Abstract
Nontraditional workers, such as volunteers and part-time employees, are a vital component of university athletic departments. However, few researchers have explored the psychological characteristics and attitudes of nontraditional workers or have compared nontraditional workers with traditional full-time workers. Moreover, no study was found that has compared the differences among different groups of nontraditional workers. In the current study, the researchers compared organizational commitment and sport identity among four different work statuses (volunteers, practicum/internship workers, part-time workers, and full-time workers) in a university athletic department. Full-time and practicum/internship workers indicated significantly (p<.05) higher sport identification than volunteers and part-time workers. Volunteers and practicum/internship workers reported significantly higher affective and normative commitments than part-time employees and significantly lower affective commitment than full-time employees. Thus, it is recommended that athletic departments hire part-time workers cautiously and alternatively consider the potential increased use of practicum/internship workers and volunteers.
Recommended Citation
Kim, May; Jones, Patrice; and Rodriguez, Arial
(2008)
"Influence of Work Status on Organizational Commitment and Sport Identity of University Athletic Department Workers,"
Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics: Vol. 1, Article 16.
Available at:
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/jiia/vol1/iss1/16