Individual Values and Social Exchange Variables

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between individual values and organizational commitment and the joint effect of commitment dimensions and individual values on employees' in-role performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The sample includes 539 secular Israeli teachers employed in 20 secular schools. The OCB data were provided by each school's principal. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses showed individual values, particularly collectivism, were related to affective and normative commitment above and beyond the effect of organizational justice. The findings also showed that individual values were related to three of the behavioral outcomes, also above and beyond the effect of the social exchange variables. The relationship of commitment forms to in-role performance and OCB was rather weak and raises some questions about the utility of organizational commitment in predicting these outcomes. The findings' implications for the continuation of research on the relationship between individual values and workplace attitudes and behaviors are discussed.