PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS PREDICTING ORGANISATIONAL COMMITMENT AMONG HEALTH EMPLOYEES IN IBADAN METROPOLIS

Abstract

Nigeria's healthcare sector faces high stress, emotional demands, and challenging conditions, impacting staff well-being and retention. Despite their crucial role, healthcare workers often exhibit high turnover and low job satisfaction. While organisational commitment is a known predictor of retention, how workplace happiness and psychological climate specifically influence it within this sector remains underexplored. This study explored the joint and independent influence of demographic variables, workplace happiness and psychological climate on organisational commitment among healthcare workers in Ibadan, Nigeria. A cross-sectional research design was employed, involving 397 healthcare professionals selected through a multi-stage sampling technique. Data were gathered using structured questionnaires that included socio-demographic variables, the Organisational Commitment (OC) Scale, and the Psychological Climate Scale. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to test the research hypothesis at a .05 significance level. The results revealed a significant joint prediction of demographic variable (age and Years in service), workplace happiness and psychological climate on organizational commitment (R = .197, R² = .013, F (4,392) 3.946, p < .01), independently only psychological climate (β = 0.118, p < 0.05) significantly predicted organisational commitment. Conclusively, this study revealed the importance of fostering a positive psychological environment to improve healthcare workers’ organisational commitment and reduce turnover. This study recommends that healthcare administrators should implement strategies that prioritise improving the workplace psychological climate to strengthen commitment and improve job satisfaction among healthcare professionals.

Keywords: Workplace happiness, Psychological climate, Organisational commitment, Healthcare workers