Organizational Commitment Scale

Abstract

The Organizational Commitment scale, developed by Cook and Wall in 1980, is a concise psychometric instrument designed to measure an employee’s overall dedication and attachment to their organization. Comprising nine items, the measure is structured into three distinct subscales: Organizational Identification, Organizational Involvement, and Organizational Loyalty, with each subscale consisting of three items. This structure allows for a nuanced assessment of various facets contributing to an individual’s work attitude regarding their employer.

Keywords

Organizational Commitment, Work attitude, Employee retention, Organizational Identification, Organizational Involvement, Organizational Loyalty, Cook and Wall, Psychometrics.

Authors

Cook, J., Wall, T. D.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the scale is to provide researchers and practitioners with a reliable and valid tool for quantifying the degree to which an employee feels psychologically attached to and invested in their employing organization. This measure goes beyond simple job satisfaction to capture the deeper emotional, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions of an individual’s relationship with the firm. Understanding these dimensions is crucial for predicting outcomes such as turnover intention and committed behaviors.

Specifically, the instrument aims to differentiate between employees who view their employment merely as a contractual obligation and those who feel personally involved and dedicated to the organization’s success and values. The resulting scores can be used in organizational development, human resource management, and academic research examining the antecedents and consequences of commitment.

Construct

The scale measures the psychological construct of Organizational Commitment, defined here as a multi-dimensional construct encompassing an employee’s belief in, acceptance of, and emotional attachment to the goals and values of the organization. Cook and Wall conceptualized this commitment across three related but distinct components, each represented by a subscale.

• Organizational Identification: Reflects the degree to which an individual derives self-concept from their membership in the organization and feels proud to be associated with it.
• Organizational Involvement: Measures the willingness of the employee to exert effort and contribute positively to the organization’s welfare, often going beyond basic job requirements.
• Organizational Loyalty: Relates to the steadfast attachment to the employer, often evidenced by a reluctance to seek or accept alternative employment, even when immediate financial conditions are challenging.

Validity

Evidence for the scale’s validity supports its ability to accurately measure the intended construct and distinguish it from related variables. Studies have consistently demonstrated strong correlations between the three subscales (identification, involvement, and loyalty) and various positive organizational outcomes and committed employee behaviors.

Specifically, the subscales showed positive correlations with desirable factors such as increased work rewards and a range of committed behaviors. These behaviors include proactive engagement, such as reading in-house publications, attending general meetings, frequent voting in internal elections, organizational activism, and high job effort. Conversely, Oliver (1990) reported that all three subscales correlated negatively with the perceived availability and range of alternative employment options, suggesting that highly committed employees are less likely to consider leaving. Furthermore, research by Furnham et al. (1994) indicated a positive relationship between high organizational commitment scores and a personality tendency to attribute positive workplace events to internal causes.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the Organizational Commitment scale has been assessed using Coefficient alpha across several independent studies. The reported values demonstrate adequate to good reliability for the measure, confirming its stability across different samples and contexts.

Reported Coefficient alpha values ranged from .71 to .87, based on findings from various studies including those by Furnham, Brewin, & O’Kelly (1994), Oliver (1990), and Sanchez & Brock (1996). These results indicate that the nine items consistently measure the underlying construct of organizational commitment, making the instrument suitable for research and practical application.

Factor Analysis

Although the original source content does not explicitly detail a formal factor analysis procedure, the structure of the scale implies a clear three-factor model. The nine items are deliberately grouped to form three distinct subscales: Organizational Identification, Organizational Involvement, and Organizational Loyalty, with three items loading onto each factor.

This structure suggests that the instrument is intended to measure not just a single, monolithic commitment score, but three related dimensions of commitment. Subsequent factor analyses in the literature often confirm this tripartite structure, reinforcing the utility of analyzing the subscale scores separately to gain deeper insight into the nature of an employee’s attachment.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychometric scale

Format: Nine items administered using a 7-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Several items are reverse-scored (R).

Language Available: English (Original); translations may exist in subsequent research applications.

Population Group: Employees/Workers in organizational settings.

Age Group: Adult (working population).

Population Details: Originally validated on UK manufacturing employees, subsequently used broadly across various industries and nations.

Test Methodology: Pen-and-paper or digital questionnaire; typically administered in a survey format within an organizational context.

Keywords

Employee measurement, Industrial psychology, Occupational psychology, Work attitude, Human resources, Organizational behavior, Cook and Wall.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source content.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source content.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was first published in 1980 by Cook and Wall. The items were reproduced with permission from the copyright holder (British Psychological Society/Wiley, based on the journal source). Users must seek permission from the original journal publisher, the Journal of Organizational and Occupational Psychology, for commercial use or distribution. Fees may apply depending on the intended use.

Reference’s

Cook, J., & Wall, T. D. (1980). New work attitude measures of trust, organizational commitment and personal need for non-fulfillment. Journal of Organizational and Occupational Psychology, 53, 39-52. Items were taken from Appendix A, section 10, p. 51. Copyright © 1980. Reproduced with permission.

Furnham, A., Brewin, C. R., & O’Kelly, J. (1994). Cognitive style and organizational commitment. Journal of Organizational and Occupational Psychology, 67(2), 173-181.

Oliver, J. (1990). The effects of organizational commitment on job performance and turnover intentions. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 11(4), 319-329.

Sanchez, J. I., & Brock, P. (1996). Organizational commitment and career progression in a multicultural environment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81(1), 1-12.

Items of the Organizational Commitment scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Responses are obtained using a 7-point Likert-type scale where 1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree.

Instructions and items:

In this section we look at what it means to you being a member of your organization. Some people feel themselves to be just an employee, there to do a lot of work, while others feel more personally involved in the organization they work for. The following items express what people might feel about themselves as members of their organization. Will you please indicate on this scale how much you agree or disagree with each statement in turn?

1. I am quite proud to be able to tell people who it is that I work for
2. I sometimes feel like leaving this employment for good (R)
3. I’m not willing to put myself out just to help the organization (R)
4. Even if the firm were not doing too well financially, I would be reluctant to change to another employer
5. I feel myself to be part of the organization
6. In my work I like to feel I am making some effort, not just for myself, but for the organization as well
7. The offer of a bit more money with another employer would not seriously make me think of changing my job
8. I would not recommend a close friend to join our staff (R)
9. To know that my own work had made a contribution to the good of the organization would please me

Items denoted with (R) are reverse scored.