Commitment and Wellbeing: The Relationship Dilemma in a Two-Wave Study

There has been little consensus around the sequential relationship between organizational affective commitment and workers’ wellbeing. In line with the Conservation of Resources Theory, results of this two-wave study with a contact center employee sample (N = 483) showed that organizational affective commitment decreases work ill-being (i.e., burnout) and increases work wellbeing (i.e., work-engagement). Furthermore, in keeping with the loss spiral assumption of this theory, the mediating role of burnout in the affective commitment-health relationship was supported in this study. However, in accordance with the Job Demand-Resources, work engagement was found not to prevent effects on health. The findings have implications for the organizational affective commitment theory, as well as for organizational occupational health policies and interventions.