Employee wellbeing, control and organizational commitment Ajay K. Jain Department of Human Behavior and Organizational Development, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India Sabir I. Giga School of Health Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK, and Cary L. Cooper Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK Abstract Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the role of work locus of control (WLOC) as a moderator of the relationship between employee wellbeing and organizational commitment. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports on a quantitative study of middle level executives from motor-cycle manufacturing organizations based in Northern India. The focus of the paper is to examine the predictive ability of wellbeing and the moderating effect of WLOC in predicting organizational commitment. Findings – The results suggest that wellbeing is negatively related to conditional continuance commitment, whereby employees consider the advantages associated with continued participation and costs associated with leaving, and normative commitment, whereby employees feel they have moral obligations to remain with the organization. The presence of an external WLOC has a positive impact on the relationship. Wellbeing, as represented by a hassle-free existence, predicts positive affective commitment with a particular organization, and internal WLOC as represented by effort influences the relationship negatively. Research limitations/implications – Although a cross-sectional study, its findings have implications for contemporary leadership and organizational psychology research and practice, particularly with regard to understanding of employee commitment in a progressively changing environment. Originality/value – Studies examining the role of WLOC as a moderator of the relationship between wellbeing and organizational commitment are limited particularly in the context of post-liberalization, as is the case with the manufacturing industry in India. Keywords Job satisfaction, Employees, Employee behaviour, Employee involvement, India Paper type Research paper Introduction The principal focus of stress research from a work psychology perspective has been to identify causal factors or its impact on job and organizational performance (e.g. Lu, 1999; Potter et al., 2002; Elloy and Smith, 2003). Moreover, the psychological and management literature on employee wellbeing in organizations tends to concentrate on the traditional model of health in which factors relating to strain are given prominence, with little attention paid to positive outcomes. For example, there is evidence to suggest that emotional intelligence, trust and perceived organizational support can have favorable effects on employees’ general health in organizations ( Jain and Sinha, 2005). The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-7739.htm LODJ 30,3 256 Received February 2008 Revised September 2008 Accepted October 2008 Leadership & Organization Development Journal Vol. 30 No. 3, 2009 pp. 256-273 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0143-7739 DOI 10.1108/01437730910949535