Commitment to Nested Collectives in Special Operations Forces

Contemporary investigations of workplace commitment include research on commitment components and commitment to multiple, and sometimes nested, work units. Research on commitment within the hierarchical military structure may be particularly reflective of these perspectives. Affective commitment to 2 nested organizational units (Special Operations Forces and the military) was hypothesized to be distinguishable from each another and from military continuance commitment. Further, a model portraying the hypothesized relations between satisfaction and affective commitment for the 2 organizational units and career intentions was examined. Special Operations personnel (n = 3,968) from 3 service branches completed satisfaction and career intentions items in addition to modified versions (Gade, Tiggle, & Schumm, 2003 Gade, P. A., Tiggle, R., & Schumm, W. R. (2003/this issue). The measurement and consequences of military organizational commitment in soldiers and spouses. Military Psychology, 15, 191–207.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]/this issue) of the Meyer and Allen (1984) Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1984). Testing the “side-bet theory” of organizational commitment: Some methodological considerations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 69, 372–378.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] commitment scales. Results of the research supported the distinction between the commitment scales and provided support for the model. Implications for operational environments and future research are discussed.