Employee Commitment in Times of Change:
Assessing the Importance of Attitudes Toward
Organizational Change†
Steven M. Elias*
Department of Psychology, Auburn University Montgomery, Montgomery, AL
Organizations are dynamic and changing entities. Variables associated with organizational
change have been shown to serve as mediators of several individual difference variable/workrelated
outcome relationships. This study examines three potential antecedents of 258 police officers’
attitudes toward organizational change (ATOC), and whether ATOC mediates the
relationships between these antecedents and affective organizational commitment (AOC). At the
time of data collection, the officers’ police department was restructuring its organizational
design. Structural equation modeling indicates the growth need strength/AOC relationship is fully
mediated, whereas the focus of control/AOC and internal work motivation/AOC relationships are
partially mediated by ATOC. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Keywords: attitudes toward change; organizational change; organizational commitment
The body of literature dedicated to the understanding of organizational change is impressive,
and given that organizations continue to make adjustments and modifications at amazing
rates, we are sure to see much more research in this area. Noteworthy is the fact that until
recently much of the research focusing on issues relevant to organizational change has focused
on organizational-level concerns rather than individual-level concerns (Judge, Thoresen, Pucik,
1
†The author gratefully acknowledges the thoughtful comments of Russell Cropanzano and the manuscript’s anonymous
reviewers.
*Corresponding Author: Tel.: ...