Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder: The Impact of Organizational Identification, Identity, and Image on the Cooperative Behaviors of Physicians

TLDR

An established model of organizational identification is used to explain voluntary cooperative behavior of professionals, with extensions suggested. The study examined how physicians’ perceptions of a health care system’s identity and image, and their identification with the system, relate to cooperative behaviors. Data were collected via a survey of 1,504 physicians across three health care systems, with a one‑year follow‑up of 285 participants. Physicians who found a system’s identity and image attractive identified more strongly with it, and stronger identification predicted greater cooperative behavior.

Abstract

We use an established model of organizational identification to try to understand the voluntary cooperative behavior of professionals in organizations. We examined the relationships among physicians' assessments of the attractiveness of a health care system's perceived identity and construed external image, strength of system identification, and cooperative behaviors. We surveyed 1,504 physicians affiliated with three health care systems and collected follow-up data from 285 physicians a year later. Attractiveness of perceived identity and construed external image were positively related to physicians' identification with the system, which in turn was positively related to cooperative behavior. Extensions to the model of organizational identification are suggested.