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Journal of Education for Business

ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20

Challenge Is Key: An Investigation of Affective
Organizational Commitment in Undergraduate
Interns
Marlene A. Dixon , George B. Cunningham , Michael Sagas , Brian A. Turner &
Aubrey Kent
To cite this article: Marlene A. Dixon , George B. Cunningham , Michael Sagas , Brian A.
Turner & Aubrey Kent (2005) Challenge Is Key: An Investigation of Affective Organizational
Commitment in Undergraduate Interns, Journal of Education for Business, 80:3, 172-180, DOI:
10.3200/JOEB.80.3.172-180
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.80.3.172-180

Published online: 07 Aug 2010.

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Date: 12 January 2016, At: 22:33

Challenge Is Key:
An Investigation of
Affective Organizational Commitment
in Undergraduate Interns
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 22:33 12 January 2016

`

MARLENE A. DIXON
The University of Texas at Austin

Austin, Texas

BRIAN A. TURNER
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio

GEORGE B. CUNNINGHAM
MICHAEL SAGAS
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas

AUBREY KENT
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida

T

he relationship between affective
organizational commitment and
positive work outcomes has been well

established in a number of industries
(Angle & Lawson, 1994; Becker,
Billings, Eveleth, & Gilbert, 1996;
Meyer & Allen, 1991; Meyer, Paunonen,
Gellatly, Goffin, & Jackson, 1989; Mowday, 1998; Somers & Birnbaum, 1998;
Vandenberghe, Bentein, & Stinglhamber,
2004). For example, Meyer, Stanley,
Herscovitch, and Topolnytsky (2002)
demonstrated that affective commitment,
or the employees’ desire to stay with the
organization because he or she wants to,
has been linked consistently to increased
job performance, increased organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs),
increased attendance, decreased turnover
intentions, and decreased turnover
behavior (see also Meyer & Allen, 1991;
Meyer et al., 1989). Vandenberghe et al.
found that supervisor commitment and
organizational commitment were related
to employee performance and intent to

quit. Somers and Birnbaum found that
organizational commitment was not
related to “task efficiency” types of performance but was strongly related to
other beneficial outcomes such as client
satisfaction. Angle and Lawson found
that affective commitment was related to
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Journal of Education for Business

ABSTRACT. In this study, the
authors investigated factors related to
affective organizational commitment
in undergraduate interns. They examined job challenge, supervisor support, and role stress as antecedents to
commitment. Results based on a sample of senior undergraduate students
(N = 71) showed that the 3 work variables explained 35% of the variance in
affective organizational commitment.
The authors discuss implications for
educators and managers in charge of
designing and implementing quality

internships.

supervisor ratings of dependability and
initiative. These authors argued that
increased affective commitment to the
organization produces individual prosocial behaviors (or OCBs), which eventually benefit the entire organization
(Organ, 1988). Although these benefits
may not always be noticed with a very
narrow, task-type performance-dependent variable, they are certainly apparent
when one considers the whole of organizational effectiveness.
Although organizational commitment
has been investigated in the context of
established employees, we found little
research on the commitment of interns.
The intern experience, although short
term in nature, may represent a critical

time for forming impressions of an
organization. Meyer and Allen (1988)
argued, “The early months of employment have been identified as a particularly important period in the development of work attitudes” (p. 197). These

authors suggested that many new
employees are disappointed when they
perceive that their jobs lack challenge,
opportunity for growth, and support. As
a consequence, new employees may fail
to develop an attachment to an organization and leave prematurely. Conversely, in a positive atmosphere, employees
can develop significant attachments in
as little as 6 months (a timeframe similar to that of most internships, which
typically last 4 to 12 months). Specifically, Meyer and Allen found that
employees whose pre-entry expectations were confirmed, who had challenging jobs, and who had a sense of
independence felt more affectively committed to their respective organizations,
even within the first 6 months of their
employment.
If the early months of actual employment are critical, surely the internship
also represents an important time for
developing attachments (or a lack of
attachment) to an organization and perhaps even a career (Cunningham, Sagas,

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Dixon, Kent, & Turner, in press; Gault,
Redington, & Schlager, 2000; Lee, Carswell, & Allen, 2000). Thus, improving
the work experiences of interns may
serve to increase not only their affective
commitment to the organization but also
their long-term commitment to the
occupation.
In this study, we sought to investigate
factors related to affective organizational commitment in interns. Specifically,
we examined job challenge, supervisor
support, and role stress as potential
antecedents to commitment. From a theoretical standpoint, our results expand
the boundaries of organizational commitment literature, which previously
has focused almost exclusively on paid
employees. From a practical standpoint,
the results provide suggestions for educators and managers, especially as they
work together on designing effective
internships that benefit both the intern
and the organization.
Conceptual Background

