Perceptions of organizational context and job attitudes: The mediating effect of organizational identification

Perceptions of organizational context and job attitudes:The mediating effect of organizational identification

Hang-yue Ngo & Raymond Loi & Sharon Foley &

Xiaoming Zheng & Lingqing Zhang

Published online: 28 March 2012# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

Abstract Informed by social exchange theory and social identity theory, we developeda conceptual model that examines the mediating role of organizational identification inthe relationship between employees’ perceptions of organizational context and their jobattitudes. In our model, the antecedents include perceived organizational support (POS),procedural justice, and perceived job insecurity. The outcome variables consist ofaffective organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intentions to leave. Ourrespondents were 591 workers employed in three different firms in China. The resultsof regression analyses showed that employees’ job attitudes are affected by theirperceptions of organizational context and organizational identification. Further, organi-zational identification was found tomediate the effects of POS on the outcome variables.

Keywords Organizational identification . Chinese employees . Perceivedorganizational support . Job attitudes . Job insecurity . Procedural justice

During the last two decades, there has been increasing research on employees’ organi-zational identification, particularly in the areas of human resource management andorganizational behavior (e.g., Albert, Ashforth, & Dutton, 2000; Edwards, 2009;Haslam, 2004). Mael and Ashforth (1992) defined organizational identification as“the perceived oneness with an organization and the experience of the organization’ssuccess and failure as one’s own.” In general, the more the employees identify withtheir working organization, the more they will be ready to devote their efforts to, andbe involved in, the organization (Baruch & Cohen, 2007). Organizational identifica-tion has been found to be associated with a broad array of individual-level outcomessuch as job satisfaction, job involvement, organizational commitment, workers’cooperation, turnover intentions, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB), andwork performance (Ashforth, Harrison, & Corley, 2008; Riketta, 2005; Van Dick,

Asia Pac J Manag (2013) 30:149–168DOI 10.1007/s10490-012-9289-5

H.-y. Ngo (*) : L. ZhangDepartment of Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Konge-mail: [email protected]

R. LoiFaculty of Business Administration, University of Macau, Macau, China

S. Foley :X. ZhengSchool of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

2004). Although our understanding of the nature and consequences of organizationalidentification has been enhanced, a few research gaps still exist.

First of all, most of the previous studies on organizational identification were conductedin a Western setting. Because of cultural differences, the results of these studies may not begeneralized to countries outside the West. For example, in Asian countries that are charac-terized by collectivism, employees would identify more with their organization than theirWestern counterparts (Foley, Ngo, & Loi, 2006). The influence of organizationalidentification on individuals’ work attitudes and behaviors are likely to be differentin these countries too. Given that insufficient research has been conducted in a non-Western context, we attempt to fill this void by conducting an empirical study in China,addressing a call from Ahlstrom (2012) for theory-based research that advances theunderstanding of management in the Asia-Pacific region.

Second, although several organization-level variables (e.g., positive organizationalattributes, organizational communication, and work-related support) have been identi-fied as antecedents of an employee’s organizational identification (Ashforth & Mael,1989; Chreim, 2002; Wiensenfeld, Raghuram, & Garud, 2001), little is known aboutthe impact of employees’ perceived job insecurity on organizational identification.When individuals perceive more job insecurity, they tend to re-assess their existingrelationship with the employer and adjust their work attitudes and behaviors accordingly(Wong, Ngo, & Lui, 2005). Nowadays, as more and more employees feel insecure aboutfuture employment due to organizational restructuring, downsizing, outsourcing, bank-ruptcy, mergers, and acquisitions (Sverke, Hellgren, & Näswall, 2002), it is important toinvestigate how the perception of job insecurity among employees affects their identificationwith the organization. Such an investigation will contribute to the literature on job insecurity.

Third, while most research has considered organizational identification either as apredictor or an outcome variable, this construct may also act as a mediator. To the bestof our knowledge, only a few studies (e.g., Olkkonen & Lipponen, 2006) haveexplored its possible mediating role. We argue that organizational identificationmay serve as a mechanism through which several salient contextual factors in theworkplace affect the job attitudes of employees.

To fill the above research gaps, we attempt to explore the relationships amongemployees’ perceptions of organizational context, organizational identification, andjob attitudes. Informed by social exchange theory and social identity theory, we developand test a conceptual model as summarized in Figure 1. In this model, we considerperceived organizational support (POS), procedural justice, and perceived job inse-curity as antecedents, while employees’ affective organizational commitment, jobsatisfaction, and intentions to leave are considered as outcomes. Organizationalidentification is viewed as a mediator that links the above variables together. Severalhypotheses are formulated and tested with a data set collected from 591 employeesworking in three different firms in China.

Literature review

How individuals perceive their work context is critical in shaping their job attitudes andbehaviors (Johns, 2006; Rosen, Chang, Johnson, & Levy, 2009). Among the variousaspects of work context, we highlight three organizational factors that are thought to

150 H.-y. Ngo et al.

affect the level of identification the employees have with their organization. Thesefactors pertain to what the employers offer for their employees, including job-relatedsupport, fairness at work, and job security. Arguably, employees’ evaluation of thesefactors determines their attitudinal and behavioral reactions towards their employingorganization. Below we review these factors respectively, and then discuss theirimpacts in light of social exchange theory and social identity theory.

