aryee and tan (1992) - antecedents and outcomes of career commitment

JOURNAL OF VOCATIONAL BEHAVIOR 4, 288-305 (1992),

Antecedents and Outcomes of Career Commitment

SAMUEL ARYEE AND KEVIN TAN

Faculty of Business Administration, National University of Singapore

Based on London’s (1983) and London and Mone’s (1987) theory of career motivation and the extrawork literature, a hypothesized model of the antecedents and outcomes of career commitment was proposed and tested. Data obtained using structured questionnaires from a sample of teachers and nurses in Singapore (N = 510) were analyzed using LISREL. Results of the LISREL analysis indicate that the model did not fit the data although work role salience, organizational commitment, career satisfaction, and organizational opportunity for development emerged as significant antecedents of career commitment. The only extrawork variable, family supportive activity, was not significantly related to career commitment directly. In terms of outcomes of career commitment, career commitment was significantly and positively related to skill development and negatively to career and job withdrawal intentions but was not significantly related to work quality. Implications of the failure of the model to fit the data for London’s and London and Mone’s theory are discussed and hypotheses for the model’s revision are suggested. 0 IW2 Academic Press, Inc.

In view of the centrality of work and the social value attached to work, most individuals would at some point in their lives make the decision to participate in the world of work. One of the foci of research interest in work and work-related experiences is the processes through which individuals become committed to work, as evidenced in the proliferation of work commitment concepts (Morrow, 1983). Of the five work commitment concepts identified by Morrow (1983), relatively well-developed measures exist for the value, job, organizational, and union foci (Morrow and Wirth, 1989), but the career focus lags developmentally. Although aspects of careers, for example career choice and career development, have been extensively studied (Holland, 1966; Super, 1957), there is a paucity of work on career commitment. Rising levels of education and the weakening of sex-role boundaries (Greenhaus, 1987), as well as the recognition that

The authors are grateful to Cherlyn Granrose and two anonymous reviewers for comments on an earlier version of the manuscript, and to Francis Pavri for assistance with the LISREL analysis. Correspondence and reprint requests should be addressed to Samuel Aryee, Faculty of Business Administration, National University of Singapore, 10, Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 0511.

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OOOl-8791/92 $5.00 Copyright 0 I!992 by Academic Press, Inc. All tights of reproduction in any form reserved.

ANTECEDENTS AND OUTCOMES OF CAREER COMMITMENT 289

when effectively managed, career experiences can contribute to one’s life satisfaction, highlights the importance of career commitment. In addition, Colarelli and Bishop (1990), noted that the longitudinal nature of careers makes career commitment important for career development and career progression.

In a series of studies Blau (1985, 1988, 1989), developed and demonstrated the discriminant validity and generalizability of a career commitment measure. He defined career commitment as one’s attitude toward one’s vocation or field or in the words of Hall (1971), the motivation to work in a career-role. The concept of career commitment is underpinned by the notion of a career as a predictable series of related jobs arranged in a hierarchical status in a particular occupation thus offering the career aspirant an opportunity for career progression (Pelz & Andrews, 1966). As a component of the subjective dimension of career, career commitment is an affective concept which represents identification with a series of related jobs in a specific field of work and is behaviorally expressed in an ability to cope with disappointments in the pursuit of career goals.

Previous work on the career focus domain of work commitment used the referent of profession and the concepts of professionalism and professional commitment. In the view of Morrow and Wirth (1989), these concepts describe the essence of a concept recognized as loyalty to one’s profession. Based on previous formulations of professionalism (Hall, 1968; Kerr, Von Glinow, & Schriesheim, 1977; Bartol, 1979), Morrow and Goetz (1988) examined professionalism as a form of work commitment. They found professionalism to be nonredundant with other forms of work commitment, namely, job involvement and organizational commitment. Because of the definitional problems inherent in the concept of professionalism, Aranya, Pollock, and Armenic (1981), suggested professional commitment. They defined professional commitment as the belief in and acceptance of the goals and values of the profession, the willingness to exert effort on its behalf, and a desire to retain membership in the profession .

Morrow and Wirth (1989) however, doubted the possibility of using professional commitment as a generic career focus concept as it does not cover the entire career focus domain. Furthermore, the referent of profession neglects occupations or vocations which have not been accorded the honorific label of a profession. Blau’s measure of career commitment, while obviating the definitional problems inherent in the use of professionalism, can be applied to a wide range of occupations and therefore, may well represent a generic career focus concept. Attempts to advance the career focus of work commitment may therefore fruitfully proceed using Blau’s measure of career commitment (Arnold, 1990). The objective of this study is to examine the antecedents and outcomes of career commitment among a sample of nurses and teachers in Singapore.

