The classic 15-item measure of attitudinal commitment — identification, involvement, and loyalty to the organization.
| Construct measured | Organizational commitment (attitudinal) |
|---|---|
| Developed by | Mowday, Steers & Porter (1979) |
| Original publication | Mowday, R. T., Steers, R. M., & Porter, L. W. (1979). The measurement of organizational commitment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 14(2), 224–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-8791(79)90072-1 |
| Number of items | 15 (a 9-item short form drops the negatively worded items) |
| Response format | 7-point agreement scale (1 = Strongly disagree to 7 = Strongly agree) |
Designed as a unidimensional measure of attitudinal commitment reflecting acceptance of organizational goals, willingness to exert effort, and desire to maintain membership. Factor analyses sometimes separate the positively and negatively worded items, which is why the 9-item positively worded short form is popular.
Alphas are commonly reported between .82 and .93 across the original samples and later studies.
Validated across nine occupational samples in the original paper, with convergent validity against other attachment measures and criterion links to turnover and absenteeism. Later work notes overlap between some OCQ items and turnover intention, which motivated the shift toward the Allen and Meyer components.
Public and private sector employees across many occupations; historically the most used commitment scale before the TCM survey.
United States. Widely translated; many international studies use the 9-item short form.