Date of Award
12-2010
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Legacy Department
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Committee Chair/Advisor
Sinclair, Robert R.
Committee Member
Britt , Tom
Committee Member
Moore , DeWayne
Committee Member
Rosopa , Patrick
Abstract
Occupational turnover is a costly problem afflicting much of the nursing industry, and occupational commitment is a strong predictor of withdrawal from one's profession. Traditional organizational research examines most commitment-behavior relationships from a variable-centered perspective, focusing on the relationships between constructs. The present study adopts a configural, or person-centered approach aimed at identifying and describing clusters of individuals who share a similar set of occupational commitment mindsets. The present study extends current literature by a) investigating the existence of several occupational commitment profiles and describing their characteristics; b) examining situational and demographic predictors of profile membership; and c) testing differences in occupational withdrawal intentions across the occupational commitment profiles. I examined these questions longitudinally using Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) in an archival data set of Registered Nurses from different organizations in the Northwestern United States. Five distinct profiles of occupational commitment among nurses emerged - free agent, allied, complacent, attached, and devoted - each differing with respect to their predictors, outcomes, and degree of stability over time. While there were few demographic differences across profiles, the frequency of successes, supports, and demands on the job appear to play an important role in the development of occupational commitment mindsets. Profiles were also characterized by their varying effects on withdrawal from the occupation. The findings supplemented results gleaned from more traditional hierarchical regression techniques. Additional implications and future directions for research are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Sears, Lindsay, "Predictors and Outcomes of Occupational Commitment Profiles among Nurses" (2010). All Dissertations. 665.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/665