Using survey data from a large sample of state employees, this research investigates gender differences in affective organizational commitment to state employment. Following relational cohesion theory, I hypothesize that perceived emotional support among workers within the workplace is positively associated with affective commitment to state employment. I also expect that women’s greater commitment to state employment compared with men is due to their higher levels of perceived coworker support. The results of the analyses largely support the hypotheses and suggest that public-sector managers would do well to encourage the development of supportive relationships among employees.
AllenN.MeyerJ. P. (1990). The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organization. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63, 1-18.
2.
BanerjeeD.PerrucciC. C. (2010). Job satisfaction: Impact of gender, race, worker qualifications, and work content. Research in the Sociology of Work, 20, 39-58.
3.
BarbeeA. P.CunninghamM. R.WinsteadB. A.DerlegaV. J.GulleyM. R.YankeelovP. A.DruenP. B. (1993). Effects of gender role expectations on the social support process. Journal of Social Issues, 49(3), 175-190.
4.
BaronR. M.KennyD. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
5.
BeckerT. E.KleinH. J.MeyerJ. P. (2009). Commitment in organizations: Accumulated wisdom and new directions. In KleinH. J.BeckerT. E.MeyerJ. P. (Eds.), Commitment in organizations: Accumulated wisdom and new directions (pp. 419-452). New York, NY: Routledge.
6.
BeehrT. A.FarmerS. J.GlazerS.GudanowskiD. M.NairV. N. (2003). The enigma of social support and occupational stress: Source congruence and gender role effects. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 8, 220-231.
7.
BendittL. (2015). Race, gender, and public-sector work: Prioritizing occupational values as a labor market privilege. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 42, 73-86.
8.
BernhardtA.DresserL. (2002). Why privatizing government services would hurt women workers. Washington, DC: Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
9.
BuelensM.Van den BroeckH. (2007). Analysis of differences in work motivation between public and private sector organizations. Public Administration Review, 67, 65-74.
10.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2016). Table B-5. Employment of women on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector, seasonally adjusted. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t21.htm
11.
ChiaburuD.HarrisonD. A. (2008). Do peers make the place? Conceptual synthesis and meta-analysis of coworker effects on perceptions, attitudes, OCBs, and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 1082-1103.
12.
ChouJ.-A.RobertS. A. (2008). Workplace support, role overload, and job satisfaction of direct care workers in assisted living. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 49, 208-222.
13.
DucharmeL. J.KnudsenH. K.RomanP. M. (2008). Emotional exhaustion and turnover intention in human service occupations: The protective role of coworker support. Sociological Spectrum, 28, 81-104.
14.
DucharmeL. J.MartinJ. K. (2000). Unrewarding work, coworker support, and job satisfaction: A test of the buffering hypothesis. Work and Occupations, 27, 223-243.
15.
EisenbergerR.ArmeliS.RexwinkelB.LynchP. D.RhoadesL. (2001). Reciprocation of perceived organizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 42-51.
16.
EisenbergerR.CummingsJ.ArmeliS.LynchP. (1997). Perceived organizational support, discretionary treatment and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75, 51-59.
17.
ElgoibarP.MunduateL.MedinaF. J.EuwemaM. C. (2014). Do women accommodate more than men? Gender differences in perceived social support and negotiation behavior by Spanish and Dutch worker representatives. Sex Roles, 70, 538-553.
18.
FieldsD. L. (2002). Taking the measure of work: A guide to validated scales for organizational research and diagnosis. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
19.
FuhrerR.StansfeldS. A. (2002). How gender affects patterns of social relations and their impact on health: A comparison of one or multiple sources of support from “close persons.”Social Science & Medicine, 54, 811-825.
20.
FullertonA. S. (2009). A conceptual framework for ordered logistic regression models. Sociological Methods & Research, 38, 306-347.
21.
GansterD. C.FusilierM. R.MayesB. T. (1986). Role of social support in the experience of stress at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 102-110.
22.
GornickJ. C.JacobsJ. A. (1998). Gender, the welfare state, and public employment: A comparative study of seven industrialized countries. American Sociological Review, 63, 688-710.
23.
GrandeyA.FooS. C.GrothM.GoodwinR. E. (2012). Free to be you and me: A climate of authenticity alleviates burnout from emotional labor. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 17, 1-14.
24.
GuyM. E.NewmanM. A. (2004). Women’s jobs, men’s jobs: Sex segregation and emotional labor. Public Administration Review, 64, 289-298.
25.
HassanS. (2012). Employee attachment to workplace: A review of organizational and occupational identification and commitment. International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, 15, 383-422.
