How Do Police and Firefighters\u27 Perceived Leadership Practices Relate to Organizational Commitment

This study sought to ascertain if there is a positive relationship between perceived leadership practices and organizational commitment of police and firefighters, and to examine differences between men and women police and firefighters on organizational commitment. The instruments utilized in this study are as follows: the Organizational Commitment Scales developed by Meyer and Allen (1991); the Leadership Practices Inventory: Observer (LPI-O) by Kouzes and Posner (1988); and, the Demographic Survey. This study examined (1) the relationship of perceived leadership practices to the organizational commitment of police and firefighters within their departments, and (2) the differences between the organizational commitment of men and women. Respondents included 104 police and firefighters of different rank, educational levels, tenure, and gender, from departments in the southeastern region of the United States. The data analysis included regression analysis and one way ANOVA. The results showed that for affective commitment, only two leadership practices were positively related: Inspiring a Share Vision and Enabling Others to Act. For continuance commitment, none of the five leadership practices were positively related; and for normative commitment: Enabling Others to Act was the only leadership practice positively related. There were differences between men and women on organizational commitment. Women scored significantly higher on affective commitment than did men, while men scored higher on continuance commitment