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Abstract
Workplace commitment is a key concept in organizational behavior and for practitioners
because of its ability to enhance the predictability of highly desirable behaviors in contem-
porary organizations such as turnover intention, attendance or organizational citizenship
behaviors. Research is still active in this area and the predominance of the three-dimensional
approach of commitment initially proposed by Meyer and Allen (1991), has been regularly
questioned and alternative proposals have emerged. Of these proposals, one addresses seve-
ral fundamental problems raised by the three-component model (TCM) view by redefining
the pivotal concept of commitment in a more concise and precise format (Klein et al., 2012,
2014). This new approach is accompanied by a compact and versatile measurement instru-
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ment, the unidimensional target neutral commitment measure (KUT), which has not yet been
fully validated in a Francophone context. The objective of this article is to argue the interest
of moving towards a new definition of commitment, and to contribute to the validation of the
KUT scale in a French context. We have carried out this operation in several stages, mobilizing
five samples comprising a total of 2096 employees working in four French-speaking countries
(France, Switzerland, Belgium and Canada). Overall, we show that the French version of the
KUT scale exhibits adequate psychometric properties and cultural invariance between the
four sub-samples.
Keywords:
workplace commitment, organizational behavior, psychometry, cross cultural, scale validation
1. INTRODUCTION
Workplace commitment has become a classical topic in organizational behavior, but it remains
a very dynamic field of research, subject to both conceptual and methodological debates
(Klein et al., 2020; van Rossenberg et al., 2022). It is also characterized by a conceptual
redundancy that has led specialists to develop typologies to address the topic (Cohen, 2003;
Morrow, 1983; Reichers, 1985). Definitions of the concept vary significantly according to the
authors but converge towards a central feature: commitment as a psychological bond between
persons and different objects or targets belonging to their work environment, leading them to
adopt behaviors to maintain and develop this link.
https://doi.org/10.3917/rips3.078.0049
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a validated measurement instrument. The objective of this article is to contribute to this vali-
dation in a French context. We carried out this operation in several stages, based on recent
recommendations on measurement scale validation (Boateng et al., 2018; Wright et al., 2017).
We used five samples comprising a total of 2096 employees working in four French-speaking
countries (i.e., France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Canada). The procedure is detailed in the
second part of the study; the first section is devoted to the main limitations of the dominant
model and the arguments in favor of an alternative measure.
2007; Klein et al., 2020; Morrow & McElroy, 1986; Reichers, 1985). Finally, we end up with
a matricial conceptualization of commitment (Figure 1), which captures the complexity of
this concept.
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source: author
Some authors have pointed out that targets can be analyzed at different levels: an intra-or-
ganizational level, which includes proximal, concrete targets (colleagues, superiors, customers,
etc.) with low cognitive distance, and a more global level, which is more closely tied to the
individual and involves abstract entities such as occupation or work. The intra-organizational
approach (Becker, 1992; Reichers, 1985) is of particular interest to human resource manage-
ment practitioners and researchers, as it is based on the idea of commitment arising from the
relationship with the employee’s immediate contacts. The personal approach is more focused
on peoples’ personality; it describes their relationship with abstract entities (e.g., work, pro-
fession/occupation, and career) and is less dependent on the organization in which they are
working. The concept of multiple commitment or global work commitment gives a theoretical
coherence to the different objects by highlighting the common features between different
objects and constructs of commitment. This search for coherence is achieved through the
proposal of integrating models. The typologies most commonly used in research are those
proposed by O’Reilly and Chatman (1986), which distinguish between instrumental com-
mitment, identification and internalization, and above all the TCM proposed by Meyer et
al. (1993) and generalized by Meyer and Herscovitch (2001). The respective authors define
commitment as a force that compels the individual to pursue a course of action to attain one
or more targets. The force that binds the subject to a specific object of commitment can be
based on desire (“I want...”), calculation (“I need...”), and/or moral obligation (“I feel a duty
to...”). The model explicitly considers the affective, continuance, and normative dimensions
as universal components of commitment.
Research on the concept of commitment itself, its components, and its targets is dynamic.
Three major trends tend to structure the field’s recent evolution:
- A first trend of natural and tree-like development lead to a more complex and deeper
understanding of the various components and targets of commitment, through the
framework of multiple commitment, in accordance with the matricial model presented in
Figure 1;
- A second trend involves a shift in methodological perspective, with the adoption of a per-
son-centered approach (profile analysis);
- A third trend advocates a radical questioning of the existing system by proposing a sim-
plification and a unification of the concept of commitment.
