Perceived support, affective commitments and subjective career success: a person-centred approach

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to test a model that combines the source of perceived support, be it organisational or union-based, the profile of affective commitment and the subjective career success of 1100 employees who are also members of a trade union. The results obtained from an iterative classification process identified four distinct profiles: those with very little commitment, those committed to the organisation, those committed to the trade union, and those committed to both. Two key findings emerge from this: firstly, each source of perceived support has a predictive impact on the affiliation to a specific affective commitment profile. Only in cases where individuals are poorly supported by both the organisation and the trade union do we struggle to anticipate the employee’s attitude. Secondly, the commitment profile is related to subjective career success. For instance, a lack of organisational commitment appears to be far more detrimental than a lack of trade union commitment. These findings indicate that the internalisation of organisational norms resulting from the perceived support and revealed by the commitment profile can be added to the list of antecedents of subjective career success.