Dispositional Trait, Discrete Emotion, and Occupational Commitment

Accompanied by growing dispatched workers in workplace, occupational commitment is more important than ever. Despite the importance of understanding the emotional aspects of occupational commitment, previous research has paid less attention to the role of emotion in occupational commitment. This article attempts to fill this gap by examining the relationship between dispositional trait and occupational commitment. The study examined how two dispositional traits-neuroticism and extroversion-influence occupational commitment through the linking of two discrete emotions including fear and enthusiasm. A survey study with questionnaires was conducted and sample consisted of 144 respondents from the home carers in Taiwan. The predictions were then tested through the SEM approach, with acceptable fit resulted. Results showed that enthusiasm mediated the effect of extroversion on occupational commitment but fear partially mediated the impact of neuroticism on occupational commitment. These findings suggest that workers with distinguish dispositional trait have different occupational commitment, supporting the mediating role of discrete emotion on the relationship between dispositional trait and occupational commitment.