Organizational commitment and job satisfaction: What are the potential relationships?

Abstract

This study compared two different structural models regarding the direct or mediation role satisfaction has in the prediction of commitment bond, in the context of a public and traditional Brazilian organization, the Military Police. A quantitative and qualitative combination of methods was used to measure relationships between variables and to contextualize the results found from 10,052 surveyed workers. We conducted interviews with six high command officers and a focus group comprised of seven members from the three highest organizational levels. Content analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used in the analysis process. Evidence was found that satisfaction with relationships is an antecedent of commitment, which mediates its relationships with other variables, such as work and personal characteristics. Understanding the organization’s characteristics and the use of a substantial sample of its employees simultaneously allowed for testing complex structural models and investigating a labor segment that has been neglected by commitment research.