitment was stronger. Methodological issues related to the examination of commitment-satisfaction relations are discussed, along with the use of cross-level designs in the study of organizational behavior.