The first factor, POS, refers to “employees’ global beliefs concerning the extent towhich the organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being”(Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison, & Sowa, 1986: 501). To employees, it signifiesthe organization’s readiness to reward their increased work efforts and provideassistance in order to carry out their job duties effectively (Loi, Ngo, & Foley,2006). There has been considerable evidence of the effects of POS on importantwork outcomes such as increased organizational commitment, job satisfaction, in-roleand extra-role performance, and reduced turnover intentions (Eisenberger, Fasolo, &Davis-LaMastro, 1990; Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002).

The second factor is procedural justice, which refers to the perceived fairness ofthe procedures by which outcomes are determined (Lind & Tyler, 1998). Foley, Ngo,and Wong (2005) pointed out that procedural justice constitutes both an importantdeterminant of work attitudes and a predictor of employee reactions, such as howindividuals evaluate their workplace experiences. Previous studies have consistentlyshown the substantial effects of procedural justice on job attitudes and work behav-iors (Cohen-Charash & Spector, 2001; Colquitt, Conlon, Wesson, Porter, & Ng,2001; DeWitt, Trevino, & Mollica, 1998).

The third factor is perceived job insecurity, which is generally defined as theperceived absence of stability and continuance of one’s employment with an organi-zation (Probst, 2003). Job insecurity is often viewed as a job stressor leading to someundesirable attitudinal reactions among employees (Ashford, Lee, & Bobko, 1989;Staufenbiel & König, 2010). In a meta-analysis, Sverke et al. (2002) demonstratedthat perceived job insecurity was negatively associated with organizational

Antecedents Mediator Outcomes

Perceived Organizational Support

Procedural Justice

Perceived Job Insecurity

Affective Organizational Commitment

Job Satisfaction

Intentions to Leave

Organizational Identification

Figure 1 Conceptual framework

Perceptions of organizational context and job attitudes 151

commitment, job satisfaction, trust in organization, and job involvement, and waspositively associated with turnover intentions.

The impacts of the above perceptual variables on employees’ job attitudes can beexplained by social exchange theory. This theory postulates that when a person does afavor for another, the recipient of the favor has the obligation to reciprocate, thoughthe details of when and in what form are not specified (Blau, 1964). In the organi-zational context, employees and their working organization are two exchange coun-terparts, with employees obligated to repay favorable benefits and/or valuabletreatment provided by the organization. For example, when employees receive jobresources and career opportunities from their organization, feelings of personalobligation are likely to develop among them, and they will respond favorably to theorganization in the form of positive work attitudes and behaviors (Shore &Wayne, 1993).On the other hand, a possible reciprocation of employees for being neglected and/orunfairly treated by the organization is to reduce their work efforts and commitment,lower their in-role and extra-role performance, and even quit their jobs. In a nutshell,a balance of contributions from the two exchange parties is critical for the continuoussocial exchange between them (Blau, 1964; Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005).

Social exchange theory has further suggested that resources exchanged with anotherparty can be collapsed into economic and socio-emotional forms (Cropanzano & Mitchell,2005). While economic resources (e.g., pay and bonus) tend to be tangible, socio-emotional resources address an individual’s social and esteem needs. When employeesperceive that their working organization has provided them socio-emotional resourcessuch as care and support, they feel that the organization values them and treats themwithdignity (Shore, Tetrick, Lynch, & Barksdale, 2006). As a consequence, they wouldengage in a long-term relationship with the organization, and psychologically devel-op their readiness to care about the organization (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002).

Another possible explanation for the linkage between employees’ perceptions oforganizational context and job attitudes is provided by social identity theory. Thetheory maintains that individuals tend to classify themselves and others into varioussocial groups, such as organizational membership, professional affiliation, gender,and ethnic group. Social identification refers to the perception of belongingness to agroup classification (Ashforth et al., 2008). Through it, an individual perceiveshimself or herself as psychologically intertwined with the fate of the group, as sharinga common destiny and experiencing its successes and failures (Ashforth & Mael,1989). Organizational identification is a type of social identification, where theindividuals define themselves in terms of their membership in a particular organiza-tion (Mael & Ashforth, 1992). By identifying with their organization, individuals’needs for belongingness, safety, and self-enhancing can be fulfilled (Pratt, 1998).

According to social identity theory, a favorable perception of the work environ-ment can enhance the identification of employees with their organization (Dutton,Dukerich, & Harquail, 1994). This view is compatible with social exchange theory,which posits that employees and their organization are engaged in exchange of socio-emotional resources. In particular, receipt of socio-emotional resources (e.g., care andsupport) from the organization may fulfill employees’ needs for belongingness,inclusion, safety, and recognition, which in turn generates their sense of membership


to the organization. With a higher level of organizational identification, the employ-ees are likely to express positive job attitudes. They would be more committed totheir organization, enjoy a higher level of job satisfaction, and have less intention toleave their current employer (Riketta, 2005; Van Dick, 2004). Following the abovereasoning, organizational identification would act as an important mechanism thatlinks employees’ perceptions of organizational context with their job attitudes.