Although the employee and employer both know that the intern relationship is not a guarantee of future
employment, developing intern commitment is important for both parties
because many organizations eventually
hire their interns (Gault et al., 2000).
Thus, we provide a review of the importance of affective organizational
commitment to both the organization
and the intern. Then, we present an
overview of previous approaches to
commitment in general, review the theoretical and empirical antecedents of
affective commitment, and present specific research hypotheses.
Importance of Intern Affective
Organizational Commitment
For the organization, interns provide
a valuable source of future employees
with qualified experience (Gault et al.,
2000). In 1994, researchers estimated
that over 25% of new hires had internship experience and that that number
was growing (Gault et al.; Watson,
1995). This employee pool represents
an already trained workforce that can

make an immediate contribution to an
organization. It also represents a consis-

tent labor pool in times of economic
downturn. Further, hiring from the
intern pool saves the organization a significant amount of money both in hiring
and training costs (Pianko, 1996). It is
much less expensive to hire interns than
to recruit and select candidates from an
at-large pool. Watson estimated these
savings to be $15,000 per hire. In terms
of training, organizations clearly would
want to avoid the sunk costs of training
interns who simply turn over to other
organizations at the end of their internship period (Pianko). Organizations
have a vested interest in retaining the
interns that they train.
Because interns represent a source of
labor, intern affective commitment is
important not only to the future of organizations but also to the current operations. Affective organizational commitment consistently has been linked to

positive employee behaviors such as
OCBs and helping behaviors (Meyer &
Allen, 1991; Meyer et al., 1989; Meyer et
al., 2002). Although the link between
OCBs at an individual level and organizational effectiveness at the firm level
has been relatively weak, the link at the
group level is much stronger (Ostroff,
1992). In a group setting, human
resource management practices can “foster salient productivity-related behaviors” such as performance, citizenship,
and attachment (Ostroff & Bowen, 2000,
p. 227). The practices work to establish
shared meanings among group members
regarding valued attitudes and behaviors.
One individual act of citizenship behavior, therefore, may demonstrate a very
weak relationship to overall organizational performance. However, a collective atmosphere focused on helping
behaviors and collaborative effort may
lead to multiple acts of citizenship that
have a substantial impact on organizational performance. Thus, within a given
group of interns, management could create a “commitment atmosphere” in
which “individuals’ attitudes and behaviors combine to emerge into a collective

effort that is greater than the simple additive effect across individuals” (Ostroff &
Bowen, p. 229). OCBs and extra-role
behavior of interns, even in a short-period assignment, can make a significant
contribution to the effectiveness of organizations, especially those that train a

“class” of interns simultaneously or that
rely heavily on interns to supplement
their full-time staff (Gault et al., 2000).
Consider an example of a ticket sales
department for a professional sport franchise that is comprised of interns and
full-time employees. A group of affectively committed interns who really
want to see the organization do well
easily could outsell the full-time
employees regardless of the fact that
they are only on short-term assignment
and have no guarantee of future
employment. Employees need not be
employed full time or long term to contribute to organizational effectiveness.
Creating this commitment atmosphere
may be even more important for interns,
as many of them are unpaid (Gault et al.,
2000). With employees, organizations
may be able to enhance firm performance with bonuses and performance
incentives. Indeed, performance-based
compensation has been linked to firm
performance in several industries
(Banker, Lee, Potter, & Srinivasan, 1996;
Gerhart & Milkovich, 1990). With
interns, however, these types of human
resource management practices are likely not available; hence, management
must find other ways to foster commitment and enhance firm performance.
Affective commitment also benefits
the interns. These benefits are derived
not only from the commitment itself, but
also from the enhanced work environment that leads to commitment (Meyer
& Allen, 1988). For example, interns
benefit from challenging jobs that
improve their work skills and help
define their skill set (Gault et al., 2000),
regardless of the link to affective organizational commitment. In addition, affectively committed interns may benefit
from a sense of importance and belonging that comes from attachment to an
organization (Gault et al.; Meyer &
Allen; Meyer, Allen, & Gellatly, 1990).
Affectively committed interns also have
leverage when full-time employment
offers are presented because they are
likely to be sought after by multiple
organizations (Gault et al.), including
the one for which they are currently
working.
Given the large potential labor pool
that interns provide, the benefits of
commitment for both parties, and the
January/February 2005

173

fact that the majority of internships are
unpaid, differences in affective organizational commitment potentially could
have a large impact on organizational
strategy, cost-cutting measures, and
effectiveness, even within the short time
frame of their assignments. Highly
committed interns are likely to devote
more time and creative energy to their
organization and to choose to stay with
that organization once their internship is
completed.

