Organizational identity strength, identification, and commitment and their relationships to turnover intention: Does organizational hierarchy matter?

TL;DR: In this article, the functional distinctions between organizational identity strength, organizational identification, and organizational commitment were clarified by using confirmatory factor analysis to test the discriminant validity of the three focal constructs, and a multigroup structural equation modeling was used to simultaneously estimate the between-group correlations between turnover intention and organization identity strength.

Abstract: Summary In the present study we sought to clarify the functional distinctions between organization identity strength, organizational identification, and organizational commitment. Data were obtained from 10 948 employees of a large steel manufacturer. First, confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the discriminant validity of the three focal constructs. Next, drawing on research that suggests hierarchical differentiation may influence individuals’ conceptual frame of reference, we examined each focal construct’s measurement equivalence across three hierarchical levels (officers, n ¼ 1,056, middle-management, n ¼ 1049, workers, n ¼ 1050). Finally, multigroup structural equation modeling was used to simultaneously estimate the between-group correlations between turnover intention and organization identity strength, organizational identification, and organizational commitment. Results indicated that (a) the measures used to reflect the three focal constructs were empirically distinct, (b) the focal constructs were conceptually equivalent across hierarchical levels, and (c) the pattern of correlations with turnover intention was different for employees with management responsibilities versus workers with no management responsibility. The present findings suggest perceptions of a strong organizational identity, organizational identification, and organizational commitment may influence employees’ turnover intention in unique ways, depending on their hierarchical level within the organization. Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The relationship between an individual member and the employing organization has long been known to have an impact on the attitudes, behavior, and well-being of individuals. In this regard, two of the more researched constructs include organizational identification and organizational commitment, both of which were developed in an attempt to understand, predict, and influence employee behavior. Organizational identification, as the more recent of the two perspectives, examines the process whereby an individual’s identity becomes psychologically intertwined with the organization’s identity. Although a long-standing interest to sociologists and social psychologists, the social identity approach, subsuming both social identity theory and self-categorization theory, has only recently emerged as an important perspective in organizational behavior research (see Pratt, 1998; van Dick, 2004, for reviews). The second perspective, which encompasses organizational commitment, views the