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The utility of a broader conceptualization of organizational identification: Which aspects really matter?
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2004
Year
Workplace PsychologySocial PsychologySelf IdentityOrganizational CultureHuman Resource ManagementOrganizational BehaviorPsychologySocial SciencesOrganizational SocializationEmployee AttitudeSocietal Identity StudiesManagementSocial IdentificationOrganizational PsychologyWork AttitudeSocial IdentityBroader ConceptualizationOrganizational ResearchStrategic ManagementGerman School TeachersSocial Identity TheoryOrganizational IdentificationOrganizational IdentityOrganizational SystemOrganizational CommunicationOrganizational StructureBusinessKnowledge Management
The study proposes that social identification can be decomposed into distinct foci (career, team, organization, occupation) and dimensions (cognitive, affective, evaluative, behavioural), and that these aspects are differentially linked to work‑related attitudes and behaviours. The authors tested the predictions with a questionnaire survey of 515 German school teachers and cross‑validated the findings in two additional samples of 233 school teachers and 358 bank accountants. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed that the proposed dimensions and foci are distinct, and the results show that these aspects correlate differentially with various work‑related criteria.
Predictions of social identity and self‐categorization theories about the relevance of social identification in organizational contexts are presented. We propose that different foci of identification (e.g. with own career, team, organization, occupation) as well as different dimensions of organizational identification (cognitive, affective, evaluative, and behavioural) can be separated. Furthermore, these different aspects of organizational identification are assumed to be differentially associated with work‐related attitudes and behaviours. Predictions are first tested in a questionnaire study of 515 German school teachers. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that dimensions and foci can indeed be differentiated. In addition, results indicate that different aspects correlate differentially with different criteria. The results are cross‐validated in two samples of 233 German school teachers and 358 bank accountants, respectively.