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When career commitment is conceptualized as the strength of one’s motivation to work in a chosen career-role (Hall, 1971), London’s (1983) and London and Mone’s (1987) theory of career motivation could serve as a framework for examining the antecedents and outcomes of career commitment. Drawing upon two previously dominant traditions in career research, London (1983) and London and Mone (1987) proposed an in- tegrative model that views both individual and situational characteristics as determinants of career decisions and behavior. They conceptualized career motivation as a multidimensional construct internal to the individual, influenced by the situation, and reftected in the individual’s career decisions and behavior. Variables within the model are clustered into three dimensions-career identity, career insight, and career resilience. Career identity refers to the extent to which people define themselves in terms of their field of work; career insight is the extent to which one has a realistic perception of one’s self, one’s goals and the organization and, career resilience refers to one’s resistance to career disruption in a less than optimal environment. Of the three dimensions, career identity and career resilience are conceptually similar to the conceptualization of career commitment employed here.

In addition to variables identified in London’s (1983) and London and Mone’s (1987) theory of career motivation, extrawork variables have in recent times received a great deal of attention as determinants of work- related attitudes (Kanter, 1977; Chusmir, 1982; Orthner & Pittman, 1986). Kanter (1977) for example, suggested that family situations can define work orientation, motivation, abilities, emotional energies, and the demands people bring to the workplace (p. 54). Based on London’s and London and Mone’s theory of career motivation and the extrawork literature a model of the antecedents and outcomes of career commitment is proposed and tested.

Figure 1 depicts the hypothesized relations among model components tested in this study. Ten latent variables are used in this study. For one, work-role salience is considered an exogeneous variable while the other nine are defined as endogeneous variables. The literature that led to the hypothesized relations is reviewed below.

A starting point is the hypothesized direct and indirect effects of work role salience on career commitment. London (1983) hypothesized primacy of work in one’s life as a determinant of one’s devotion to work in the sense of sacrificing nonwork activities and responsibilities for work. Em- pirical studies have demonstrated a significant and positive relation between work role salience and career commitment (Blau, 1985) as well as the three dimensions of career motivation (Noe, Noe, & Bachhuber, 1990). Work-role salience also is hypothesized to influence career commitment indirectly through one’s response to organizational opportunity for development and the propensity to engage in family supportive activity.

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It is intuitively plausible that individuals high in work-role salience will be more likely to take advantage of opportunity for development provided by the organization than those who are low in work-role salience. Also, it is proposed that individuals high in work-role salience will be more likely to engage in family supportive activity in order to minimize dis- tractions from the domestic sphere.

Organizational opportunity for development is hypothesized to comprise two observed variables, organizational support and work challenge. As a latent variable, organizational opportunity for development is hypothesized to directly affect career commitment and indirectly through career satisfaction and organizational commitment. Organizational support or opportunity for development is conceptually similar to organizational career management which has been shown to be significantly and positively related to career effectiveness (Pazy, 1988). Career effectiveness has been conceptualized to incorporate career identity (Hall, 1976; Gould, 1979; Pazy, 1988) which is synonymous with the notion of career commitment used here. London (1983) hypothesized job challenge as a determinant of career motivation. Noe et al. (1990) reported a significant positive relation between job characteristics and the three dimensions of career motivation. In addition to facilitating one’s psychological growth to keep up with the job, challenging jobs may stimulate career resilience through the opportunity for autonomy in completing tasks inherent in one’s career- role.

Organizational opportunity for development is hypothesized to indirectly affect career commitment through career satisfaction and organizational commitment. Organizational opportunity for development may enhance one’s career growth or the acquisition of competencies relevant to one’s career-role (Hall, 1971). As career growth may constitute one’s career goal, the realization of this goal should lead to career satisfaction. Organizational opportunity for development also has been shown to positively affect organizational commitment (Dean, Ferris, & Konstans, 1988; Gaertner & Nollen, 1989; Aryee & Debrah, 1991). The rationale for this relation is later explained in this section.

