ABSTRACT
An organization's equilibrium and survival are ultimately based on the ability to induce members to participate ( Barnard, 1938 ; March and Simon, 1958 ; Kanter, 1968). Thus organizations in a state of decline face either a shortage of loyal members, clients, and customers; a dwindling staff that is losing its commitment; or both (Hirschman, 1970). An interest in explaining states of equilibrium and decline in formal organizations led to the development of a general theory of role commitment processes and a specific test of it in a sample of religious organizations in the USA undergoing unusually high resignation rates (cf. Schoenherr and Greeley, 1974).
