title: When feeling bad leads to feeling good: guilt-proneness and affective organizational commitment.
abstract: The authors posit that higher levels of guilt-proneness are associated with higher levels of affective organizational commitment. To explain this counterintuitive link, the authors suggest that a dispositional tendency to feel guilt motivates individuals to exert greater effort on their work-related tasks that, in turn, strengthens their affinity for the organization. The authors tested this idea using a laboratory study and field data from 2 samples of working adults. Individuals who are more guilt-prone reported higher levels of organizational attachment compared with less guilt-prone individuals. Furthermore, mediation analyses indicate that the link between guilt-proneness and affective commitment is driven by greater task effort. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for understanding the affective drivers of commitment in organizations.
authors: Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. flynn_francis@gsb.stanford.edu
authors: Francis J
authors: FJ
authors: Flynn
authors: Rebecca L
authors: RL
authors: Schaumberg
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology*; D015279:Organizational Culture; D009939:Organizations, Nonprofit / Q000458:organization & administration; D010558:Personnel Loyalty; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires