Organizational Identification

Organizational identification represents the extent to which individuals consider their membership within an organization as a meaningful part of who they are. Popularized by the work of Blake Ashforth and Fred Mael, organizational identification has been studied largely from a social identity perspective, which posits that one’s awareness of membership in a particular, salient social group embodies an important part of one’s self-concept. Employees understandably develop a sense of attachment to their organizations, given the financial importance of employment and the fact that organizations are inherent social systems in which individuals spend a large amount of time and effort in their lives. This attachment serves as a fundamental basis of organizational identification in that individuals can value their organizational membership to such a degree that ...