Organizational Commitment: Evolution, Measurement, Antecedents, and Knowledge Gaps

Organizational commitment is a central construct in organizational behavior research and continues to be pivotal for understanding employee attitudes and behavior. This research paper presents an in-depth and advanced literature review of organizational commitment, tracing its historical emergence, conceptual evolution, theoretical frameworks, measurement advancements, antecedents, and research gaps. Drawing from peer-reviewed research studies, the paper maps the trajectory of academic inquiry from early attitudinal perspectives to multi-dimensional, culturally-sensitive models. Key contributors, such as Porter, Meyer, and Allen, are examined in terms of their foundational and progressive work in the domain. Furthermore, this paper explores how antecedents such as leadership, job satisfaction, organizational support, and psychological contracts have influenced organizational commitment over time. Measurement tools including the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) and the Three-Component Model (TCM) are reviewed in terms of reliability, validity, and adaptability. Finally, the study identifies significant research gaps and proposes future research directions to enrich theoretical development and empirical applications in a global and evolving work context