In the first case, the complex nature of the studies reflects a natural evolution of a multi-
dimensional and complex concept. Research has led to specialization and fragmentation that
affects not only the facets of commitment, with the identification of new targets such as the
environment or particular activities (Meldrum & McCarville, 2010) but also the components
of the TCM model. There is now a consensus on the fact that continuance commitment has
two sub-dimensions: a lack of an alternative and the sacrifices associated with leaving the
organization (McGee & Ford, 1987; Vandenberghe & Panaccio, 2015). The normative com-
ponent has also been revisited: two sub-dimensions – moral duty and a perceived obligation
to reciprocate – have been identified (Meyer & Parfyonova, 2010). Following from the TCM
approach, we are now facing a very complex vision of commitment that includes not three but
five components (i.e., affective attachment; a lack of alternatives; perceived sacrifices; moral
obligation; and perceived debt).
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Parallel to this fragmentation, the dynamic nature of commitment has been taken into
account. This has resulted in the adoption of longitudinal designs (Abdelmoteleb, 2019; Klein
et al., 2017; Vandenberghe et al., 2011) that rely on correlational analyses between variables
(variable-centered approaches), but are beginning to reach their limits; their increasing com-
plexity can exceed the frameworks of standard statistical analyses based on complex regres-
sion models (Meyer et al., 2013).
The second trend in research on commitment is grounded in this complexity issue: faced
with what may constitute an insurmountable difficulty, Meyer and colleagues (2015) have
called for an approach that is based on the exploration of inter-individual differences (i.e.,
profile analyses or typologies). This person-centered approach differs from the variable-centered
approach in that it postulates that the surveyed population is fundamentally heterogeneous
and that the study of this heterogeneity can be informative (Meyer et al., 2015; Morin et al.,
2016; Somers, 2010). In HRM, a person-centered approach is of great interest, as it allows us
to isolate, with the help of more or less sophisticated typological analyses, typical profiles of
commitment that can be associated with adapted, even personalized HR policies. This second
line of research is more operational, but it does not avoid the risk of increasing complexity: the
interactions between targets, components, and antecedent or outcome variables are likely to
be very sensitive to modeling and interpretation.
The third trend stems directly from these criticisms of complexity, along with the questio-
ning of the psychometric validity of measurement instruments (Jaros, 2007; Ko et al., 1997)
and the proliferation and inconsistency of different definitions of commitment (Morrow,
1983) as well as the distinction between closely related concepts such as job satisfaction (Le et
al., 2010). All of these criticisms have led to a re-examination of the dominant model.
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rates a behavioral dimension (e.g., an intention to remain a member of the organization),
dependent and independent variables overlap. This leads to artificially high correlations
between commitment and some of its outcomes (-0.35 in Guzeller & Celiker’s meta-analy-
sis in 2019).
From an empirical perspective, the main problem with the TCM is that it fails to pre-
dict specific outcomes of commitment such as absenteeism or job performance. The weak
correlations identified in meta-analyses with the affective dimension that is considered
to be the most predictive (for example, +0.21 for performance in the meta-analysis by
Jaramillo et al. (2005) and -0.2 for absenteeism in the meta-analysis by Meyer et al. 2002)
still raise questions.
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to any identified target. The measurement scale associated with the new construct (the
Klein et al. unidimensional, Target free measure [KUT]) includes four statements (Table
1). This proposition was then tested across multiple targets and multiple samples (Klein
et al., 2014).
According to the authors, this proposition has three advantages: a more concise definition
that avoids the need for auxiliary concepts to describe the different types of links between the
subject and the targets of commitment; adaptability to a wide range of targets; and a stron-
ger conceptual coherence. There is no doubt that this radical simplification should make the
concept easier to implement and integrate into studies dealing with complex interrelationship
models.
Table 1. Commitment Scale: Items and Response Format (Klein et al. 2014, p. 225)
Items
1. How committed are you to [your/the/this] [target]?
2. To what extent do you care about [your/the/this] [target]?
3. How dedicated are you to [your/the/this] [target]?
4. To what extent have you chosen to be committed to [your/the/this] [target]?
Responses
1. Not at all; 2. Slightly; 3. Moderately; 4. Quite a bit; 5. Extremely
A cross-cultural validation project of this scale is currently underway. The present study is
part of this project. The following section proposes a translation and validation of the scale in
French through the analysis of four targets of commitment (organization, co-workers, job, and
occupation) using an overall sample of 2096 French-speaking employees.
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(into French) was carried out by the author and an experienced English teacher. The reverse
translation was carried out by an independent translator (an experienced English teacher). The
present author and a native English-speaking professional compared the two versions. The ques-
tionnaire was then pre-tested on a group of students (N = 18) and submitted to three senior
management researchers. The scale translation is presented in Appendix 2.
