The Lagged Effects of Job Demands and Resources on Organizational Commitment in Federal Government Agencies: A Multi-Level Analysis

Abstract

Based on the Job Demands-Resources literature and social exchange theory, this study examines the lagged effects of job resources and job demands at the agency level on organizational commitment at the individual level, with these effects mediated by individual-level demands and resources. Using hierarchical linear modeling to analyze data obtained from federal government employees (agency N = 38, employee N = 295,851), this study found that aggregated job resources (empowerment, cooperation, feedback) were related to higher employee commitment over time, with this effect mediated by lower levels of perceived workload. Furthermore, aggregated workload was negatively related to commitment over time, with this effect mediated by lower levels of perceived job resources. This study provides further empirical evidence for the lagged effect of job resources and job demands in predicting employee commitment. Furthermore, this study found interrelations among demands and resources across levels of analysis, addressing theoretical relationships that have remained largely unexamined in the context of job attitudes and commitment research.