As evident in the model, family supportive activity is hypothesized to comprise two observed variables, spouse support and household coping mechanism. Family supportive activity is hypothesized to affect career commitment both directly and indirectly through career satisfaction and organizational commitment. Steffy and Jones (1988) reported a significant positive relation between household coping mechanism (instrumental support) and career commitment. As a form of instrumental support, household coping mechanism helps in managing the demands of multiple roles and facilitates one’s concentration or devotion to the career-role. Steffy and Jones (1988) also reported a significant positive relation between career commitment and dual-career planning support, a term which is


conceptually similar to spouse support. As a form of emotional support, spouse support may help to cushion the effects of career disappointments and thereby enhance one’s career resilience and therefore commitment. Considering the hypothesized indirect effect of family supportive activity on career commitment through career satisfaction and organizational commitment, Rosin (1990) reported that spouse support positively affects the career satisfaction of husbands. Aryee and Debrah (1991) reported spouse support to be a significant positive predictor of organizational commitment in a sample of women in upwardly mobile occupations.

Career satisfaction is hypothesized to affect career commitment directly and indirectly through organizational commitment. In a theoretical paper on career subidentity, Hall (1971) proposed that one will become more or less committed to one’s career role as one sees oneself becoming more or less competent and successful in one’s career role. However, realization of one’s career goals and therefore, career satisfaction, may be contingent upon opportunities offered by one’s employing organization. Based on exchange theory predictions (Mowday, Porter, & Steers, 1982) and empirical studies (Aryee & Debrah, 1991) career satisfaction is hypothesized to positively affect organizational commitment. Finally, organizational commitment is predicted to directly affect career commitment (London, 1983). A significant positive correlation has been reported between organizational commitment and career commitment (Blau, 1985; Steffy & Jones, 1988; Darden, Hampton, & Howell, 1989). This finding may be explained in terms of an employing organization that provides a climate which promotes the ideals and goals of a specific occupation. The pursuit of a career role in this occupation in such an organization will heighten one’s commitment to the organization and subsequently to one’s career role (Hall, Schneider, & Nygren, 1970).

The second part of the model examines the outcomes of career commitment. The outcomes examined here are career and job withdrawal intentions, work quality, and skill development. London (1983) hypothesized skill development and work quality as behavioral outcomes of career motivation. Blau (1985) found a significant negative relation between career commitment and career withdrawal cognitions but not job withdrawal cognitions.

In sum, this study sought to contribute to the career focus of work commitment by drawing upon London’s and London and Mone’s theory of career motivation and the extrawork literature to suggest a framework for examining the antecedents and outcomes of career commitment.

METHOD

Participants

Data were collected using structured questionnaires from teachers and nurses employed in Singapore. Permission to conduct the study was ob-

294 ARYEE AND TAN

tained from the Ministry of Education and six high schools were ap- proached to participate in the survey. In the case of the nurses, letters requesting permission to conduct the survey were sent to the Directors of Nursing in six hospitals all of whom agreed to participate in the survey. In each of the 12 organizations that participated in the survey, a liaison was appointed and made responsible for the distribution and collection of questionnaires. In order to effectively respond to respondents’ queries, each liaison was thoroughly briefed on the objectives of the survey as well as its technical details. A letter explaining the objectives of the survey, the voluntary nature of respondent participation, and guarantee of anonymity and confidentiality of responses was attached to each questionnaire.

A total of 650 questionnaires were distributed to a random sample of teachers and nurses. Completed questionnaires were returned sealed to the liaison in separate envelopes and were later collected by the authors. Of the 650 questionnaires, 510 were returned for a response rate of 78.5%. The modal respondent was in the 37-50 age bracket (48%) and was married (72%). The majority of the nurses (81%) had a secondary education while the bulk of the teachers had a first degree (56.7%). How- ever, all respondents were graduates of the relevant local training institutes so the teachers were certified teachers and the nurses were State Regis- tered Nurses. The majority of respondents had at least 10 years experience in both organization and career role.

Measures

Career commitment. Career commitment was measured using a 7-item scale developed by Blau (1988). Responses were on 5-point Likert format ranging from (1) “strongly disagree” to (5) “strongly agree” and were summed and averaged to create a scale score. Blau (1985) reported his career commitment scale to have an internal consistency of .87 and .85 on two occasions 7 months apart and a test-retest reliability of .67. Sample items include “I definitely want a career for myself in the teaching/nursing profession” and “If I could do it all over again, I would not choose to work in the teaching/nursing profession” (reverse scored). The ar reliability in this study is .83.

