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Communication and Commitment in Organizations: A Social Identity Approach

University of Amsterdam, T.Postmes{at}exeter.ac.uk

Martin Tanis

University of Amsterdam

Boudewijn de Wit

University of Amsterdam

Results of two studies show that horizontal communications (informal, with proximate colleagues, of socio-emotional content) are less strongly related to levels of commitment at both organizational and unit level, than are vertical communications (strategic information and communication with management). In addition, it was shown that vertical communication from senior management predicts organizational commitment best, whereas commitment with the unit is predicted better by vertical communication at that level. Results are inconsistent with approaches to commitment in organizations and teams that assume commitment stems from interpersonal relations, but more consistent with approaches to organizational commitment based on a social identity approach which tend to focus on social-level antecedents of commitment and identification.

Key Words: communication • identification • organizational commitment • social identity

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