a social influence analysis of perceived organizational support

Levinson’s work explained the larger scope and justification for employee-organization
relationships. The importance of the employee-organization relationship continued to grow in
the business environment of the 1970s and 1980s as organizations became increasingly
concerned with developing and retaining productive employees to gain a competitive advantage
in a global marketplace. Research shifted from investigating employees’ beliefs about how they
were treated by the organization (or the extent to which the organization was committed to them)
to understanding what made the employee committed to the organization.
Employee commitment to the organization, or organizational commitment, is defined as
an employee’s “identification with and involvement in a particular organization” (Mowday,
Steers, & Porter., 1979). Organizational commitment has become an important variable to both
managers and researchers because it is related to productivity, turnover, and absenteeism (for a
review, see Meyer & Allen, 1997). Eisenberger et al. (1986) proposed a social exchange
approach to integrate employees’ beliefs about how they were treated by the organization and
organizational commitment. Eisenberger and colleagues argued that when employees believe
that the organization is committed to them, they will be committed to the organization
(Eisenberger et al., 1986; Shore & Tetrick, 1991).
Social Exchange, Reciprocity, and Attributions in Perceived Organizational Support
To measure employee beliefs about the organization’s commitment to them, Eisenberger
et al. (1986) proposed a new construct called perceived organizational support (POS) and laid
out the theoretical foundations for a social exchange model of the employee-organization
relationship. His seminal work utilized social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) and the reciprocity
norm (Gouldner, 1960) to integrate different perspectives of the employee-organization
relationship. Social exchange relationships, according to Blau (1964), are based on the exchange
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