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Three-Component Model of
Commitment
Allen and Meyer (1990) proposed
that commitment is a multidimensional
construct composed of three distinct yet
related types of commitment. According to their model, affective commitment refers to an emotional attachment
to an organization and identification
with that organization such that the person remains with the organization
because he or she wants to. Continuance commitment refers to the perceived costs associated with leaving an
organization. In other words, a person
with continuance commitment stays
with an organization because he or she
has to, owing to the costs and opportunities of leaving. A third type of commitment is normative commitment,
which reflects a person’s desire to stay
with an organization because he or she
feels obligated; the individual feels that
he or she ought to stay.
Meyer et al. (2002) tested this threecomponent model through meta-analysis.
Their purpose was to investigate the relationship between the three components
along with the antecedents and consequences of all three types of commitment. In response to the number of scholars that have questioned normative
commitment as a unique component of
organizational commitment (Angle &
Lawson, 1994), the meta-analytic results
demonstrated that affective and normative constructs are not identical and that
normative commitment is rather poorly
understood. Meyer et al. suggested that
the combined research has left us with
many questions regarding what normative commitment is, how it develops, and
how it influences behavior.
Meyer et al. (2002) also found that
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Journal of Education for Business

continuance commitment was different
from the other two constructs and related to work outcomes in the opposite
direction. However, continuance commitment continues to generate argument
regarding whether it is one construct or
two. The researchers found that two
subcomponents—high sacrifice and low
alternatives—were related differently to
turnover intentions. Because of these
construct and measurement issues
regarding continuance and normative
commitment, and because of the consistently strong relationship between affective commitment and positive work outcomes, in this study the only dimension
that we used from the Allen and Meyer
(1990) study was affective commitment.
Antecedents of Affective Commitment
A number of work-related variables
have been shown to be antecedents of
affective commitment in full-time
employees, particularly at early stages of
their employment (i.e., 1st year) (Meyer
& Allen, 1988). Meyer and colleagues
argued, “ . . . attempts to recruit or select
employees who might be predisposed to
being affectively committed will be less
effective than will carefully managing
their experience following entry” (2002,
p. 38). The premise behind the stronger
relationship of work experiences is that
they can be somewhat controlled by the
organization through human resource
management, job design, and leadership
that enhance the employees’ commitment. This improved management is
purported to benefit both the organization and the employee (Meyer & Allen).
One general theory describing the
mechanism of enhancing commitment
through work experiences is Farrell and
Rusbult’s (1981) reward/cost paradigm.
According to Farrell and Rusbult, individuals place job properties into two
categories—rewards and costs—
according to how much they value
those properties and/or actually experience them. Rewards include such job
properties as challenge, autonomy,
supervisor support, coworker support,
and organizational justice. Costs
include job hazards, stress, and routinization (Iverson & Buttigieg, 1999;
Mathieu & Zajac, 1990). According to
this argument, as rewards increase and

costs decrease, commitment increases.
For example, an intern in a challenging
job with low routinization and high
supervisor support would be more committed to an organization than would an
intern with a very routine job and little
supervisor support.
This reward/cost paradigm is consistent with traditional theory that explains
organizational commitment as a fourstep process (Buchanan, 1974; Meyer &
Allen, 1988; Steers, 1977). First, the
organization meets employee needs.
Second, because those needs are met,
employees perceive a favorable exchange relationship with the organization. Third, the employees become
favorably disposed toward the organization. Fourth, the employees, therefore,
become more committed to that organization (Buchanan; Meyer & Allen;
Steers; Vandenberghe et al., 2004). Iverson and Buttigieg (1999), Meyer and
Allen, Meyer et al. (2002), and Vandenberghe et al. all have found support for
this exchange-relationship explanation
of affective commitment in full-time
employees.
Although the reward/cost and
exchange paradigms provide a general
framework in which to view the relationship between work characteristics
and affective commitment, specific
work characteristics may require further
explanation. That is, how do particular
work characteristics come to be characterized as rewards or costs? How do
these characteristics meet employee
needs in such a way that the employees
perceive a favorable exchange relationship with the organization? Job challenge, supervisor support, and role
stress are work experience attributes
that have held consistently strong relationships with affective commitment in
full-time employees (Iverson &
Buttigieg, 1999; Mathieu & Zajac,
1990; Meyer & Allen, 1988; Meyer et
al., 2002). We will explore each of these
characteristics in greater detail.
Job challenge. Job challenge is defined
as the excitement and stimulation associated with a particular task set (Meyer
& Allen, 1988). For interns, challenging
jobs are ones that may require new
skills or that give individuals the opportunity to work with at least some level