We argue that social identity theory is particularly relevant in the Chinese worksetting. As pointed out by Wang, Bishop, Chen, and Scott (2002), people who are highin collectivism like the Chinese would have a more salient social identity defined bymembership in various social groups such as an organization. For that reason, Chineseworkers tend to identify strongly with their organization, and align their personalinterests with that of the organization. There is a strong tendency to emphasize relation-ship versus rules in work organizations in China (Bhagat, McDevitt, & McDevitt,(2010). To the best of our knowledge, however, no study has examined the ante-cedents and consequences of organizational identification in the Chinese workplace.

Hypotheses development

In our conceptual model, we include three attitudinal outcomes, namely, affectiveorganizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intentions to leave. These outcomeshave been studied extensively in previous OB and HRM research. Affective organiza-tional commitment refers to an individual’s emotional attachment to, identificationwith, and involvement in the organization (Meyer & Allen, 1997). It reflects thepsychological bond that ties the employees to the organization. Research suggests thatorganizational commitment in China is positively related to certain emotions such as guiltand determination (Li, Ahlstrom, & Ashkanasy, 2010). Job satisfaction has beendefined as an emotional state resulting from the evaluation or appraisal of one’s jobexperiences (Locke, 1976). This construct is generally recognized as a multi-facetedconstruct that includes employee feelings about a variety of both intrinsic and extrinsic jobelements (Howard& Frink, 1996). Intentions to leave refers to an employee’s objectiveof voluntarily leaving his or her organization. According to Tett and Meyer (1993),this construct can be viewed as the last stage in a sequence of withdrawal cognitions,ranging from thinking of leaving to intending to search for alternative employment. Itis the strongest predictor of actual turnover behavior (Rosin & Korabik, 1991).

As discussed earlier, POS reflects employees’ beliefs that their organization valuestheir continued membership, is committed to them, and is concerned about their well-being (Eisenberger et al., 1986). On the basis of the norm of reciprocity, employees withstrong perceptions of organizational support would feel obligated to repay the organiza-tion with favorable responses and behaviors (Cohen, 2007; Loi et al., 2006). Besides,POS can also strengthen employees’ performance-reward expectancies leading to theirpositive job attitudes and behaviors (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). Prior studies haveconsistently demonstrated that POS is associated with a variety of employee out-comes such as increased organizational commitment, job satisfaction, career satisfac-tion, OCB, and reduced turnover intentions (Armstrong-Stassen & Ursel, 2009;


Eisenberger, Cummings, Armeli, & Lynch, 1997; Eisenberger et al., 1990). Toreplicate these studies, we hypothesize that:

Hypothesis 1 POS is positively related to affective organizational commitment andjob satisfaction, and negatively related to intentions to leave.

In the workplace, social exchange can be initiated by how fairly the organizationtreats its employees. Specifically, procedural justice is considered as an importantorganizational resource in social exchange (Loi et al., 2006). It affects employees’judgment of the quality of exchange relationship with their organization (Masterson,Lewis, Goldman, & Taylor, 2000). Moreover, procedural justice that allowsemployees voice in decision-making procedures can be viewed as an aspect ofpositive treatment that signifies the organization’s concern and care for theiremployees (Fasolo, 1995). According to the group value model, procedural justicecommunicates to the employees that they are valued by the organization (Tyler,1989). Therefore, similar to the effect of POS, employees who perceive a higher levelof procedural justice in the workplace are likely to repay the organization with favorablework attitudes and behaviors. Substantial evidence has indicated a positive effect ofprocedural justice on organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intent to stay(Cohen-Charash & Spector, 2001; Colquitt et al., 2001; Kim & Mauborgne, 1998;Randall & Mueller, 1995). In line with previous research, we put forward thefollowing hypothesis:

Hypothesis 2 Procedural justice is positively related to affective organizationalcommitment and job satisfaction, and negatively related to intentions to leave.

In current literature, job insecurity has been conceptualized as a source of stressand anxiety (Greenhalgh & Rosenblatt, 1984) that brings about several negativeimpacts on employees’ well-being. According to psychological contract research,job insecurity represents a violation of the psychological contract that employeeshave with their employers (Rousseau, 1995; Shore & Tetrick, 1994). When employ-ees perceive that their organization has failed to meet its reciprocal exchange obli-gations (i.e., satisfactory performance in exchange for fair reward and continuousemployment), they are likely to display negative job attitudes and behaviors (Wong,Ngo, & Wong, 2003). In previous studies, perceived job insecurity has been found tobe negatively associated with job performance, organizational commitment, trust inorganization, and job satisfaction, and positively associated with somatic complaintsand intentions to quit (Ashford et al., 1989; Reisel, Chia, Maloles, & Slocum, 2007).Consistent with these findings, we propose the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 3 Perceived job insecurity is negatively related to affective organization-al commitment and job satisfaction, and positively related to intentions to leave.

