Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / Discretionary effort (DE) is energy over which an individual has control, beyond that which is minimally required by the organization, expended pro-organizationally (to benefit the organization), consistent with organizational goals and requiring both a behavioral as well as a cognitive expenditure by the individual. The major question motivating this study was, "what relationships exist between DE and the previously established measures of organizational commitment (OC), psychological attachment (PA) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)?" A Discretionary Effort Scale (DES) was developed and integrated into a larger, 64-item Workplace Questionnaire (consisting of items from established measurement tools for OC, PA and OCB) and administered to 212 members of three business organizations (using both paper-and-pencil and electronic versions of the Questionnaire). Using principal components analyses, the original 15-item DES was reduced to a 10-item scale loading on two, key factors: In Role DE (IRDE) and Extra Role DE (ERDE). Analysis of results generally supported positive correlations between DE and OC, DE and PA, and DE and OCB. Analyses of relationships between IRDE (and ERDE) and specific components of the other dimensions (OC, PA, OCB) yielded pattems and results consistent with the nature of the constructs. The ve:ry early, rudimentary findings (1983) regarding levels of DE exhibited by workplace members were replicated in this study. The construct of DE does appear to merit further attention as one that may offer researchers and organizational managers opportunity for a better understanding of the relationship between organizational members and their organizations.

Understanding desistance processes can have important implications for offender rehabilitation by informing treatment practitioners of offender strengths for reintegration. Despite this potential utility for program development, desistance remains difficult to measure consistently across studies. The present study attempts to establish the utility of the Measure of Criminal and Antisocial Desistance (MCAD) by comparing and contrasting desistance scores between a group of probationers and a group of civilly committed sex offenders. The results suggest that the MCAD is a valid and reliable measure that is able to observe differences in multidimensional desistance constructs between groups. Furthermore, suppression effects of desistance strategies on offenders under civil commitment were observed. Future research should explore the use of the MCAD and measures like it in creating more effective treatment programs for offenders.

The present study sought to evaluate whether a brief ACT session which utilized values and committed action activities was effective in changing how student veterans responded on two different discounting surveys. Participants in experimental and control groups completed a monetary temporal discounting survey and a death probability discounting survey before and after completing either a brief ACT session or completing a control activity. Twenty-three student veterans participated in the present study and a pre-, post-group control group design was utilized to evaluate the effects of the intervention. Independent t-tests were conducted, and the results of those analyses showed that ACT was effective in decreasing discounting on the monetary temporal discounting survey (t(10) = 1.997, p = 0.0368) when compared to the control group (t(11) = 0.2088, p = 0.4192). However, there were no statistically significant changes on the death probability survey in the ACT group (t(10) = 0.2459 p = .4504) or control group (t(11) = 0.8784, p = 0.1992). Implications of these findings and future research are discussed.

The primary objectives of the study were as follows: (1) to explore the relationship between career anchors (as measured by the Career Orientations Inventory), organisational commitment (as measured by the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire) and turnover intention (as measured by a three-item questionnaire, developed by Mobley, Horner, and Hollingsworth, 1978); and (2) to determine whether employees from different gender, race, employment positions and age groups differ significantly in their career anchors, organisational commitment and turnover intention. A quantitative survey was conducted on a non-probability sample of 343 employed adults at managerial and general staff levels in the South African retail sector. The results of this study suggest that there was a significant but weak relationship between employees‟ career anchors and their organisational commitment. Career anchors were also found to be significantly related to organisational commitment and turnover intention; with entrepreneurial creativity, lifestyle and service/dedication to a cause career anchors being the best predictors of these two variables. The relationship between organisational commitment and turnover intention was significant and negative, with affectively and normatively committed participants being more likely to remain with the organisation (i.e. having lower turnover intentions). In addition, the findings indicate that although gender has no relationship with turnover intention, race, employment position and age do. African, general staff and 30 years and younger participants indicated higher intentions to leave the organisation. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Sustainability has become an important topic in many parts of society. However, companies struggle to translate it into their processes. If an individual values sustainability but is not able to fulfill these values an individual may feel a discrepancy; it may force individuals to feel an (in)congruence in their identity, leading to the question, How does sustainability identity (dis)congruence affect commitment? To answer the question a theoretical model was developed from different nuances of identity theory and organizational commitment. A mixed-method was used to capture the data. The results indicate that dependent on commitment style, the organization may override their personal sustainability identities. Our observations indicate that affective committed individuals choose to justify both personal and organizational actions in order to mitigate value incongruent behaviors. The thesis ends with a chapter of managerial recommendations. / <p><strong>Grade</strong>: Pass with distinction (VG)</p>

This quantitative research was a descriptive, statistical analysis that answered the question: "How does authentic leadership practices and the leader's quality of communication relate to organizational commitment?" / Doctor of Philosophy / Leadership practices / Leadership history / Leadership diversity / Leadership Communication / Organizational commitment / Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire / Organizational Commitment Instrument / Authentic Leadership Questionnaire.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / There has been a growing literature regarding how subordinates’ reaction potentially impacts the performance management effectiveness. However, managers’ reaction to performance management has been largely overlooked. To address this research gap, the major purpose of the current study was two-fold. First, the present study proposed a three-component commitment model to conceptualize managers’ perception toward performance management. Second, by employing self-determination theory, the current study examined how managers’ implicit person theory and the perceived performance management purpose interactively shaped their commitment pattern towards performance management. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized factor structure of performance management commitment. Further, managers’ incrementalism was a significant and negative predictor of continuous commitment to performance management. Lastly, the moderate effect of perceived purpose of performance management in the relationship between managers’ IPT and affective commitment to performance management was supported. Theoretical contribution, study limitations as well as further research directions were discussed.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This study sought to better understand the communication of commitment in monogamous romantic relationships, including how one communicates his/her commitment to his/her partner and how one interprets messages from his/her partner. Focusing on the fundamentals of communicating commitment to one’s partner proves beneficial in understanding the commitment processes in daily life. In an effort to understand this concept, I used themes from interdependence theory and the investment model to formulate the interview questions and develop the findings. The findings and interpretations demonstrate that couples are communicating their commitment to each other in words/verbal expressions, especially in the beginning stages of the committed relationship; the commitment global construct employed most to communicate commitment in relationship is relational maintenance behaviors; and people perceive that nonverbal expressions of commitment are the best way to interpret messages of commitment from one’s partner.

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