In their review of the workplace commitment literature, Klein, Morrow and Brinsfield (in
press) defined commitment as an individual’s perception that they are bound to a given target.
This definition depicts commitment as attachment rather than a force. They note that defining
commitment as a perceived bond rather than a force more clearly (a) distinguishes commitment
from its antecedents, (b) places commitment within the individual, and (c) recognizes the
considerable variance in how individuals make sense of their environment (James & Mazerolle,
2002; Weick, 1995). Their examination of commitment posits three aspects that are relevant to
this paper: the elements of commitment, the outcomes of commitment, and competing
commitments.