Sluss and Ashforth (2008: 811) suggested that “organizational identification ismore than just considering oneself a member of an organization; it is the extent towhich one includes the organization in his or her self-concept.” Vora and Kostova(2007) viewed organizational identification as a cognitive state of psychological


attachment whereby individuals define themselves in terms of the organization andpersonalize its successes and failures. The more individuals identify themselves withthe organization, the more the organization’s interests are incorporated in their self-concept, and the more they think and act from an organization’s perspective (Ashforth& Mael, 1989; Dutton et al., 1994). Hence, they would develop a strong feeling ofbelonging, engage in behaviors that are expected by the organization, and are willingto devote more effort to the organization (Baruch & Cohen, 2007). In the literature,organizational identification has been found to be associated with some desirableemployees’ outcomes, such as organizational commitment, job satisfaction, intentionto stay, and OCB (Olkkonen & Lipponen, 2006; Riketta, 2005; Sluss & Ashforth,2008; Van Dick, 2004). Therefore, we hypothesize that:

Hypothesis 4 Organizational identification is positively related to affective organiza-tional commitment and job satisfaction, and negatively related to intentions to leave.

As shown in our conceptual model, we argue that organizational identification acts as amediator that links employees’ perceptions of organizational context to their job attitudes.Specifically, when individuals perceive their work context in a positive manner, they woulddevelop a stronger identificationwith their organization, which in turn results in positive jobattitudes. Below we discuss these mediating effects with some theoretical justifications.

The linkage between POS and organizational identification can be established on severalgrounds. First of all, POS represents a supportive work environment through whichemployees perceive themselves as organizational insiders (Erdogan, Kraimer, & Liden,2004; Stamper & Masterson, 2002). When the organization is perceived as beingsupportive to employees, according to social exchange theory, a higher level oforganizational identification will follow (Edwards, 2009). Second, as suggested byRousseau (1998), an important way for firms to foster employees’ organizationalidentification is to demonstrate care and support for them. When employees feel thattheir organization values and appreciates them, it acts as a sign of organizationalrespect for them and of their high status within the organization. High status will thenenhance their identification with the organization (Tyler, 1999). Third, Eisenberger etal. (1986, 1990) contended that high POS would meet employees’ socio-emotionalneeds for approval, affiliation, and esteem, and hence promotes employees’ incorpo-ration of organizational membership into their self-identity. In a similar vein, Foley etal., (2006) pointed out that POS can fulfill employees’ needs for social identity andaffiliation, and thus enhance their feelings of being important members in theorganization. This is particularly the case for employees in a collectivistic culture (suchas the Chinese), who are emotionally dependent on the organization and expect theirorganization to take care of their own interests (Loi & Ngo, 2010). Based on the abovearguments, we expect POS to be positively associated with organizational identification.With a high level of organizational identification, employees are likely to be committedmore to their organization, more satisfied with their current jobs, and have lowerintentions to leave their organization. We thus put forward the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 5 Organizational identification mediates the relationship between POSand employees’ job attitudes including affective organizational commitment, jobsatisfaction, and intentions to leave.


Procedural justice can be seen as one aspect of positive and discretionarytreatment by the organization (Loi et al., 2006), and thus it should have a similareffect as POS in fostering the development of organizational identification amongemployees. Moreover, based on the group engagement model, Olkkonen and Lippo-nen (2006) argued that justice perceptions affect organizational identification owingto the positive social-identity-relevant information that organizational justice com-municates to employees. Specifically, they pointed out that “justice communicates toindividuals that they are respected members within their group, and that they can beproud of their group membership” (Olkkonen & Lipponen, 2006: 204). Through itslink to these feelings of respect and pride, a higher level of procedural justice in theorganization is expected to increase employees’ identification with their organization.In the literature, there has been some evidence of a positive relationship betweenperceived procedural justice and organizational identification (Lipponen, Olkkonen,& Moilanen, 2004; Tyler & Balder, 2000; Tyler, Degoey, & Smith, 1996). Taking theabove arguments together, it is plausible that the perception of procedural justiceenhances employees’ organizational identification, which in turn, brings about pos-itive attitudes towards their organization, such as increased commitment, increasedjob satisfaction, and reduced intention to quit. The following hypothesis is thenproposed:

Hypothesis 6 Organizational identification mediates the relationship between proce-dural justice and employees’ job attitudes including affective organizational commit-ment, job satisfaction, and intentions to leave.

According to psychological contract theory, job insecurity represents abreach of psychological contract that employees have with their employers,that is, an effective violation of the quid pro quo of work in exchange for pay andcontinued employment (Cuyper &Witte, 2006; Rousseau, 1995). Under such circum-stances, the employees may express negative feelings, and reduce their trust andpsychological attachment to their employing organization (Wong et al., 2003; Wonget al., 2005). As argued by Restubog, Hornsey, Bordia, and Esposo (2008), theunfavorable treatment received by the employees, such as a loss of job security, willcommunicate negative identity-relevant information about their status and prospectsin the organization, which subsequently results in lower organizational identification.Moreover, the reduction in job security is likely to jeopardize the reputation of theorganization as a responsible employer, which hinders employees’ identification with it.It follows that perceived job insecurity would be negatively associated with organiza-tional identification. Based on the logic discussed above, we expect perceived jobinsecurity undermines the identification that employees have with their organization,and subsequently employees lower their organizational commitment and job satisfac-tion, and increase their intentions to leave. Therefore, we propose the followinghypothesis:

Hypothesis 7 Organizational identification mediates the relationship between per-ceived job insecurity and employees’ job attitudes including affective organizationalcommitment, job satisfaction, and intentions to leave.