3.2. Study 1: Validation of the French Translation of the KUT scale (N = 1246)
In this first study, we aimed to test the following hypotheses:
– H1: The French version of KUT scale has adequate psychometric properties
– H2: The three targets (organization, colleagues, and job) are distinguishable
– H3: KUT scale is distinct from the TCM affective and continuance scales
Following Klein et al. (2014), we tested this distinction by hypothesizing that the associa-
tion between the KUTO scale and the affective dimension of the TCM was strong and the
association with the continuance dimension was weak. We also hypothesized that the associa-
tion with turnover intention or satisfaction was weaker for the KUTO scale than for the affec-
tive dimension of the TCM, illustrating the idea that the TCM measurement scale overlapped
with intention, resulting in an artificially high correlation.
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representing each dimension was very good (0.93, 0.92, and 0.92 for the dimensions organi-
zation, colleagues, and job, respectively). However, there was a strong correlation between the
“organization” and “job” dimensions (r = 0.76), indicating a potential problem of discrimi-
nant validity.
This confirmed that the three targets were distinct for the respondents: H2 is supported
despite the strong correlation between the job and organization targets identified in the
EFA.
Three-Factors model fit indices*: chi-square (51) = 90.6, p < .001. CFI = 0.99; TLI = 0.99;
SRMR = 0.02; RMSEA = 0.016; CI 90%RMSEA [0.011; 0.021]
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Note: *WLSMV estimator, with robust standard errors (Yuan Bentler chi-square adjustment).
KUTO (organization) 1
Satisfaction 0.46**
0.29**
0.46 **
0.65 **
-0.15** 1
After testing the hypothesis describing the relationships with TCM’s affective and conti-
nuance dimensions, we noticed that the correlation between organizational commitment
(KUTO) and TCM’s continuance commitment was not significant (r = -0.07). We then com-
pared the magnitude of the correlations between commitment and outcome variables (satis-
faction and turnover intention) for the TCM and the KUTO variable. Consistent with the
results obtained by Klein et al. (2014), the differences in magnitude between correlations were
statistically significant (Table 4): the relationship between organizational commitment accor-
ding to the new measure (KUTO) and its outcomes was smaller than that in the TCM model.
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Table 4. Comparison Test of Correlations Between TCM and KUTO Models (Organizational
Target)
The results obtained on this first sample lead us us to conclude that the translated version
of the KUT scale applied to three distinct targets presented good psychometric properties,
supporting H1, and differed from the TCM by a weaker predictive power on satisfaction and
turnover intention (supporting H2). In the following section, we test these properties on four
new samples, with the objective of cross-validation and cross-cultural invariance assessment.
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Country Chi-square (ddl), p CFI/TLI RMSEA [CI 90%] SRMR
Belgium 780 (506), p < .001 0.99/0.99 0.028 [0.024; 0.032] 0.049
Canada 935 (506), p < .001 0.99/0.99 0.032 [0.029; 0.035] 0.048
France 765 (506), p < .001 0.98/0.97 0.028 [0.024; 0.032] 0.049
Switzerland 797 (506), p < .001 0.99/0.99 0.029 [0.025; 0.033] 0.050
Turnover intention (TI) -0.33 -0.23 -0.37 -0.80 -0.33 -0.51 (0.88)
Results obtained from the second sample supported H4 and confirmed those from the first
sample, making it possible to carry out an invariance analysis (an additional validation step
required for multigroup comparisons).
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tant that the factor structure of the measurement scale does not vary across cultures. A check of
measurement invariance is therefore necessary. The invariance analysis method we used is based
on a model comparison process (Vandenberg & Lance, 2000) applied to cross-cultural validation
(Milfont & Fischer, 2010). The objective was to build a measurement model and test it simul-
taneously on the different groups (multi-group CFA) according to a bottom-up constraint pro-
cess: at each step, a constrained model was compared with the previous less constrained model
using fit indices (chi-squared, RMSEA, CFI, and SRMR). If the constrained model was equally
or better fitted than the previous model, we would be able to accept the invariance and continue
the process. Successive levels of invariance were tested, starting from a minimal invariance called
configurational invariance to reach the invariance of the means that signaled that the two groups
were identical on the measured variable (Table 7). To decide whether to move from one stage to
the next, we looked at the differences between the fit indicators. We followed recommendations
from simulation studies (Chen, 2007; Pokropek et al., 2019) by considering changes in the CFI
and RMSEA indices first: a change of less than 0.005 in the CFI or a change of less than 0.01 in
the RMSEA between the more constrained model and its predecessor would suggest invariance.
