Commitment Profiles of Restaurant Employees: A Person-Centered Approach with Multigroup Structural Equation Modeling

Person-centered approaches assume that a respective sample might reflect multiple subpopulations characterized by different sets of parameters. Three hospitality employee cohorts with different workplace profiles were hypothesized based on the levels of organizational commitment and predictive outcomes. The hypotheses were tested among subgroup populations using applied latent profile analyses and multigroup structural equation modeling (MSEM) procedures. The sample (n=160) differentiated between two restaurant types. The construct validity of the extracted latent profiles was verified by plotted Euclidean Distances and multivariate analysis of covariance. Next, cross-restaurant comparisons using MSEM provided the richer interpretations between subgroups and their relations. The analyses confirmed a model with four latent profiles. Further analysis using MSEM presented theoretical coherent patterns of predictor differences between full- and quick-service restaurant employees in terms of their intrinsic motivation and organizational-based self-esteem. Practical implications of implementing a person-centered approach to the study of restaurant employees and future directions are discussed.