Methods

Sample

The data for this study were collected from employees of three large compa-nies in China in 2008. These companies are in different industries, includingenergy, telecommunication, and manufacturing of multimedia electronics. Withthe permission of the senior management, we selected 220 employees from a localunit of each company as our target respondents. The staff in the human resourcedepartment in these companies helped us to distribute a self-administered questionnaireto the selected employees, the majority of whom are technical, marketing, and admin-istrative staff. On the cover page of the questionnaire, we explained the purpose of thestudy and assured confidentiality of responses. We further protected the respondents’anonymity by asking them to return the completed questionnaire directly to us in asealed envelope. A total of 591 questionnaires were finally returned, yielding a responserate of 89.5%.

Of the respondents, 56.1% were male and 43.9% were female. The modal agecategory was 31–40 years; 85.3% of them were in the age range of 21–40. Theiraverage organizational tenure was 8.98 years. In regards to educational attainment,55.5% of them had a university degree. The distribution of the respondents among thethree companies were 192 (32.5%), 203 (34.3%), and 196 (33.2%), respectively.

Measures

The questionnaires were developed using well-established scales from Westernresearchers, and were then translated and administered in Chinese. Back translationwas conducted where the original English version was translated into Chinese andthen translated back into English to ensure proper translation. Respondents used six-point Likert-type scales (10 “strongly disagree,” 60 “strongly agree”) to respond tothe items in the following measures, except for the control variables.

Perceived organizational support This variable was measured with a short versionconsisting of five items selected from the original scale of Eisenberger et al. (1986). Asample item is “Help is available from my organization when I have a problem.” Inthis study, the coefficient alpha for this scale was .92.

Procedural justice A seven-item scale, adopted from Moorman (1991), was used tomeasure procedural justice. A sample item is “In my organization, procedures aredesigned to hear the concerns of all those affected by the personnel decision.” Thisscale had a coefficient alpha of .95 in this study.

Perceived job insecurity Five items were selected from Kraimer, Wayne, Liden, andSparrowe’s (2005) and Oldham, Julik, Ambrose, Stepine, and Brand’s (1986) scalesto measure perceived job insecurity. A sample item is “I am confident that I will beable to work for my organization as long as I wish” (reverse coded). The scale’scoefficient alpha was .84 in this study.


Organizational identification Organizational identification was assessed with Maeland Ashforth’s (1992) six-item scale. An example of an item is “I view the organ-ization’s successes as my successes.” This scale had a coefficient alpha of .78.

Affective organizational commitment We measured this variable with a shorter versionconsisting of four items selected from the original affective organizational commitmentscale of Allen and Meyer (1990). A sample item is “This organization has a great dealof personal meaning for me.” The coefficient alpha of this scale was .79.

Job satisfaction We used the three-item scale developed by Price and Mueller (1981)to measure this variable. A sample item is “I find real enjoyment in my job.”Coefficient alpha for this scale was .86.

Intentions to leave This variable was measured with a four-item scale developed byRosin and Korabik (1991). A sample item is “I have thought about leaving thisorganization.” The scale’s alpha coefficient was .88.

Control variables Several demographic and organizational factors were included inthe statistical analysis as control variables as they may affect employee outcomes.Gender is a dummy variable coded 1 if the respondent is female and coded 0 if therespondent is male. Organizational tenure was measured by the number of years therespondent has been employed in his or her firm. Lastly, since the respondents fromdifferent firms may differ in their perceptions of work context and job attitudes, weinclude two dummy variables, firm A (i.e., energy firm) and firm B (i.e., telecommu-nication firm), to capture the possible effect of such differences.

As all the information was provided by the same respondents, it is possible thatour study might suffer from the problem of common method variance. To deal withthis problem, we conducted a Harman’s single-factor test to all the measures. Sevenfactors are identified that explain 70.43% of the total variance, and the first factoraccounts for 38.22%. In other words, no single factor dominates among themeasures. The items load exactly on their respective scales. In view of theseresults, we believe that common method variance should not pose a seriousproblem in our study.

Analytical strategy

We started with descriptive statistical analysis, followed by multiple regressionanalysis to test the hypotheses. Separate analyses were conducted for affectiveorganizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intentions to leave, the three depen-dent variables in this study. To test the mediation hypotheses (i.e., Hypotheses 5–7),we follow the procedures suggested by Baron and Kenny (1986). Specifically, fourconditions must be fulfilled in order to evidence a mediating effect. First, theindependent variable must predict the dependent variable. Second, the independentvariable must affect the mediator. Third, the mediator must affect the dependentvariable. Finally, the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variablemust be reduced or eliminated after the effect of the mediator has been taken intoaccount.


Results

Table 1 displays the means, standard deviations, and the zero-order correlations amongthe study variables. The respondents reported a relatively high level of organizationalidentification (x ¼ 4:80; s.d. 0 .92), reflecting its importance in the Chinese worksetting. As expected, this variable is positively correlated with POS (r 0 .55, p < .01)and procedural justice (r 0 .43, p < .01), and negatively correlated withperceived job insecurity (r 0 −.42, p < .01). Its correlations with affective organiza-tional commitment, job satisfaction, and intentions to leave are also significant and inthe predicted direction (r 0 .55, .44, and −.38, respectively).