Work-role salience. Work-role salience was measured using a lo-item version of a measure developed by Greenhaus (1971). Responses were on a 5-point Likert format ranging from (1) “strongly disagree” to (5) “strongly agree.” Because of possible conceptual overlap between some of the work role salience items and those of career commitment, 4 of the work role salience items were dropped from the scale. Noe et al. (1990) reported an internal consistency reliability of .84 for the short version (6 items) of Greenhaus’ (1971) scale. Sample items in the 6-item scale used here include “Work is one of the few areas in life in which you can gain


real satisfaction” and “It is difficult to find satisfaction in life unless you enjoy your job.” The scale’s (Y reliability in this study is .65.

Organizational commitment. Organizational commitment was measured using Porter and Smith’s (1970) 9-item scale. Responses were on a 5-point Likert format ranging from (1) “strongly disagree” to (5) “strongly agree.” Mowday, Steers, and Porter (1979) have provided evidence for the construct validity of this scale. Sample items include “I really care about the fate of this organization” and “I am proud to tell others that I am part of my organization.” The a reliability of the scale in this study is .89.

Career satisfaction. Career satisfaction was measured using a 5-item scale developed by Greenhaus, Parasuraman, and Wormley (1990). They reported an (Y reliability of .88 for the scale. Responses were on a 5-point Likert format which ranged from (1) “very dissatisfied” to (5) “very satisfied.” Sample items include “I am satisfied with the progress I have made toward meeting my goals for income” and “I am satisfied with the progress I have made toward meeting my goals for advancement.” The scale’s (Y reliability in this study is .86.

Organizational support. Organizational support was measured by a 7- item scale adapted from the organizational support for updating subscale of Far-r, Dubin, Enscore, Kozlowski, and Cleveland’s (1983) Work De- scription Questionnaire for Engineers (WDQE). Farr et al. (1983) did not provide reliability evidence for the WDQE. Responses were on a 5- point Likert format ranging from (1) “very inaccurate” to (5) “very accurate.” Sample items include “My organization is concerned with the professional growth of teachers/nurses” and “My organization rewards the efforts of teachers/nurses to keep up with developments in teaching/nursing.” The scale’s cx reliability in this study is .82.

Household coping mechanism. Household coping mechanism was measured using an g-item scale. The items were drawn from Steffy and Jones’ (1988) household coping mechanism scale. They reported an (Y reliability of .70 for their scale. Responses were on a 5-point Likert format ranging from (1) “very inaccurate” to (5) “very accurate.” Sample items include “Enlists assistance such as baby sitters and cleaning help” and “Evaluates which activities are most important and schedules time accordingly.” The scale’s (Y reliability in this study is .94.

SkilZ development. Skill development was measured using a 4-item scale designed specifically for this study. Responses were on a 5-point Likert format ranging from (1) “never” to (5) “nearly all the time.” Sample items include “Keeping up with developments in teaching/nursing” and “Attending training and/or skills development programs relevant to my career as a teacher/nurse.” The (Y reliability of the 4-item scale in this study is .81.

Work challenge. Work challenge was measured using a 4-item scale developed by Bacharach, Bamberger, and Conley (1990). Bacharach et

296 ARYEEANDTAN

al. (1990) reported an (Y reliability of .77 for their scale. Responses were on a 5-point Likert format ranging from (1) “very inaccurate” to (5) “very accurate.” Sample items include “Management sets challenging goals” and “In this organization, we set very high standards for performance.” The (Y reliability of the scale in this study is .72.

Spouse support. Spouse support was measured by a 4-item scale developed for this study. Suchet and Barling (1986) reported an (Y reliability of .78 for a conceptually similar 4-item scale. Responses were on a 5- point Likert format ranging from (1) “very inaccurate” to (5) “very accurate.” Sample items include “My spouse puts up with some inconven- iences (e.g., arriving home late) as a result of my career role” and “My spouse encourages me to improve my skills in order to have a successful career.” The scale’s (Y reliability in this study is .86.

Work quality. Work quality was measured using a 4-item version of a respondents’ generated measure reported by Randall, Fecor, and Longe- necker (1990). Responses were on a 5-point Likert format ranging from (1) “very inaccurate” to (5) “very accurate.” Sample items include “I usually pay attention to details at work” and “I do my work completely and thoroughly.” Randall et al. (1990) reported an a! reliability of .82 for their 5-item scale. In this study, the (Y reliability of the 4-item scale is .81.

