New research suggests that people who are emotionally attached to their job have a better psychological well-being, The Business Standard reported.

A study led by Thomas Clausen of the Danish National Research Centre for the Working Environment found that Efforts to increase affective organizational commitment (AOC) may lead to a happier, healthier workforce -- and possibly contribute to reducing employee turnover.

In the new study, affective organizational commitment is defined as "the employee's emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in the organization."

Researchers collected and analyzed data from approximately 5,000 Danish eldercare workers, organized into 300 workgroups. They examined how affective organizational commitment affected psychological well-being and other health-related outcomes in the study participants.

The investigators found a significantly higher well-being for employees in workgroups with higher AOC. Workgroups with high AOC also had lower sickness absence rates and fewer sleep disturbances, as reported by workers.

The relationship between group-level affective organizational commitment and psychological well-being was completely explained by individual-level affective organizational commitment. But group commitment contributed to the differences in sick days and sleep problems, independent of individual commitment.

Previous studies have suggested that employees' emotional attachment to and identification with their work is an important motivating factor that affects absenteeism and other key organizational outcomes. The new study adds evidence that group-level affective organizational commitment "is an important predictor of employee well-being in contemporary healthcare organizations."

The findings are detailed in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.