Employees in different firms may differ in their perceptions of organizational contextand job attitudes. We conducted a series of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) toexamine such differences. The results are shown in Table 2. Specifically, respondentsfrom different firms reported different levels of POS (F 0 7.21, p < .01), perceived jobinsecurity (F 0 20.38, p < .01), organizational identification (F 0 19.06, p < .01),affective organizational commitment (F 0 7.96, p < .01), job satisfaction (F 0 14.05, p< .01), and intentions to leave (F 0 11.17, p < .01). However, they are not different intheir perceptions of procedural justice (F 0 1.51, n.s.).

Table 3 reports the results of regression analyses. We first evaluated the effects ofthe control variables, followed by those of POS, procedural justice, and perceived jobinsecurity, on the outcome variables. In Model 2, POS was found to exert a positiveeffect on affective organizational commitment (β 0 .27, p < .001). This variable alsohad a positive effect on job satisfaction (β 0 .22; p < .001) in Model 5, and a negativeeffect on intentions to leave (β 0 −.19; p < .001) in Model 8. In view of thesefindings, Hypothesis 1 was supported.

The results for procedural justice were similar to those for POS. Thispredictor had a positive effect on affective organizational commitment (β 0.14; p < .01) and job satisfaction (β 0 .17; p < .001), and a negative effect onintentions to leave (β 0 −.19; p < .001), as shown in Models 2, 5, and 8, respectively.Hypothesis 2 was thus supported.

Turning to perceived job insecurity, we found that this predictor had a significantnegative effect on both affective organizational commitment (β 0 −.33; p < .001) inModel 2, and job satisfaction (β 0 −.27; p < .001) in Model 5. However, as shownin Model 5, its effect on intentions to leave was non-significant (β 0 .01; n.s.). Giventhese findings, Hypothesis 3 was partially supported.

Hypothesis 4 stated that organizational identification is positively related toaffective organizational commitment and job satisfaction, and is negativelyrelated to intentions to leave. In support of this hypothesis, we found thatorganizational identification had a positive effect on affective organizationalcommitment (β 0 .28; p < .001) and job satisfaction (β 0 .15; p < .001), and anegative effect on intentions to leave (β 0 −.24; p < .001), as shown in Models 3, 6,and 9, respectively. To test for the mediating effect of organizational identification,we need to show the significant effects of POS, procedural justice, and perceived jobinsecurity on this variable, and thereby fulfill the second condition of mediation.Model 11 reports the results of this part of the analysis. It was found that POS(β 0 .42, p < .001) and perceived job insecurity (β 0 −.18, p < .001) were significantpredictors of organizational identification, but not procedural justice (β 0 .06, n.s.). In


Tab

le1

Descriptiv

estatisticsandcorrelations

amongstudyvariables.

Variables

xs.d.

12

34

56

78

910

1.Gender(fem

ale01)

.44

.50

2.Organizationaltenu

re8.98

7.00

−.13

*

3.Firm

A.32

.47

−.00

−.03

4.Firm

B.34

.48

.01

.49*

−.50

*

5.POS

3.65

1.21

−.06

−.03

.11*

−.15

*

6.Procedu

raljustice

3.67

1.22

−.04

−.01

.07

−.04

.72*

7.Perceived

jobinsecurity

2.07

1.23

.04

.05

−.19

*.24*

−.41

*−.35

*

8.Organizationalidentification

4.80

.92

.01

−.05

.15*

−.25

*.55*

.43*

−.42

*

9.Affectiv

eorganizatio

nalcommitm

ent

4.38

1.05

−.02

.05

.13*

−.15

*.51*

.45*

−.52

*.55*

1.Jobsatisfaction

4.42

1.15

−.12

*.01

.14*

−.21

*.49*

.44*

−.47

*.44*

−.61

*

11.Intentions

toleave

2.04

1.18

−.05

.02

−.12

*.19*

−.35

*−.31

*.19*

−.38

*−.39

*−.39

*

*p<.01.

Nrang

esfrom

548to

591.


other words, the second condition of mediation is fulfilled for POS and perceived jobinsecurity only.

It is worth noting that the first condition of mediation has been fulfilled, asHypotheses 1–3 were all supported in the hypothesis testing above. The thirdcondition of mediation has also been fulfilled, as Hypothesis 4 was confirmedabove. Now we turn to the last condition of mediation, which can be evaluatedby comparing the coefficients of independent variables in different regressionmodels. We start with Hypothesis 5 which states that organizational identificationmediates the effect of POS on the outcome variables. After organizationalidentification was entered into Models 3, 6, and 9, the original coefficient forPOS reduced substantially. It changed from .27 (p < .001) to .16 (p < .01) foraffective organizational commitment, from .22 (p < .001) to .16 (p < .01) for jobsatisfaction, and from −.19 (p < .001) to −.09 (n.s.) for intentions to leave, respec-tively. These findings indicated the mediating effect of organizational identification inthe relationships between POS and various outcomes. In other words, Hypothesis 5gained empirical support.