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of independence (Meyer & Allen).
Challenging jobs represent an opportunity to learn new skills and apply theoretical concepts to the work world
(Cuneen & Sidwell, 1994). A number of
studies have suggested that job challenge is positively related to affective
organizational commitment through the
mechanisms of empowerment and individual development (Arthur, 1994;
Birdi, Allan, & Warr, 1997; MacDuffie,
1995; Moreland & Levine, 2001; Mowday, 1998). Arthur suggested that practices that increase job challenge and
variety can empower individuals to
reach their personal goals. Employees
who become empowered through job
challenge perceive that the organization
is committed to helping them meet their
individual needs. They are, therefore,
more likely to view the organization
favorably and to become more committed to it (Buchanan, 1974; Meyer &
Allen; Steers, 1977).
Challenging positions also often
require that the employee receive further training and development.
Although training and development
serve to enhance employee knowledge
and skills, they also serve a latent function of communicating to employees
(especially new ones) that they are valuable to the organization (Moreland &
Levine, 2001). In fact, participation in
required training and development programs has been empirically linked to
higher job satisfaction and organizational commitment (Birdi et al. 1997).
Employees view their being valued by
the organization as a reward, which
leads them to demonstrate greater commitment to the organization.
Thus, we formulated our first
hypothesis:
H1: Job challenge will be associated
positively with affective organizational
commitment in interns.
Supervisor support. This work experience attribute is defined as the degree
of consideration, information, and task
assistance provided by an individual’s
supervisor (Iverson, Olekalns, &
Erwin, 1998). Support works as both
an increased reward and a decreased

cost. It represents an increased reward
through the mechanism of trust
(Cropanzano & Greenberg, 1997). It is
also a decreased cost because it limits
the role of strains or stressors (Iverson
et al.).
Trust operates on two levels. Like
training and development, supervisor
support can represent a commitment to
the employee by the organization
(Arthur, 1994; Mowday, 1998). By
showing interest in an employee and

turn costs (depersonalization, emotional
exhaustion) into rewards (personal
accomplishment). Rewards, as we have
noted, lead to a favorable view of the
organization and therefore to organizational commitment. Although Iverson et
al. investigated depersonalization and
personal accomplishment as they relate
to job satisfaction, it is not a large jump
to contend that similar relationships
exist with regard to organizational commitment. That is, as employees increasingly perceive that the organization

By showing interest in an employee and
communicating the organization’s valuing of him
or her, a supervisor can help build the employee’s
commitment to that organization.
communicating the organization’s valuing of him or her, a supervisor can help
build the employee’s commitment to
that organization. For example, supervisors who provide constructive feedback
to employees—especially if they give
the employee the opportunity to have a
voice in that feedback—may enhance
perceptions of trust in the organization.
Greater trust leads to satisfaction and
commitment (Cropanzano & Greenberg, 1997; Greenberg, 1982; Kluger &
DeNisi, 1996; Walker & Smither, 1999).

offers rewards and meets their personal
needs of accomplishment and belonging, their affective organizational commitment likely would increase also
(Farrell & Rusbult, 1981; Iverson &
Buttigieg, 1999; Meyer et al., 2002).

Supervisor support also has been
found to reduce role strain, depersonalization, and emotional exhaustion. Both
Ray and Miller (1991) and Iverson et al.
(1998) found that supervisor support
decreased emotional exhaustion, which
in turn increased job satisfaction. Further, Iverson et al. found that supervisor
support was related negatively to depersonalization and related positively to
personal accomplishment. That is, when
employees did not sense support from
their supervisor, they were emotionally
exhausted and disconnected from the
organization. On the other hand, when
they perceived support from their supervisor, they also felt more connected to
the organization (and the organization’s
clients) and accomplished more worthwhile activities on the job (Iverson et
al.). Supervisor support, therefore, can

