“I” is to continuance as “We” is to affective: the relevance of the self‐concept for organizational commitment

Abstract The goal of the present study was to examine the intersection of employees' self‐concept, a pivotal self‐regulatory mechanism, with their organizational commitment. We supported our hypothesis that unique associations exist between affective commitment and collective self‐concept, due to their shared group‐oriented focus and internalization of collective goals and norms. Furthermore, we observed unique associations between continuance commitment and individual self‐concept, likely owing to a shared emphasis on preserving personal investments and avoiding adverse outcomes. We also show that self‐concept moderates relationships between commitment and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), such that affective (continuance) commitment–OCB relationships were stronger for employees with high collective (individual) self‐concept levels. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.