Once a strong level of invariance was reached, we could consider making intergroup com-
parisons with some confidence in the reliability of the measurement model. Fit indicators
for the confirmatory multi-group measurement model (comprising the three target variables
KUTO, KUTC and KUTP) that served as the basis for invariance tests showed a good fit
with the data: chi-squared (204) = 332, p < .001; CFI = 0.97; TLI = 0.97; RMSEA = 0.064
[0.052, 0.076]; and SRMR = 0.034. Regarding the test of the different invariance models,
an examination of the chi-square, CFI, and RMSEA indicator variations suggested that we
should stick to a strong invariance model. The CFI variation (-0.012) and the RMSEA varia-
tion (+0.06) between the strong and strict invariance models exceeded the recommended
thresholds. Full results are provided in Appendix 4.
We conclude that the structure of the instrument is identical in the four countries, sup-
porting H5. Simple comparative analyses can therefore be planned, such as inter-group
comparisons on composite variables (obtained by summing the items), or more complex
multi-group analyses comparing latent variables models (Vandenberg & Lance, 2000). We
conclude the analysis by reporting results for multigroup comparisons on commitment tar-
gets on the control variables (gender, position and seniority) and between countries. With
respect to the control variables, results are consistent with previous findings from workplace
commitment studies. Gender had no impact on commitment levels, managers were as com-
mitted as their subordinates and younger workers are slightly less committed with their
occupation than senior ones. Levels of commitment between countries are also distinct,
with small effect sizes (Table 8).
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Table 8. Multi-group comparisons testing
KUTO KUTC KUTP
Country F(3,846) = 19.5, p<.001 eta- F(3,846) = 8.64, p=.002 eta- F(3,846) = 21.03, p<.001, eta-
squared = 0.03 squared = 0.02 squared = 0.04
Age r = 0.058 (p = .09) r = -0.015 (p = .66) r = 0.10 (p = .003)
Gender* t(848) = -0.14, p = 0.88 t(848) = -1.19, p = 0.23 t(848) = -0.24, p = 0.81
Position* t(848) = 1.91, p = 0.06 t(848) = 0.77, p = 0.44 t(848) = 0.98, p = 0.32
* Note : reference group = male
4.1. New Definition and a new Scale, but for what Purpose?
It is important at this point to return to the question of the usefulness of this new measure-
ment scale. Why compete with the TCM approach, which remains both widely accepted and
used (Somers et al., 2019)? Why participate in the proliferation of measurement instruments
that are regularly criticized, especially in the area of commitment (Morrow, 1983)? Three
types of arguments may be put forward to justify the added value of this new instrument.
First, at the conceptual level, the scale is precise and limited to the strict concept of commit-
ment defined as a voluntary psychological bond. The new definition reduces the scope of com-
mitment and facilitates its comparison with related concepts (antecedents or consequences); it
thus solves the problem of redundancy known to be a major obstacle in the study of commitment
(Morrow, 1983): According to van Rossenberg et al. (2022, p. 4), “Commitment is therefore just
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relationship between these variables is probably not direct and that we should look for potential
mediators to reach a more detailed understanding of the mechanisms of commitment.
Finally, at the practical level, the scale is short, precise, unidimensional, and versatile. As
a target is measured with four items, it is easy to include commitment measures in organiza-
tional behavior questionnaires. This conceptual and operational parsimony is an advantage; it
has been shown that the likelihood of respondents dropping out increases in proportion to the
length of questionnaires (Galesic & Bosnjak, 2009).
effect, which would lead respondents to adhere to the proposed definition (Choi & Pak, 2004).
We attempted to estimate the existence of this potential bias by randomly deleting the defini-
tion for half of the French sample in Study 2. Means in commitment scores reported for the
group exposed to the definition (N = 108) were slightly higher than those for the unexposed
group (N = 109), that is, a difference of 0.02 for KUTO, 0.16 for KUTC, and 0.14 for KUTP.
Student’s t-tests showed that these differences for the three commitment targets were not sta-
tistically significant: respectively: t(215) = 0.23, p = 0.81 for KUTO; t(215) = 1.62, p = 0.11
for KUTC; and t(215) = 1.67, p = 0.09 for KUTP).
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developments, previous research conducted on the commitment of voluntary and qualified
home-based employees (Martin & MacDonnell, 2012) might be complemented by studies of
populations of new teleworkers with more diverse profiles (Wang et al., 2020).
