Psychological Bond Beyond Algorithms: A Latent Profile Analysis of Multifocal Commitment among Food Delivery Riders

In the context of the platform economy, the labor process of food delivery riders is deeply embedded in algorithmic management, and their psychological bonds simultaneously involve three dimensions: the platform, trade unions and the occupation itself. Based on data collected from 208 food delivery riders through a two-wave time-lagged design, this study adopted latent profile analysis and identified four types of multifocal commitment profiles, namely the Platform Commitment-dominant Type, the Platform-Trade Union Dual-dominant Type, the Trade Union-Occupation Dual-dominant Type and the Full Commitment Type. These profiles reveal the complex structure of coexistence and differentiation in the psychological bonds of food delivery riders, demonstrate the diversity of commitment in digital labor at the micro level, and provide empirical evidence for understanding labor-capital relations under algorithmic management.