In the study of organizational behavior, organizational commitment is the extent of an individual's commitment to an organization. There are three major types of organizational commitment:

  • Affective Commitment: In this case, an individual strongly identifies with the goals of the organization and desires to remain a part of the organization. This is the ideal 'happy' state for an individual

  • Continuance Commitment: The individual remains with an organization because of a perceived loss of sunken costs. The individual believes that he/she has invested a great deal of effort/time and has to remain in the organization.

  • Normative Commitment: The individual remains with an organization because he/she believes they should.