Development of organizational commitment and value internalization

In this paper we explain the crucial role played by the processes of internalized motivation in the development of organizational commitment. Our research not only shows that the idealized influence transformational leadership style is causally linked to organizational commitment, but also that an internalization process of motivation operates as an explanatory causal mechanism. We focus on two forms of motivation: identified motivation and intrinsic motivation, which are associated with the internalization process and are closest to self-values. Based on recent findings concerning the positive behavioral outcomes of normative and affective commitment, we modeled organizational commitment as a formative construct consisting of normative and affective commitment forms. Data was gathered from an Australian manufacturing organization in early 2014. 89 responses were received. Our findings show that both intrinsic and identified motivations have a significant effect on the development of willing organizational commitment. In our model the relationship between leadership idealized influence and employee intrinsic motivation was totally mediated by identified motivation. This finding highlights the importance of the internalization process of motivation, and articulates its role in explaining the causal link between idealized influence leadership style and employee organizational commitment