26.
HassanS.RohrbaughJ. (2011). The role of psychological climate on public sector employees’ organizational commitment: An empirical assessment for three occupational groups. International Public Management Journal, 14, 27-62.
27.
HassanS.RohrbaughJ. (2012). Variability in the organizational climate of government offices and affective organizational commitment. Public Management Review, 14, 563-584.
28.
HayesA. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
29.
HochschildA. R. (1997). Emotion work, feeling rules, and social structure. American Journal of Sociology, 3, 551-575.
30.
HodsonR. (1997). Group relations at work: Solidarity, conflict, and relations with management. Work and Occupations, 24, 426-452.
31.
HodsonR. (2001). Dignity at work. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
32.
IversonR. D.ButtigiegD. M. (1999). Affective, normative and continuance commitment: Can the “right kind” of commitment be managed?Journal of Management Studies, 36, 307-333.
33.
JungC. S.RitzR. (2014). Goal management, management reform, and affective organizational commitment in the public sector. International Public Management Journal, 17, 463-492.
34.
KorczynskiM. (2003). Communities of coping: Collective emotional labour in service work. Organization, 10, 55-79.
35.
LaRoccoJ. M.HouseJ. S.FrenchJ. R. P.Jr. (1980). Social support, occupational stress, and health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 21, 202-218.
36.
LawlerE. J.ThyeS. R.YoonJ. (2014). Emotions and group ties in social exchange. In StetsJ. E.TurnerJ. H. (Eds.), Handbook of the sociology of emotions: Volume II (pp. 77-101). New York, NY: Springer.
37.
LawlerE. J.YoonJ. (1996). Commitment in exchange relations: Test of a theory of relational cohesion. American Sociological Review, 61, 89-108.
38.
LincolnJ. R.KallebergA. L. (1990). Culture, control, and commitment: A study of work organization and work attitudes in the United States and Japan. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
39.
LiouK.-T.NyhanR. C. (1994). Dimensions of organizational commitment in the public sector: An empirical assessment. Public Administration Quarterly, 18, 99-118.
40.
LivelyK. J. (2000). Reciprocal emotion management: Working together to maintain stratification in private law firms. Work and Occupations, 27, 32-63.
41.
LlorensJ. J.WengerJ. B.KelloughJ. E. (2008). Choosing public sector employment: The impact of wages on the representation of women and minorities in state bureaucracies. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 18, 397-413.
42.
MarksS. R. (1994). Intimacy in the public realm: The case of co-workers. Social Forces, 72, 843-858.
43.
MarsdenP. V.KallebergA. L.CookC. R. (1993). Gender differences in organizational commitment: Influences of work positions and family roles. Work and Occupations, 20, 368-390.
44.
MathieuJ. R.ZajacD. M. (1990). A review and meta-analysis of the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of organizational commitment. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 171-194.
45.
MatthewsS.StansfeldS.PowerC. (1999). Social support at age 33: The influence of gender, employment status and social class. Social Science & Medicine, 49, 133-142.
46.
McCannB. S.RussoJ.BenjaminG. A. H. (1997). Hostility, social support, and perceptions of work. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 2, 175-185.
47.
McDuffE. M.MuellerC. W. (1999). Social support and compensating differentials in the ministry: Gender differences in two Protestant denominations. Review of Religious Research, 40, 307-330.
48.
McGuireG. M. (2007). Intimate work: A typology of the social support that workers provide to their network members. Work and Occupations, 34, 125-147.
49.
McGuireG. M. (2012). Race, gender, and social support: A study of networks in a financial services organization. Sociological Focus, 45, 320-337.
50.
MeyerJ. P.AllenN. J. (1991). A three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment. Human Resource Management Review, 1, 61-89.
51.
MeyerJ. P.HerscovitchL. (2001). Commitment in the workplace: Toward a general model. Human Resource Management Review, 11, 299-326.
52.
MeyerJ. P.StanleyD. L.HerscovitchL.TopolnytskyL. (2002). Affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organization: A meta-analysis of antecedents, correlates, and consequences. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 61, 20-52.
53.
MoynihanD. P.LanduytN. (2008). Explaining turnover intention in state government: Examining the roles of gender, life cycle, and loyalty. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 28, 120-143.
54.
NobletA.TeoS. T. T.McWilliamsJ.RodwellJ. J. (2005). Which work characteristics predict employee outcomes for the public-sector employee? An examination of generic and occupation-specific characteristics. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16, 1415-1430.
55.
