Members' Identification with Multiple-Identity Organizations

Abstract

In the field of organizational identity, theory development has far outpaced theory testing. Specifically, several researchers have proposed identity-based models of organizational identification but few have operationalized and tested them. Furthermore, virtually no research has explored how members identify with multiple-identity organizations. This study addresses these gaps and makes three specific contributions to identity theory. First, we operationalize and test a model in which a member's organizational identification is conceptualized in terms of an identity comparison process, i.e., a cognitive comparison between what a member perceives the identity to be and what they think it should be. Second, we extend current thinking by operationalizing organizational identification in terms of multiple and competing identities. Third, as a theory-building exercise, we explore the possibility that a similar identity comparison process operates at the organizational form level of analysis, affecting members' identification with the encompassing form or social institution. We test our model via a survey of members of rural cooperatives—a prototypical ‘hybrid’ identity organizational form, embodying elements of both ‘business’ and ‘family’ identities. Results of the analyses show that organizational identity congruence has a significant effect on member commitment, and form-level identity congruence has significant effects on both cognitive and pragmatic legitimacy, lending support for the use of identity as a multilevel construct. These results provide empirical support for current identity-based models of organizational identification and expand their generalizability to include multiple-identity organizations.