4.4 Perception of Organizational Protectiveness and Organizational Commitment
Another factor acknowledged to be an important antecedent of organizational commitment is
“organizational support” (Eisenberger et al. 1990; Shore and Wayne 1993; Ortiz 2010;
Rhoades and Eisenberger 2002; Ozdevecioglu 2003; Behson 2002; Meyer et al. 2002).
Organizational support is defined as “the extent to which the organization values its
employees’ contribution and cares about their wellbeing” (Eisenberger et al. 1986:501), as
“the extent to which an organization is aware of its employees’ contribution to the organization, and gives importance to their welfare” (Martin 1995:89), and as “the extent to
which employees of an organization feel themselves secure, and feel the support of their
organization” (Ozdevecioglu, 2003:116).