Linking Psychological Capital to Organizational Commitment: The Moderating Role of Perceived Aversive Leadership of Employees in Angola

Abstract

Organizational commitment is an indicator of organizational performance, regarding the attainment of competitive advantages. Knowing the factors that promote or inhibit organizational commitment fills a gap in the literature in the area of aversive leadership in Angola and reinforces the role of managers in promoting employees’ organizational commitment. This study aimed to analyze the moderating role of perceived aversive leadership in the relationship between psychological capital and organizational commitment. Although recent studies have indicated the negative effects of aversive leadership on organizational outcomes, the role of perceived aversive leadership on employees’ organizational commitment has not been tested. To this end, we applied a self-report questionnaire from 335 employees from different sectors of activity in Angola to examine this relationship. To analyze the results of the study, we used structural equation modeling. The results showed that the relevance of psychological capital in organizational commitment is highlighted when perceived aversive leadership is low. On the other hand, when perceived aversive leadership is high, employees will exhibit lower levels of organizational commitment. This study may influence the adoption of more sophisticated leadership selection techniques, based on behavioral and situational interviews, to ensure that professionals with aversive behaviors cannot hold positions of responsibility.

Keywords

• psychological capital
• perceived aversive leadership
• affective commitment
• normative commitment
• continuance commitment
• Angola