Identity and Identification in Organisational Contexts: Towards an Interactionist Perspective

Concepts from the social identity approach, comprising social identity and selfcategorisation theories, are now widely acknowledged as important for understanding how the self-concept influences, and is influenced by, organisational processes. Yet many theoretical developments of the social identity approach, particularly from selfcategorisation theory, have largely been neglected by organisational researchers. Social identity theorists, on the other hand, have ignored the role of personal identity and individual differences in identity processes. The aim of this research is to address these limitations in an organisational context by examining the role of the individual in identity processes, in order to explain individual variation in identification under identical contextual conditions. In this thesis, therefore, I adopt an interactionist perspective, where context and the individual perceiver together explain identity processes. The theoretical framework for this perspective is derived from a reconceptualisation of the nature and structure of personal and social identities, which then allows for a consideration of the role of the individual. I propose, in particular, that individuals differ in their propensity to identify with social groups, including multiple organisational identities. This propensity, termed Need for Identification (nID), interacts with the social context in producing identification. In order to assess the role of the individual in identity processes, in Study 1, I developed and validated a scale to measure need for identification. Initial item development and content-validity review was followed by item reduction. A separate community sample (N = 204) was used to evaluate and further refine the measure, and to provide evidence for discriminant and convergent validity. The scale structure was replicated on a third sample (N = 180), which confirmed the two-component structure of the nID construct, while a final sample (N = 40) provided evidence of test-retest reliability. The first component—Need for Identification-Self-Definition (nID-SD)—captures the need for group membership in order to define and understand the self. The second component— Need for Identification-Belongingness (nID-B)—reflects group membership motivated by a desire for belongingness and affinity. In Study 2, I investigated the role of nID and identity salience on the cognitive and evaluative components of identification with a new group. Using a traditional minimal group experimental design, nID was measured prior to the manipulation of identity salience with 165 undergraduate university students. The results revealed that nID-SD was stronger than identity salience in predicting self-categorisation, the cognitive element of identification. Similarly, nID-B was a better predictor of the evaluative, group self-esteem component of identification than identity salience. Study 3 was designed to replicate and extend the results of the second study by examining the role of nID, identity salience, and salience simultaneity on multiple workrelated identities. A quasi-experimental survey design with 275 employed individuals measured nID and manipulated both organisational and workgroup identity salience. As I predicted, identity salience and nID were positively related to identification with the organisation and the workgroup. Supporting previous results, nID-SD and nID-B were stronger predictors of organisational and workgroup identification than was identity salience. The results also demonstrated a salience simultaneity effect, whereby two simultaneously salient identities further increased the strength of identification. In Study 4, I tested an interactionist model of multiple work-related identities by examining the differential antecedents and consequences of organisational and workgroup identification in the context of nID (N = 246). Path analysis supported the model, demonstrating relationships between nID-SD and organisational identification, and between nID-B and workgroup identification. The results further supported the theorised effects of organisational and workgroup identification on desirable organisational outcomes. Specifically, organisational identification was positively related to helping extra-role behaviours, while workgroup identification was positively related to voice extrarole behaviours. Only organisational identification was found to be associated with intrinsic work motivation, which was also positively related to job involvement and in-role behaviour. Overall, the findings of this research support the interactionist perspective, whereby the individual perceiver plays an important role in the development of identification with organisational groups. By incorporating a consideration of identity salience, and specifying how and why individual differences manifest in the identification process, this thesis makes a significant contribution to both the social identity and organisational literatures. In applied settings, the results of this research suggest that an individual’s need for identification is just as important as salience inducers in eliciting employee identification. Finally, by investigating the impact of work-related identification on less-studied work attitudes and behaviour, such as specific discretionary performance, intrinsic motivation, and in-role behaviour, the research offers a greater understanding of how employee identity produces organisationally relevant outcomes.