Working under a committed boss: A test of the relationship between supervisors' and subordinates' affective commitment

Based on the existing social influence literature, we predict that a supervisor's affective commitment to the organization may influence his or her subordinates' level of affective commitment, which subsequently affects their task performance and extra-role behavior. We further propose that the relationship between supervisors' and subordinates' affective commitment is moderated by subordinate individual power distance orientation. The results support our hypotheses using a sample of 111 full-time employees in Macau. We found positive relationships between supervisors' and subordinates' affective commitment, and between subordinates' affective commitment and their task and extra-role performance. Consistent with our prediction, the relationship between supervisors' and subordinates' affective commitment was stronger among subordinates possessing low power distance orientation.