Hypothesis 6 proposes that organizational identification mediates the relationshipbetween procedural justice and employees’ job attitudes. However, the secondcondition of mediation (i.e., procedural justice predicts organizational identification)was not met, as revealed in Model 11. Besides, the coefficient for procedural justiceand its level of significance did not changed much across models. The inclusion oforganizational identification in Models 3, 6, and 9 also failed to reduce the originalsignificant effects of procedural justice on the outcome variables. Thus, Hypothesis 6was not supported by the data.

Lastly, we evaluated the mediating effect of organizational identification inthe relationships between perceived job insecurity and various job attitudes.

Table 2 Results of ANOVA.

Variables Firm A Firm B Firm C F ratio

POS 3.85 3.40 3.72 7.21*

(1.23) (1.26) (1.11)

Procedural justice 3.79 3.60 3.62 1.51

(1.23) (1.28) (1.13)

Perceived job insecurity 1.73 2.48 1.98 20.38*

(1.18) (1.30) (1.09)

Organizational identification 5.00 4.49 4.93 19.06*

(0.80) (1.08) (0.76)

Affective organizational commitment 4.58 4.16 4.42 7.96*

(1.04) (1.14) (0.91)

Job satisfaction 4.66 4.09 4.54 14.05*

(1.21) (1.22) (0.92)

Intentions to leave 1.84 2.35 1.91 11.17*

(1.12) (1.32) (1.02)

* p<.001. Numbers are mean values with standard deviations in parentheses.


Tab

le3

Resultsof

regression

analyses.

Variables

Affectiv

eorganizatio

nalcommitm

ent

Jobsatisfaction

Intentions

toleave

Organizationalidentification

Mod

el1

Model

2Mod

el3

Model

4Model

5Mod

el6

Model

7Model

8Model

9Mod

el10

Model

11

Gender(fem

ale01)

.01

.04

.02

−.10

*−.08

*−.09

**−.08

*−.10

*−.09

*.02

.05

Organizationaltenure

.15**

.12*

*.10**

.12*

.11*

.10*

−.10

*−.11*

−.09

.08

.06

Firm

A.04

−.01

−.00

.03

−.02

−.01

−.02

.01

.00

.01

−.02

Firm

B−.19

*−.09

−.04

−.25

***

−.17

***

−.15

**.23*

*.21***

.17***

−.25

***

−.16

**

POS

.27*

**.16**

.22***

.16**

−.19

***

−.09

.42***

Procedu

raljustice

.14*

*.13**

.17***

.16***

−.19

***

−.17

**.06

Perceived

jobinsecurity

−.33

***

−.28

***

−.27

***

−.25

***

.01

.05

−.18

***

Organizationalidentification

–.28***

–.15***

–−.24

***

–

AdjustedR2

.03

.37

.42

.06

.34

.35

.04

.16

.19

.05

.34

Fstatistic

5.25**

*46

.86*

**50

.54*

**10

.03*

**40

.31*

**37

.41*

*6.86

***

15.27*

**16

.98*

**7.70**

*41

.81*

**

N54

754

754

754

654

654

654

754

754

755

355

3

*p<.05;

**p<.01;

***p<.001.Standardizedcoefficientsarereported.


When organizational identification was entered into the regression models, theoriginal effect of perceived job insecurity on them became weaker. Specifically,its coefficient reduced slightly from −.33 (p < .001) to −.28 (p < .001) for affectiveorganizational commitment, and from −.27 (p < .001) to −.25 (p < .001) for jobsatisfaction. Additionally, its coefficient remains insignificant for intentions to leave inModels 8 and 9. In view of the above results, Hypothesis 7 was not supported.

Discussion and conclusions

A substantial body of research has examined the role played by organizationalidentification in affecting employees’ work attitudes and behaviors (Ashforth et al.,2008; Van Dick, 2004). The present study adds to this stream of research byinvestigating the relationships among individuals’ perceptions of organizationalcontext, organizational identification, and job attitudes. We hypothesized that orga-nizational identification not only has a direct effect on affective organizationalcommitment, job satisfaction, and intentions to leave, it also mediates the effects ofPOS, procedural justice, and perceived job insecurity on these attitudinal outcomes.By analyzing a data set collected from 591 employees working in three differentorganizations in China, some new findings were obtained.

First of all, our respondents reported a relatively high level of organizational identifi-cation. As influenced by the cultural value of collectivism and the communist tradition,the Chinese employees are used to identifying strongly with their work organizations(Wong et al., 2003). Consistent with our expectation, we found that organizationalidentification is positively associated with affective organizational commitment andjob satisfaction, and negatively associated with intentions to leave. Turning to itsantecedents, we found that POS enhances organizational identification, while perceivedjob insecurity reduces it. These findings support our prediction that organizationalidentification is influenced by employees’ perceptions of organizational context. Whenemployees perceive their organization in a positive manner, their identification with theorganization becomes stronger. Perhaps the most important finding of our study was thatorganizational identification mediates the effect of POS on employees’ job attitudes.Taking the above results together, organizational identification proves to be an importantconstruct in understanding the organizational life of Chinese workers.

