The desire to remain in the organization has been considered either as a component of organizational commitment or its outcome. This research aimed to test the influence of both traditional attitudinal variables (affective and continuance basis) and the behavioral intentions to organizational commitment variable on the intention to stay. To test the relationships between these variables, we selected 1,869 workers in the north, northeast and southern Brazil, who filled out a questionnaire. The data were analyzed using multiple regression procedures and structural equation modeling. The results showed that: a) None of the variables constituting the continuance basis predict significantly the measure of intentions to stay, b) Affective basis is the strongest variable predicting the intentions to stay, and c) Behavioral intentions to remain in the organization is not an organizational commitment component.
organizational commitment; remain in the organization; behavioral intentions; basis of commitment; structural equation modeling