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Résumé : L’implication (ou engagement) au travail est un concept clé pour les chercheurs
en comportement organisationnel et pour les praticiens car il aide à prévoir des comporte-
ments très recherchés dans les organisations contemporaines, tels que l’intention de départ,
l’assiduité ou les comportements de citoyenneté organisationnelle. La recherche est toujours
active dans ce domaine : la prédominance de l’approche tridimensionnelle de l’engagement
initialement proposée par Meyer et Allen (1991) a été régulièrement remise en question,
et d’autres propositions ont vu le jour. L’une d’entre elles s’attache à redéfinir le concept
clé d’implication dans un format concis et précis (Klein et al., 2012, 2014). Cette nouvelle
approche s’accompagne d’un instrument de mesure compact et polyvalent (KUT : Klein et
al., Unidimensional Target free measure of commitment). L’objectif de cet article est de démon-
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trer l’intérêt de cette nouvelle définition de l’implication, et de contribuer à la validation de
l’échelle KUT en contexte français. Nous avons réalisé cette opération en plusieurs étapes, en
mobilisant cinq échantillons comprenant un total de 2096 salariés issus de quatre pays fran-
cophones (France, Suisse, Belgique et Canada). Nous montrons que la version française de
l’échelle KUT présente des propriétés psychométriques adéquates et une invariance culturelle
entre les quatre sous-échantillons.
Gender
Female 68,5% 71.1% 52.1% 52.5% 54.4%
Male 31,5% 28.9% 47.9% 47.5% 45.6%
Private sector
Private sector employees in employment
Target employees in
employment*
Age
Mean 36.4 39.4 39 42.7 41.4
Standard deviation 9.3 10.8 11.2 11.2 10.3
Scope 21-60 years 19-63 years 18-63 years 21-60 years 20-62 years
Hierarchical position
Number of employees
in the organization
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11 à 49 25.8% 27.4% 16.9% 17.1% 20.7%
50 à 200 21.4% 17.9% 17.5% 21.9% 23.5%
More than 200 39.7% 30.8% 41.7% 47.3% 45.2%
Seniority in the
organization
*Employees involved in the recruitment process in their company (review and pre-selection of applications, and/
or interviews).
French version
Echelles de mesure de l’implication (Klein et al., 2014)
Réponses sur une échelle à 5 degrés (Pas du tout, Peu, Modérément, Plutôt, Extrêmement)
Cible organisation (KUTO)
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1 – Jusqu’à quel point êtes-vous impliqué(e) envers votre organisation ?
2 – Dans quelle mesure vous préoccupez-vous de votre organisation ?
3 – Jusqu’à quel point êtes-vous dévoué(e) envers votre organisation ?
4 – Dans quelle mesure avez-vous choisi d’être impliqué(e) envers votre organisation ?
Cible Collègues (KUTC): remplacer le terme organisation par “vos collègues”
Cible Profession (KUTP): remplacer le terme organisation par “votre métier/profession”
Cible Travail/Emploi (KUTW): remplacer le terme organisation par “votre travail”
1. Parallel analysis (Holm): 3 factors suggested by visual inspection (decision rule : factors are
retained if they are above the intersection with the dotted line)
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Figure 1. Scree plot
3. Velicer’s Minimum Average Partial (MAP) test achieves a minimum with 3 factors
Factors MAP
1 0.121
2 0.048
3 0.044
4 0.061
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Table 2. Four-factors solution
(3 factors extracted, total variance explained = 68%)
F1 F2 F3 F4
KUTO1 0,87 0,01 0,03 -0,05
KUTO2 0,51 0,31 -0,04 0,05
KUTO3 0,01 1,00 0,01 -0,01
KUTO4 0,53 0,22 0,01 0,00
KUTC1 0,15 0,00 0,81 0,00
KUTC2 -0,01 0,13 0,75 -0,03
KUTC3 0,00 0,18 0,76 0,03
KUTC4 0,01 -0,01 0,77 0,13
KUTW1 0,01 0,11 -0,01 0,79
KUTW2 -0,05 0,17 0,00 0,71
KUTW3 0,05 0,24 0,03 0,55
KUTW4 0,35 -0,02 0,00 0,51
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Table 3. Correlation matrix on French sample
Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. KUTO 0.91
2. KUTC 0.342 0.92
3. KUTP 0.649 0.363 0.88
4. turnover intention -0.245 -0.191 -0.299 0.89
5. Satisfaction 0.452 0.378 0.442 -0.737 0.84
6. Identification 0.450 0.328 0.358 -0.338 0.509 0.86
7. Commitment 0.502 0.428 0.545 -0.531 0.713 0.466 0.93
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Complete invariance 0.954 0.057 0.006 0.003