Nevertheless, in this study we found that procedural justice is not related toorganizational identification. One possible explanation is that procedural justice failsto communicate positive social-identity-relevant information to our respondents. Incontrast to the argument of the group engagement model (Olkkonen & Lipponen,2006), the perception of procedural justice in the organization does not arouseChinese employees’ feelings of respect, pride, and belongingness, which then leadsto their identification with the organization. We suspect that cultural values, commu-nist ideology, and the bureaucratic structure of the Chinese enterprises may havesome impacts on the development of employees’ organizational identification. Giventhe paucity of information, more research is required to investigate this issue.

In terms of contributions, our study is the first one to investigate the antecedentsand outcomes of organizational identification in the Chinese setting. The results canbe compared with those obtained in other countries, thus adding to the cross-cultural


literature on organizational behavior. Future research may explore how culturalvalues affect individuals’ identification with their organizations in different countries(Foley et al., 2006). Besides, our study evaluated the impacts of perceived organiza-tional context on some important attitudinal outcomes, in particular, the role playedby perceived job insecurity. The empirical evidence in our study supports thesignificant effect of job insecurity on organizational identification, affective organi-zational commitment, and job satisfaction. Similar to other countries, job insecurityhas been a main concern in China during the globalization era (Lee, Bobko, & Chen,2006; Wong et al., 2005). In the future, more studies should focus on job insecurity asa perceptual phenomenon to which Chinese employees respond. Last but not least,our study indicated that organizational identification acts as a mediating variablethrough which POS influences employees’ job attitudes. In other words, we haveunraveled an important mechanism behind this relationship, and thus make a signif-icant contribution to the literature.

Practical implications

There are also some practical implications of the present study. Given the linkagebetween organizational identification and important work attitudes, managers shouldpay attention to employees’ level of identification with their organization. This isparticularly important for employees in collectivistic cultures. To enhance employees’organizational identification, managers should ensure that sufficient work-related sup-port and job security has been provided for them. Besides, human resource policies andpractices (e.g., training, communication, and employee involvement programs) that cangenerate employees’ organizational identification should be adopted. Given that orga-nizational identification is strongly influenced by how individuals perceive their workcontext, it is also critical for managers to monitor and ensure that the employees developand maintain positive perceptions of the organization.

Limitations

Several limitations of the present study should be acknowledged. First, our data werecollected at one point in time. The cross-sectional design means that causality of thevariables is difficult to determine. Although we argue that organizational context shapesemployees’ organizational identification, it is also possible that employees who stronglyidentify with their organization perceive their work context more positively. Second,since all variables in this study were self-reported by the respondents, the possibility ofinflated relationships among these perceptual measures due to commonmethod variancecannot be totally ruled out. We have tried to deal with this issue by performing theHarman’s one-factor test, and the results indicated that commonmethod variance is not aserious threat. Third, we include only a few job attitudes as the dependent variables inour conceptual model, but not work performance and other work-related behaviors suchas OCB. Apart from POS, organizational justice, and job insecurity on which wefocused, some other organization-level variables such as employment practices andcorporate culture are likely to impact employees’ identification with their organization,yet they are not included in our conceptual model. Future studies should extend ourmodel by including more predictors and outcomes of organizational identification.


To recap, our study examined the antecedents and consequences of organizationalidentification in the Chinese setting. It highlighted the role of organizational identi-fication in mediating the relationship between employees’ perceptions of organiza-tional context and their work attitudes. Some new findings have been obtained andadvanced our understanding of the impacts of POS, procedural justice, and perceivedjob insecurity on organizational identification and job attitudes among Chineseemployees. It is desirable to have more cross-cultural studies in the future in orderto assess the generalizability of our findings and to extend our model.

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Hang-yue Ngo (PhD, University of Chicago) is a professor in the Department of Management, TheChinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests include gender and employment, human resourcemanagement, and organizational behavior. He has published over 60 research articles in academic journalssuch as Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management,Journal of Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management, and Human Relations.

Raymond Loi (PhD, The Chinese University of Hong Kong) is an associate professor of management atthe University of Macau. His research interests include international human resource management,organizational justice, career studies, and social exchange relationships. He has published in academicjournals such as Academy of Management Journal, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Journal ofApplied Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Journal of Occupational and OrganizationalPsychology.

Sharon Foley (PhD, University of Connecticut) is an associate professor of human resources andorganizational behavior in the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University. Her mainresearch interests include gender and diversity in the workplace, and human resource management inChina. She has published in academic journals such as Human Resource Management, Asia Pacific Journalof Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and Journal of Occupational and OrganizationalPsychology.

Xiaoming Zheng (PhD, Chinese Academy of Sciences) is an associate professor of human resources andorganizational behavior in the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University. His mainresearch interests include HR competence model, employee’s subjective well-being, and strategic humanresource management in China. He has published in academic journals such as International Journal ofPsychology, Frontiers of Business Research in China, and Acta Psychological Sinica.

Lingqing Zhang is a PhD student in the Department of Management at The Chinese University of HongKong. Her research interests include career studies, gender and employment, and strategic management.She has published in academic journals such as International Journal of Human Resource Management andJournal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology.


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Perceptions of organizational context and job attitudes: The mediating effect of organizational identification