Understanding the antecedents of organizational commitment in the context of temporary organizations: An empirical study

•Analysis of antecedents of organizational commitment in temporary organizations.•Focus on task-related and organizational antecedents of organizational commitment.•Hypotheses on antecedents similar and opposite to that in permanent organizations.•Empirical test using a cross-industry sample (n > 600) of TO professionals.•Confirmation of the intervening role of work-life conflict.

This study investigates how the characteristics of temporary organizations affect an employee's commitment to the temporary organization, and more precisely, whether the respective effect is similar or opposite to that in permanent organizations. We examine job-related and organizational antecedents of organization commitment, and test to what extent their effects differ in the context of temporary organizations using a data set of more than 600 professionals. Further, we find that an employee's work-life conflict has a mediating role on these relationships. Our study contributes to research by simultaneously considering several antecedents and how their effects may differ between permanent and temporary organizations.