Career withdrawal intentions. Career withdrawal intentions were measured using a 3-item scale developed by Blau (1985, 1988). Blau (1985) reported an internal consistency of .87 and .85 on two occasions 7 months apart and a test-retest reliability of .57 for the scale. Responses were on a 5-point Likert format ranging from (1) “very unlikely” to (5) “very likely.” The items are “Thinking about leaving the teaching/nursing profession, ” “Intention to look for a different profession,” and “Intention to stay in the teaching/nursing profession for some time” (reverse-scored). In this study, the scale’s (Y reliability is .91.

Job withdrawal intentions. Job withdrawal intentions were measured using a 3-item scale developed by Blau (1985, 1988). For this scale, Blau (1985) reported an internal reliability coefficient of .70 and .73 on two occasions 7 months apart and a test-retest reliability of .60. Responses were on a 5-point Likert format ranging from (1) “very unlikely” to (5) “very likely.” The items comprising the scale are “Thinking of quitting the job, ” “Intention to search for another job,” and “Intention to quit the job.” The scale’s LY reliability in this study is .95.

Analysis

The means, standard deviations, and zero-order correlations of the latent variables were computed and the hypothesized causal model of the antecedents and outcomes of career commitment proposed in Fig. 1 was


tested using LISREL VI (Joreskog & Sorbom, 1984). LISREL permits analysis in two steps, an examination of the measurement model followed by analysis of the fit of the structural model to the data. The measurement model determines the relation of observed variables to their respective latent constructs. The structural model provides estimates of the strength and direction of hypothesized relation between latent constructs in the model.

RESULTS

Table 1 presents the parameter estimates of the measurement model. All the item loadings are high and above S, indicating the construct validity of the scale items as measures of the variables used in the model.

The zero-order correlations, means and standard deviations of the variables are presented in Table 2. The mean scores for the variables were above average and the low standard deviations indicate consensus in the experience of these variables. The zero-order correlation coefficients between the antecedents and career commitment ranged from low to mod- erately high. With the exception of work quality, the correlation coefficients between career commitment and the outcome variables were significant and in the expected directions.

The results of the LISREL analysis are reported in Fig. 2. All the direct paths to career commitment were significant and positive with the exception of the hypothesized direct path from family supportive activity. The variables with direct significant paths to career commitment were work- role salience (path coefficient = .422, p < .Ol), career satisfaction (path coefficient = .378, p < .Ol), organizational opportunity for development (path coefficient = .438, p < .Ol), and organizational commitment (path coefficient = S75, p < .Ol).

Figure 2 shows significant positive path from career commitment to skill development (path coefficient = .320, p < .Ol) and significant negative paths from career commitment to career withdrawal intentions (path coefficient = - .687, p < .Ol) and job withdrawal intentions (path coefficient = - .374, p < .Ol). Career commitment is not significantly related to work quality.

The four criteria commonly used to evaluate the fit of a structural model to the data are the $/degrees of freedom, goodness of fit index, adjusted goodness of fit index, and the root mean square. The values for each of these criteria shown in Fig. 2 fall short of the range of acceptability which therefore implies that the model does not represent an acceptable fit to the data. The significant paths and the implications of the failure of the model to fit the data for London’s and London and Mone’s theory will be discussed in the next section.

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Construct

ARYEE AND TAN

TABLE 1 Career Commitment Model Measurement Results

Item Estimate+ RZ

Work role salience

Family support activity

Organizational development opportunity

Career satisfaction

Organizational commitment

Career commitment

Skill development

Work quality

Career withdrawal intentions

Job withdrawal intentions

1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3

,512 .501 663

.613

.712

.894 ,657 .573 .612 ,876 ,886 .634 .726 .610 .557 .765 .508 SW .824 ,756 ,757 ,786

,770 ,732 .747 .794 .561 .632 .619 ,796 .784 ,697 .786 .767 .887 .834 .864 ,895 ,938 .810 .917 .923 .908

480 .362 .376 ,502 .449 ,491 .800 ,341 ,357 ,423 .772 .790 403 .529 ,373 .312 .591 .259 .418 688 .577 .579 .389 .624 ,599 ,540 .563 .638 .316 .634 .528 .634 ,615 ,486 .619 ,588 ,787 ,695 .746 .807 386 .660 .808 .810 .826

+ All loadings significant at 1% level.

