Generational differences in relationship between prosocial identity fit and affective commitment

The purpose of this paper is to examine the generational differences in the relationship between Person–Organization (P-O) fit of prosocial identity and affective commitment.

A moderated polynomial regression was used to examine the generational differences in the relationship between P-O fit of prosocial identity and affective commitment.

Organizational prosocial identity was found to be strongly correlated to affective commitment of employees. Generational differences existed among the employees in affective commitment and perception of organizational prosocial identity with Gen Y employees showing lower affective commitment and lower perception of organizational prosocial identity than older employees. P-O fit of prosocial identity had a significant relationship with affective commitment only for Gen Y employees. Gen Y employees had highest affective commitment when both individual and organizational prosocial identity were high vs when both were low.

This study extends the research on P-O fit by examining the fit of a new dimension – prosocial identity. Further, by examining differences in this relationship for members of each generation, this paper also extends the research on generational theory.

The results of this study provide important input to managers who seek to increase the affective commitment of the “job hopping” Gen Y employees. The P-O fit of prosocial identity may present an important way of improving affective commitment for this generation of employees.

This study is one of the first to examine P-O fit of prosocial identity in India. It is also one of the first to examine this relationship in the context of a multigenerational workforce.