Organizational commitment and performance among guest workers and citizens of an Arab country

The relationships among affective organizational commitment, guest workers status, and two dimensions of individual performance (overall and helping) were explored in a unique international setting. Employees and supervisors (N =226) at two commercial banks in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) participated in the study. With a dissonance perspective as a backdrop, it was predicted that U.A.E. nationals, with substantial economic security and choice, would maintain more attitude-behavior consistency than guest workers, employed under highly restrictive work visas. Organizational commitment-guest worker status interactions were significant predictors of overall performance and helping, and partially supported the dissonance perspective. Implications are discussed and future research directions identified.