Job Autonomy as a Predictor of Organizational Commitment and Mental Health: The Influence of Product Market

Although there have been a few studies on interaction effects between job autonomy and other job characteristics, there still is a need to study interaction effects between job autonomy and contextual factors, since the effects of job autonomy may be different according to a specific context. One of the contextual factors may be the extent of quality competition in the product or service market. Using the mediated moderation model, this paper investigates both the role as a mediator of organizational commitment between job autonomy and mental health and the moderating effects of quality competition with job autonomy. It finds that organizational commitment plays a role as a mediator in the process through which job autonomy improves mental health. Also, while job autonomy generally enhances organizational commitment and mental health, the effects are greater in more quality-competitive establishments. Implications for managers and future research are suggested.