The effects of union membership on multiple work commitments among female public sector employees

The effects of union membership on union, organizational, and dual commitment among 245 clerical employees at a midwestern state university represented by a Local of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) were investigated. Based on the similarity hypothesis of the social identity theory, it was hypothesized that union membership would be positively related to union and dual commitment and negatively related to organizational commitment. The results of the regression analyses supported the similarity hypothesis, and union membership explained a significant amount of variance in union and dual commitment but not in organizational commitment. These findings are discussed in the context of applying social psychological approaches to understand attitudes toward unionization; industrial conflict; and union, organizational, and dual commitment.