RT journal article
T1 Understanding affective organizational commitment in an academic context: Do leader-member exchange and distributive justice play a key role?
A1 Villanueva Flores, María Mercedes
A1 Rodríguez Cornejo, Vanesa María
A1 Bornay Barrachina, María del Mar
A1 Rodríguez González, Tamara
A2 Organización de Empresas
K1 academics
K1 psychological contract
K1 leader–member exchange
K1 distributive justice
K1 affective organizational commitment
AB This study examines the interplay between psychological contract fulfillment, distributive justice, and leader–member exchange (LMX) in shaping affective organizational commitment among university academics. Drawing on social exchange theory, and using simple random sampling, we propose a moderated mediation model to explore how these variables interact. To test the hypotheses, we used the linear moderated mediation test, applying PROCESS for SPSS. Specifically, on a sample of 465 academics, the study tests the hypothesis that distributive justice mediates the relationship between psychological contract fulfillment and affective commitment, with LMX acting as a moderator. Findings reveal that distributive justice is not always necessary for fostering affective commitment when psychological contracts are fulfilled, unless the quality of LMX is low. In low-quality leader–member relationships, perceptions of distributive justice become crucial when it comes to translating contract fulfillment into affective commitment. These results highlight the importance of relational dynamics in academic settings, especially when resources are limited. The study concludes with a discussion of its theoretical and practical implications, as well as limitations and avenues for future research.
SN 1839-3527
YR 2025
FD 2025-08-04
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/38189
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/38189
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 06-nov-2026