Abstract
In this study of a mid-size healthcare system, we address two important issues in the conceptual development of organizational identification (OID): (1) understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying the OID process; and (2) examining the effects of multiple identities of the organization as varying targets of identification. We begin with a literature review of OID and its conceptualization as a cognitive construct in management research and note the relative under-examination of the cognitive mechanisms underlying the construct. In addition, we highlight the phenomenon of multiple organizational identities and the need to incorporate such multiple identities in OID research. In this study, we incorporate individual-level cognitions regarding two different aspects of the organization’s identity (patient care versus business) as a precursor to OID and the affective and behavioral responses to identification. We use structural equations to test models where a cognitive comparison of current and ideal identities predicts the Mael & Ashforth (1992) OID measure, the response of affective commitment, and the outcomes of pro-social behaviors and intent to quit. We show that cognitions grounded in different aspects of the organizational identity behave very differently in terms of predicting OID and its consequences. Our findings suggest that the substantive content of an organization’s identity is of prime concern when making claims about the predictive validity of identification in general.