Role Stress. According to Iverson and
colleagues (1998), role stress is a combination of role conflict and role ambiguity. It results from employees’ need to
reconcile conflicting task requirements
(role conflict) and from their not having
sufficient information to complete job
requirements (role ambiguity). Meyer
and Allen (1997) argued that affective
commitment was likely to be low
among employees who “are unsure
about what is expected of them (role
ambiguity) or who are expected to
behave in ways that seem incompatible
(role conflict)” (p. 45). Mathieu and
Zajac (1990) also found that role conflict and role ambiguity were negatively
related to commitment. They argued
that little theoretical work has been
devoted to explaining why this relationship exists. The common assumption,

This reasoning led us to our second
hypothesis:
H2: Supervisor support will be
positively associated with affective
organizational commitment in interns.

January/February 2005

175

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however, has been that perceptions of
the work environment lead to affective
responses such as satisfaction and commitment (Mathieu & Zajac). That is,
when an individual perceives the work
environment to be unfavorable, he or
she is likely to react not with behavioral
responses such as turnover or absenteeism, but with affective responses
such as reduced satisfaction and
decreased commitment.
This argument is consistent with the
reward/cost and exchange paradigms.
Frustration with a work environment—
one entailing role conflict or ambiguity—is considered a cost to the employee.
Frustration does not lead to meeting
one’s needs nor to a favorable exchange.
Thus, the employee who experiences
high levels of role stress likely would
have lower commitment than one who
does not.
Thus, we formulated our third
hypothesis:
H3: Role stress will be associated
negatively with affective organizational
commitment in interns.
Method
Participants
The participants in our study were
final-semester senior undergraduate students (N = 71) from a convenience sample of four universities from various geographic regions in the United States. The
students were completing their internships primarily in the sports and recreation industry (e.g., professional sports
teams, community recreation facilities,
collegiate athletic organizations). The
interns performed a wide variety of tasks
for their sponsoring organizations: administrative duties, ticket sales, gameday operations, computer technical support and programming, and so forth. All
persons voluntarily consented to participate in the study, which consisted of an
in-person questionnaire distributed at the
completion of their internships. This
ability to have the interns complete the
questionnaire in person resulted in a
response rate of 100%. The sample of
interns was 53.5% female, 91.5% Caucasian, and 54.9% unpaid. Participants
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Journal of Education for Business

had a mean age of 22.59 years (SD =
1.54) and had an average of 1.24 years
(SD = 1.65) of previous experience in the
sports industry.
Measures
Participants completed a questionnaire that asked them to provide basic
demographic information (provided
above) and to respond to items related
to their affective organizational commitment, job challenge, role stress, and
supervisor support. To measure all
items, we used a 7-point Likert-type
scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree)
to 7 (strongly agree).
The in-person survey instrument was
derived from established valid scales.
To further ensure validity and reliability,
we subjected the instrument to validity
and reliability analyses. Thus, all reliability estimates reported in the following paragraphs were derived from the
data in the current study. In addition, we
established face validity by having a
panel of experts in human resource
management and organizational commitment review the instrument. We
made changes to clarify instructions or
wording according to the experts’ comments. Then, we had the instrument
tested by a group of underclass sports
management students who were not
currently enrolled in an internship field.
Affective organizational commitment.
For measuring affective organizational
commitment, we had participants use
three items from Meyer and Allen’s
(1991) scale. Previous research has
demonstrated the efficacy of using a 3item measure (Clugston, Howell, &
Dorfman, 2000; Iverson & Buttigieg,
1999). The following sentence is a sample item: “The organization in which I
am interning has a great deal of personal meaning to me.” The reliability estimate for the 3-item scale was .77.
Supervisor support. Supervisor support
was measured through three items adapted from Iverson et al. (1998) and Greenhaus, Parasuraman, and Wormley (1990).
A sample item is “My manager is very
concerned about the welfare of those
under him/her.” The reliability estimate
for the measure was high (α = .93).

