Effects of Psychological capital on Organizational Commitment among Non-Teaching Employees in Chartered Universities in Nakuru County, Kenya: A Comparison of Public and Private Universities.

Abstract

The effect of psychological capital (PsyCap) on employees’ organisational commitment is critical for enhancing workplace engagement and organisational success. Psychological capital comprises hope, optimism, self-efficacy, and resilience, which are posited to foster employee commitment. Despite the presence of psychological capital among non-teaching employees in chartered universities, their commitment may remain limited if institutional support does not align with their work values. This study examined the effect of psychological capital on organisational commitment among non-teaching employees in chartered universities in Nakuru County, Kenya. The target population consisted of 1687 non-academic employees from both Egerton University and Kabarak University. The formula by Israel (1992) was used to derive a sample size of 323 non-teaching employees, with 207 respondents from Egerton University and 116 respondents from Kabarak University. The study hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 (5%) significance level. The results of Pearson's correlation analysis found that psychological capital components (hope, optimism, self-efficacy, and resilience) had significant positive relationships with organisational commitment (p < 0.05). The results of hypotheses testing using simple regression analyses found that hope, optimism, self-efficacy and resilience were significant positive predictors of organisational commitment (p < 0.05). Hypothesis Five which was tested using multiple regression analysis, found that psychological capital components jointly had significant effect on organisational commitment (F = 20.598, p = 0.000). The findings on psychological capital and organizational commitment will benefit government policymakers by illustrating how to enhance employee performance, increase motivation and work engagement, and deliver more effective public services. It demonstrates that fostering positive psychological capital components, such as hope and self-confidence, can lead to higher commitment and productivity, enabling policymakers to plan targeted Human Resource approaches and interventions to build a more committed, engaged, and motivated workforce in the public and private sector.

Keywords: Organisational commitment; Affective commitment; Affective commitment; Affective commitment; Psychological capital; hope; self-efficacy; optimism; resilience; public university; private university

DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/17-9-03

Publication date: October 30th 2025