Extension Personnel's Self-Esteem and Workplace Relationships: Implications for Job Satisfaction and Affective Organizational Commitment Foci

Abstract

This study proposes relationships between job satisfaction, affective commitment (organization, supervisor and workgroup), and exchange relations with supervisor, organization and workgroup members among extension personnel. Perceived self-esteem (SE) is hypothesized to moderate relations between the social exchange foci and the corresponding commitment foci and global job satisfaction. One hundred and fifty-six extension personnel (i.e. 93.41% responses) from Ogun State Agricultural Development Programme in Southwest Nigeria provided the useable data for this study. The results of the multiple moderated regression analyses indicate that there are positive relations between job satisfaction and SE (β =0.30, p <0.0001), and relations with organization (β =0.62, p <0.0001). There are positive relations between SE and organizational commitment (β =0.58, p <0.0001), supervisor commitment (β =0.28, p <0.0001), and workgroup commitment (β =0.33, p <0.0001). The notion of most salient foci having the strongest effect on an individual's behavior received mixed support in this study. There is independence between workgroup commitment and relations with workgroup members (β =0.01, ns). The hypothesized moderating effect of SE on the predictors-criterions linkages is not supported by the results. The implications of the results are discussed.

Keywords:

• Self-esteem
• Social exchanges
• Job satisfaction
• Affective commitment
• Extension personnel