Job challenge. To measure job challenge, we used three items adapted from
Meyer and Allen’s (1988) scale. A sample item is “In general, the work I perform in this internship is challenging
and exciting.” The reliability estimate
for this scale was high (α = .84).
Role stress. We used six items from Iverson et al. (1998) to measure role stress. A
sample item is “I get conflicting results
from two or more people at my internship
site.” The measure demonstrated a high
internal consistency (α = .84).
Control Variables
A number of demographic variables—
including age, gender, and education—
have been shown to contribute at least
minimally to affective commitment
(Mathieu & Zajac, 1990; Meyer et al.,
2002). In this study, we controlled for
age and education in the sample selection, as the interns were homologous
with respect to these variables. However,
participants did differ according to gender; thus, we used this variable as a control in the statistical analyses.
Because previous experience in the
field could influence the expectations
that people have, as well as the particular
positions that they are assigned, we also
controlled for previous experience in the
sports industry. Finally, research has
demonstrated a positive relationship
between compensation and organizational commitment (Gerhart & Milkovich,
1990; Greenberg, 1982). Therefore,
internship compensation served as the
final control variable.
Data Analysis
We calculated means, standard deviations, and bivariate correlations for all
variables. The hypotheses predicted
that the three work attributes would all
hold significant associations with affective organizational commitment. We
tested our hypotheses through hierarchical regression analysis, with the controls (gender, experience, and compensation) entered in the first step, the
three work experiences entered in the
second step, and affective organizational commitment serving as the dependent variable.

job challenge, supervisor support, and
role stress would hold significant associations with affective organizational commitment. In Table 2, we present the
results of the regression analysis that we
used to test these predictions. Variance
inflation factor values were less than
Hair, Anderson, Tatham, and Black’s
(1998) recommended cutoff of 10, indicating that multicollinearity was not a
problem.
The first step accounted for 14% (p <
.05) of the variance in affective organizational commitment. After controlling
for these effects, the three work experiences accounted for 36% unique variance (p < .001; adjusted R2 = .35). We
examined the data further and found that
job challenge was the only significant
predictor of affective organizational
commitment (β = .58, p < .001). Thus,
although all the work experiences held

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Results
We present our descriptive statistics in
Table 1. Examination of the mean scores
reveals high scores for supervisor support, job challenge, and affective organizational commitment. One-sample t
tests indicated that the mean scores for
the aforementioned variables all were
significantly greater than the midpoint of
the scale (4; all ts ≥ 4.60, p < .001).
Additionally, the mean score for role
stress was low, and significantly lower
than the midpoint of the scale (4; t =
–6.21, p < .001). Finally, in general support of the hypotheses, an examination
of the bivariate correlations indicated
that affective organizational commitment was positively related to both
supervisor support and job challenge
and negatively related to role stress.
Hypotheses 1 through 3 predicted that

TABLE 1. Means, Standard Deviations, and Bivariate Correlations
Variable

1

2

3

4

5

6

1. Gender
2. Experience
3. Compensation
4. Supervisor support
5. Role stress
6. Job challenge
7. Organizational
commitment

—
.17
–.11
.12
–.20
.14

—
.03
.04
–.02
.10

—
.21
–.19
.20

—
–.78**
.69**

—
–.71**

—

.03

.15

.53**

–.48**

.65**

M
SD

1.53
.50

1.24
1.65

1.55
.50

.32*

5.46
1.58

3.02
1.33

4.81
1.50

7

—
5.12
1.37

Notes. Gender: 1 = male, 2 = female; compensation: 1 = compensated, 2 = not compensated.
*p < .01. **p < .001.

TABLE 2. Results of Hierarchical Regression Testing the Effects of Job
Challenge, Supervisor Support, and Role Stress on Organizational Commitment
Variable
Step 1
Gender
Experience
Compensation
Step 2
Job challenge
Supervisor support
Role stress
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