PailléP. (2013). Do coworkers make the service customer? A field study in the public sector. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 33, 28-57.
56.
ParkS. M.RaineyH. G. (2007). Antecedents, mediators, and consequences of affective, normative, and continuance commitment: Empirical tests of commitment effects in federal agencies. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 27, 197-226.
57.
PaternosterR.BrameR.MazerolleP.PiqueroA. (1998). Using the correct statistical test for the equality of regression coefficients. Criminology, 36, 859-866.
58.
PerryJ. L. (1996). Measuring public service motivation: An assessment of construct reliability and validity. Journal of Public Administration Research, 6, 5-22.
59.
PerryJ. L.WiseL. R. (1990). The motivational bases of public service. Public Administration Review, 50, 367-373.
60.
RidgewayC. L. (2011). Framed by gender: How gender inequality persists in the modern world. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
61.
RossC. E.MirowskyJ. (1989). Explaining the social patterns of depression: Control and problem solving—or support and talking?Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 30, 206-219.
62.
RousseauV.AubéC. (2010). Social support at work and affective commitment to the organization: The moderating effect of job resource adequacy and ambient conditions. The Journal of Social Psychology, 150, 321-340.
63.
RoxburghS. (1996). Gender differences in work and well-being: Effects of exposure and vulnerability. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 37, 265-277.
64.
SchiemanS. (2006). Gender, dimensions of work, and supportive coworker relations. The Sociological Quarterly, 47, 195-214.
65.
SinghP.FinnD.GouletL. (2004). Gender and job attitudes: A re-examination and extension. Women in Management Review, 19, 345-355.
66.
SloanM. M. (2012). Unfair treatment in the workplace and worker well-being: The role of coworker support in a service work environment. Work and Occupations, 39, 3-34.
67.
SloanM. M.NewhouseR. J. E.ThompsonA. (2013). Counting on coworkers: Race, social support, and emotional experiences on the job. Social Psychology Quarterly, 76, 343-372.
68.
SmithT. W.MarsdenP.HoutM.KimJ. (2016). General Social Surveys, 1972-2014 [Machine-readable data file]. Available from https://gssdataexplorer.norc.org/
69.
TaylorS. E. (2007). Social support. In FriedmanH. S.SilverR. C. (Eds.), Foundations of health psychology (pp. 145-171). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
70.
ThoitsP. A. (1986). Social support as coping assistance. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 416-423.
71.
ThoitsP. A. (1995). Stress, coping, and social support processes: Where are we? What next?Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 35, 53-79.
72.
ThoitsP. A. (2011). Mechanisms linking social ties and support to physical and mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 52, 145-161.
73.
TurnerJ. B.TurnerR. J. (2013). Social relations, social integration, and social support. In AneshenselC. S.PhelanJ. C.BiermanA. (Eds.), Handbook of the sociology of mental health (2nd ed., pp. 341-356). New York, NY: Springer.
74.
TurnerR. J.BrownR. L. (2009). Social support and mental health. In BrownT. N. (Ed.), Handbook for the study of mental health (pp. 200-212). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
75.
TurnerR. J.MarinoF. (1994). Social support and social structure: A descriptive epidemiology. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 35, 193-212.
76.
UmbersonD.ChenM. D.HouseJ. S.HopkinsK.SlatenE. (1996). The effect of social relationships on psychological well-being: Are men and women really so different?American Sociological Review, 61, 837-857.
77.
WallaceJ. (2014). Gender and supportive co-worker relations in the medical profession. Gender, Work & Organization, 21, 1-17.
78.
WallaceJ.KayF. M. (2012). Tokenism, organizational segregation, and coworker relations in law firms. Social Problems, 59, 389-410.
79.
WayneS. J.Coyle-ShapiroA.-M.EisenbergerR.LidenR. C.RousseauD. M.ShoreL. M. (2009). Social influences. In KleinH. J.BeckerT. E.MeyerJ. P. (Eds.), Commitment in organizations: Accumulated wisdom and new directions (pp. 253-284). New York, NY: Routledge.
80.
WethingtonE.KesslerR. C. (1986). Perceived support, received support, and adjustment to stressful life events. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 27, 78-89.
81.
WynenJ.OpdeBeeckS.HondeghemA. (2013). Interorganizational mobility within the U.S. federal government: Examining the effect of individual and organizational factors. Public Administration Review, 73, 869-881.
82.
YoonJ.LawlerE. J. (2005). Relational cohesion model of organizational commitment. In KyriakidouL.OzbilginM. (Eds.), Relational perspectives in organizational studies: A research companion (pp. 138-162). Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.