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DISCUSSION

The objective of this study has been to advance the career focus of work commitment by using LISREL to test a hypothesized model of the antecedents and outcomes of career commitment based on London’s and London and Mone’s theory among a sample of teachers and nurses in Singapore. While most of the hypothesized relations in the model received support, the model did not represent an acceptable fit to the data. Work- role salience emerged as a significant predictor of career commitment. This finding supports London’s theoretical formulations and is consistent with the findings of Noe et al. (1990). Work-role salience also has been noted to be related to a variety of career issues (Mark & Stead, 1990) and for that reason, it is important to understand the determinants of work role salience.

As hypothesized, organizational opportunity for development showed both a significant direct path to career commitment and indirectly, through organizational commitment. The significant path from organizational opportunity for development to career commitment is consistent with the findings of Pazy (1988) and also with the theoretical work of London. As work challenge is an observed variable for the latent construct of organizational opportunity for development, it may be argued that our finding also is consistent with that of Noe et al. (1990). They reported a significant positive relation between job characteristics and the three dimensions of career motivation.

Career satisfaction showed a significant direct positive relation with career commitment but was not indirectly related to career commitment through organizational commitment. The significant direct positive relation between career satisfaction and career commitment is consistent with Hall’s (1971) proposition that career success, conceptually similar to career satisfaction, is related to career subidentity development. Thus, individuals able to achieve their career goals are therefore career satisfied and more likely to identify with their career role. The nonsignificant path from career satisfaction to organizational commitment could be because the present sample identify only with their career role and not necessarily the organizational context within which they perform their career role.

As hypothesized, organizational commitment showed a significant positive path to career commitment. This finding provides support for Lon- don’s proposition and it is consistent with Blau’s (1985) finding of a significant positive relation between organizational and career commitments. As earlier explained, organizations that project or promote the ideals of an occupation and instill these ideals in their employees may, as a result, enhance both organizational and career commitments. This could be interpreted as congruence between the goals of the organization

302 ARYEEANDTAN

and the culture of the occupation from which an individual has been recruited.

The second part of the model examined the outcomes of career commitment. As reported in Fig. 2, with the exception of work quality, the hypothesized relations between career commitment and the outcomes received support. Career commitment is significantly and positively related to skill development. This finding supports London’s proposition and Noe’s (1987) that theoretically relates career commitment to the motivation to learn. Career commitment also showed a significant negative relation to career and job withdrawal intentions. The implication is that career dissatisfaction or lack of career success may prompt employees to consider withdrawing from a career in an occupation (Rhodes & Doering, 1983) or to seek opportunities in another organization. The finding relating career commitment to career withdrawal intentions is consistent with Blau’s (1985) finding, but not with his finding pertaining to job withdrawal intentions.

Contrary to London’s proposition, career commitment was not significantly related to work quality. It may well be that work quality is not the result of commitment so much as the result of one’s abilities and skills. Therefore, being committed does not necessarily mean improved work quality while lack of commitment to a career need not necessarily mean work quality will suffer. Perhaps work quality has an organizational focus (Randall et al., 1990).

In spite of the preceding discussion, the model did not represent an acceptable fit to the data. Noe et al. (1990) also sought to identify correlates of career motivation but their independent variables only accounted for a moderate proportion of the explained variance in their sample’s career motivation. As the model tested here was mainly inspired by Lon- don’s theory the failure of the model to fit the data has implications for his theory. Since no one study can possibly include all the variables identified in London’s and London and Mone’s theory, there should be con- tinuous efforts to isolate situational variables suggested by the theory as a basis for building and empirically verifying a parsimonious model. In effect, London’s theory ought to be seen as a useful starting point in generating knowledge; strategies for enhancing both career commitment and career motivation should await the empirical verification of the suggested parsimonious model.

Based on the results reported in Fig. 2, some preliminary suggestions could be offered for building a parsimonious model to test the utility of London’s and London and Mone’s theory. Although career satisfaction was hypothesized to affect career commitment both directly and indirectly through organizational commitment, the latter hypothesis was not sup- ported. A revised model of career commitment may only need to indicate a direct path from career satisfaction to career commitment. Second,


specific career development programs should be separately examined as antecedents of career commitment. Colarelli and Bishop (1990) found mentor as a significant antecedent of career commitment. Third, as the present study and Noe et al’s (1990) have shown organizational contin- gencies to have significant effect on career commitment or motivation, future studies need to include such situational variables as job characteristics and participation in decision-making. In view of the dynamic nature of career commitment or motivation (London, 1983) future attempts to develop and test a parsimonious model of career commitment may need to use a longitudinal methodology.

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Received: January 22, 1991