B

SE

β

.94
–.02
.51

.32
.10
.31

.35**
–.03
.19

.53
.19
.17

.12
.13
.16

.58***
.22
.17

R2

∆R 2

.14

.14*

.50

.36***

significant bivariate correlations with
affective organizational commitment,
when considered together, only job challenge was a significant predictor of the
dependent variable. Therefore, Hypothesis 1 was supported, whereas Hypotheses 2 and 3 were not.
Discussion
Although affective organizational
commitment has been investigated in
full-time employees, very little attention
has been given to interns, who are an
important source of employees for
many organizations. Our aim in this
study was to examine the antecedents of
affective organizational commitment in
interns and to make practical application of these findings to internship
design and implementation.
From a descriptive standpoint, the
commitment level of interns was rather
high. The control variables explained
14% of the variance on affective organizational commitment, whereas work
variables explained 36%. Overall, therefore, the model explained half of the
variance in affective organizational
commitment for the sample.
It is also notable that the women in the
current study had greater commitment
than the men. This finding is in contrast
to previous meta-analytic findings indicating that men demonstrated greater
commitment than women (Meyer et al.,
2002) or that the gender–commitment
relationship was inconclusive (Mathieu
& Zajac, 1990). This finding may be
specific to the sports industry. That is,
the sports industry is traditionally male
dominated (Coakley, 2004). For example, according to Acosta and Carpenter
(2002), men held over 60% of all administrative positions, and 87.7% of sports
information positions in the NCAA
institutions. As women seek to enter
sports organizations, they may find that
they have to be more committed than
their male counterparts to “survive” in
the industry. Alternatively, knowing the
obstacles that they would face within
that industry, women who are not committed likely would self-select out of a
major such as sports management before
they reach the internship stage, leaving
only the highly committed individuals to
complete the internship process.
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Based on previous literature on fulltime employees, Hypotheses 1 and 2
predicted that job challenge and supervisor support would be positively related to affective organizational commitment, and Hypothesis 3 maintained that
role stress would be negatively related
to affective organizational commitment.
Indeed, the three work variables combined to explain 35% of the variance in
affective organizational commitment, a
finding that is consistent with previous
literature regarding the importance of
work characteristics over job characteristics in the examination of affective
organizational commitment (Meyer &
Allen, 1988; Meyer et al., 2002).
Individually, job challenge held a significant, positive, and rather strong association with affective organizational
commitment, whereas supervisor support and role stress were not significantly related. In the intern sample, therefore,
job challenge was apparently the most
important work characteristic related to
affective organizational commitment.
This finding is consistent with previous literature suggesting that although
some internships are valuable for all
students for gaining experience and
exploring potential career options, certain types of internships are more valuable than others, especially those that
provide students with the opportunity
for self-concept crystallization and
vocational self-efficacy (Brooks, Cornelius, Greenfield, & Joseph, 1995).
These authors suggested that internships consisting mostly of clerical work,
for example, would not help students
realize whether or not they liked the
field (or organization) or whether or not
they were going to be successful in that
field. Conversely, students given challenging tasks and a variety of tasks
would be able to determine better not
only their desire to enter the career (or
organization) but also their work or
career efficacy.
The relationship between supervisor
support and affective organizational
commitment and that between role
stress and affective organizational commitment were not supported. One
potential explanation for this finding is
that interns are likely to work for a number of supervisors, because of either a
rotation within the organization (i.e.,
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job rotation that allows them to try out
different types of tasks) or a lack of
clear lines of responsibility (i.e., an
intern may complete tasks for a number
of supervisors within a single work
day). In fact, one criticism of internships is inconsistency in supervision
and organization of tasks (Gault et al.,
2000). In contrast to full-time employees, interns face less clearly defined
lines of authority and less contact with
their supervisors. This explanation does
not discount the importance of the role
of the supervisor but simply suggests
that perhaps organizations are not structuring the supervision of interns in a
way that maximizes its impact on affective commitment.
The results related to role stress,
although more difficult to explain,
appear consistent with the literature
regarding early expectations of workers
as they enter the workforce (Meyer &
Allen, 1988). Wanous (1980) argued
that new employees often enter the
organization with naïve optimism about
how challenging and rewarding their
jobs will be, especially when they have
been recruited extensively for the job or
have high educational credentials.
When that job is not challenging and
they meet other obstacles such as role
stress and a lack of supervisor support,
their satisfaction and commitment levels begin to decline. However, with
numerous students sharing information
about their internships both with other
students and with professors who will
advise those students, it is easy to see
how interns might have more realistic
expectations than other full-time
employees who enter organizations with
either biased or no information about
the organization (Gault et al., 2000;
Iverson & Buttigieg, 1999). If interns
enter their workplace with a more realistic set of expectations—that is, if they
expect to have low-level jobs or conflicting or confusing roles—they may
not be subject to the same disappointing
outcomes as other employees. Therefore, one plausible explanation for the
findings is that role stress may not be as
great a factor in intern commitment
compared with full-time employee
commitment because interns come into
the internship expecting conflict and
ambiguity.

