title: The role of moral commitment within the Investment Model.
abstract: The Investment Model (Rusbult, 1980) defines general commitment as a long-term orientation towards relationship maintenance and feelings of psychological attachment, influenced by satisfaction, quality of alternatives and intrinsic/extrinsic investments. We suggest the importance of additionally assessing moral commitment, defined by an intrapersonal predisposition to remain in the relationship (Johnson, 1991). We argue moral commitment's association to perceived intrinsic investments acting as internal barriers influencing general commitment and promoting relationship maintenance. A correlational study resorting to structural equation modelling showed that moral commitment predicted intrinsic investments, which in turn predicted general commitment (Model 1). No direct paths emerged from moral commitment to satisfaction or quality of alternatives (Model 2), nor it emerged as a fourth direct predictor of general commitment (Model 3). Results are discussed under relationships maintenance and dissolution frameworks.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social (CIS-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal; Institut de Psychologie, Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale: Menaces et Société (EA 4471), Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: Diniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lopes
mesh_terms: D001362:Avoidance Learning; D002681:China; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009014:Morals; D009664:Norway; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011044:Poland; D012938:Social Perception; D013019:South Africa; D035501:Uncertainty; D014481:United States
keywords: General commitment; Investment Model; Moral commitment; Structural equation modelling