Perceived organizational support and work status: a comparison of the employment relationships of part-time and full-time employees attending university classes

摘要

Employees who were attending classes at a local university responded to measures of perceived organizational support, the content of their psychological contracts (e.g., relational and transactional obligations), social and economic exchange, the level of fulfillment of both employee and organizational obligations, and organizational commitment. Part-time employees (N = 319) reported higher levels of perceived organizational support and stronger economic exchange relationships, while full-time employees (N = 282) reported higher levels of continuance commitment―sacrifice and greater relational and transactional obligations to their organizations. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of the strength of social exchange relationships, the levels of their organizations' relational and transactional obligations to them, the degree to which they had fulfilled their obligations to their organizations or their organizations had fulfilled their obligations to them, the level of continuance commitment―perceived alternatives, affective commitment, and normative commitment. There were no differences in the strength of the relations between perceived organizational support and the other exchange variables depending on work status. Overall, the findings suggested that social exchange processes operate similarly for part-time and full-time employees.