For interns, the importance of job
challenge may overshadow the supervisor and/or the work environment as a
whole. In other words, the rewards have
a greater influence than the costs. This
explanation is consistent with an emerging literature that finds self-concept
reinforcement (Meyer & Allen, 1988),
personal accomplishment (Iverson et
al., 1998), vocational self-efficacy
(Brooks et al., 1995), and similar individual outcomes to be paramount to satisfaction and commitment, particularly
in interns and young employees. Gault
et al. (2000) found that the greatest
rewards for interns (especially over their
student counterparts who did not complete an internship) were invaluable real
work experience and a better understanding of their career desires. Perhaps
beyond supervisor support and low role
stress, challenging jobs communicate
the most to interns that they are valued
and that their needs are being met within the organization. Therefore, challenging jobs elicit the most commitment
from interns.
One limitation of our study is the use
of interns within a particular industry
segment—the sports industry. To the
extent that this industry is unique, the
results may not be generalizable to other
industries. Another limitation is our use
of self-reports on work experiences.
This design may be problematic if it
introduces time-lagged effects on perceptions (Meyer & Allen, 1988). That
is, organizations could potentially recognize commitment in the interns and
treat them preferentially, thereby altering the interns’ perception of the work
environment. The use of objective measures of the work environment, particularly job challenge and supervisory support, would strengthen the results.
Implications and Directions for
Future Study
Several practical implications emerge
from the findings of this study. The first
is that employers should provide challenging jobs, as opposed to routine or
administrative tasks. Challenging jobs
communicate to the interns that they are
capable and valuable, and therefore will
make them more willing to commit to
the organization.

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Challenging jobs may also require
additional training or development.
This argument may hold especially for
interns, as their internship may be their
first real work experience in the field
in which they are studying. In fact, a
growing body of evidence suggests
that interns complete an internship primarily for the purpose of gaining critical “real life” work training (e.g., computer languages, specific software
applications) that they cannot gain in
the classroom (Gault et al., 2000). As
previous literature indicates, individuals who complete company sponsored
training and development are more
likely to feel committed to an organization because they feel the organization is committed to them (Birdi et al.,
1997; Moreland & Levine, 2001).
Interns who perceive that the organization is willing to invest in their training
may become more committed to that
organization.
Organizations also may want to
review the way that their supervisorintern relationships are structured. The
findings indicate that supervisor support
is not significantly related to affective
organizational commitment. This finding may indicate that the role of the
supervisor is not important. However, a
more likely explanation is that the structure of the supervisory role—having
multiple and potentially contradictory
supervisors to report to and to take
direction from—may detract from the
salience of the supervisor’s role in
affective commitment. Organizations
may wish to make the chain of command more clear and provide the intern
with more consistent interaction with
the supervisor (Gault et al., 2000) to
enhance affective commitment.
Educators also need to work closely
with the sponsoring organizations to
ensure that jobs are both challenging
and well supervised. They also should
develop communication networks with
students and organizations so that students develop realistic expectations
before entering the internship. If educators inform students about the multiple
roles that they may encounter and provide strategies for dealing with role
stress, those students may encounter
less role stress once they are in the
internship.

Although this study provides some
insight into the antecedents of affective
organizational commitment in interns,
several directions for future research are
necessary for furthering our understanding. First, future research should consider the negative aspects of commitment, such as separation anxiety or
disappointment if the intern is not hired
by the organization. Second, future
research should consider the other
aspects of commitment (normative and
continuance), as these types of commit-

commitment. For interns, we found that
job challenge, in particular, was most
strongly related to commitment.
From a practical standpoint, our
results support a growing body of literature underscoring the positive benefits
of well-designed internship programs
for both organizations and interns. Educators need to work closely with the
supervising organizations to ensure that
the internships are challenging and
rewarding. The best internships seem to

First, future research should consider the negative
aspects of commitment, such as separation
anxiety or disappointment if the intern is not hired
by the organization.
ment may produce other work outcomes. Third, although in this study we
investigated antecedents of commitment, the effects of affective commitment are not clearly understood for
interns. Future research should consider
the role of affective commitment on outcomes such as intern performance, likelihood of securing employment, organizational effectiveness, recommendation
of the internship, and other factors.
Finally, researchers should work at
developing a more clear understanding
of the relationship of supervisor support
and role stress to affective commitment,
particularly in interns.
Conclusion
Interns represent a readily available,
easily converted, and specifically
trained workforce that can be a critical
source of labor in today’s economy.
Committed interns, especially as a
group, have the potential to make an
immediate impact on organizational
effectiveness. This study represents a
valuable extension in the literature on
the antecedents of affective organizational commitment in that we used
interns rather than full-time employees.
Consistent with previous research findings, our results indicate that work characteristics are the most important factor
in developing affective organizational

go beyond clerical or administrative
tasks, providing interns with new experiences that require them to learn new
skills and stretch their previous learning. By providing challenging jobs and
the training to perform them successfully, work organizations are communicating to their interns that they are capable
and valuable. This message is a powerful one, generating a favorable relationship between organization and intern
that can translate into multiple benefits
for both parties.
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