In response to the growing interest in issues related to attachment in organizations, this paper develops a theory of identification in the workplace based on three key aspects of Structurational theory. In this model, the identification process is treated as a duality involving identities that create and are created by identifications, which are themselves observed in social interactions with others. The structural component of this model is composed of several possible identities conceptualized primarily in terms of regions varying in size or position and tenure, possessing front and back regions, and displaying both unique and overlapping regions with one another. The existence of multiple identities implicates multiple corresponding “targets” of attachment and expressions of connection. Activity and activity foci are included in the model to help define the situation and thus account for identification with one target as opposed to or along with others at various times. In this situation-sensitive view, activity is presumed to “link” to a certain identity region (or set of overlapping regions) more so than to others. The essay closes by discussing some of the advantages of a Structurational view of identification.

Development of a Structurational Model of Identification in the Organization

Marie Jahoda's latent deprivation model was tested with a representative sample of the German population (N = 998). As expected, employees reported high levels of time structure, social contact, collective purpose, and activity not only in comparison to unemployed persons but also in comparison to persons who are out of the labor force (i.e., students, homemakers, retirees). Even unskilled manual workers reported more access to these “latent functions” than persons without employment. For the fifth of Jahoda's dimensions, identity/status, no significant differences between employed persons and persons who are out of the labor force could be identified. However, unemployed persons reported less status than all other groups did. Thus, Jahoda's model was clearly endorsed for four of the five latent functions of employment and partly endorsed for the fifth function. All variables in the model correlated significantly with distress, as expected. Demographic correlates of the manifest and latent functions were also analyzed: Access to the latent functions was best among young men from higher social classes who lived in an intimate relationship in a comparatively large household with children. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The need for work: Jahoda's latent functions of employment in a representative sample of the German population

The present paper is concerned with the effects of incongruence between a person's level of employment commitment (measured with scales of work involvement, Protestant work ethic or similar concepts) and his or her current employment situation (employed or not employed). We hypothesize that this kind of incongruence (a) is a typical characteristic of the unemployment situation and (b) is systematically associated with diminished well-being and mental health. Meta-analyses of empirical data endorse both hypotheses. (a) Employed people show only marginally stronger levels of employment commitment than unemployed people (d = 0.11, equivalent to r = .05). Both groups are characterized by high mean levels of employment commitment. Therefore, unemployed people are in an incongruent situation, while employed people are not. (b) Incongruent levels of employment commitment, that is, high levels among the unemployed and low levels among the employed, are significantly associated with psychological distress (mixed symptoms of distress: r = .19; depression: r = .19; anxiety: r = .14; subjective well-being/life satisfaction: r = .13; self-esteem: r = .08). In sum, available cross-sectional data clearly endorse the incongruence model. Meta-analyses of longitudinal data, although based on small sample sizes, are also consistent with the model.

Incongruence as an explanation for the negative mental health effects of unemployment: Meta-analytic evidence.

This paper examines the well-being and career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE) of adolescents before and after leaving school, and tests for the changes in these variables as a result of leaving school. While at high school, 309 students were assessed on levels of school achievement, well-being (psychological distress, self-esteem, life satisfaction) and CDMSE. Nine months after leaving school, 168 of these students completed the above surveys and measures of their access to the latent (e.g. social contact, time structure) and manifest (i.e. financial) benefits of employment, and work commitment. At T2, 21% were full-time students, 35% were full-time students who were also working part-time, 22% were employed in full-time jobs, and 21% were in the labour market but not employed full-time. These groupings were differentiated at T2 on aspects of well-being, self-efficacy, and access to the latent and manifest benefits of work, and at T1 on aspects of well-being and confidence. Leaving school improved well-being and confidence for some. One group was disadvantaged by having poorer well-being while at school, which predisposed them to disadvantage in the labour market. Results are discussed in relation to models of well-being and drift/social causation.

Leaving High School: The Influence and Consequences for Psychological Well-Being and Career-Related Confidence

Leaving high school: the influence and consequences for psychological well-being and career-related confidence

This paper addresses the question of whether employment commitment is a stable, dispositional aspect of work attitudes or a situationally based construct. The concept was measured at two points in time, two years apart, on two large cohorts within the 15–19 age span. The situational factors were career trajectory and labour market locality. Career trajectory was grouped into five categories, according to routes between education, training and employment. Four labour market localities were studied, with varying unemployment rates and job opportunities. The hypothesis that employment commitment is stable over time was not supported, there being a significant fall over the two-year period, despite a retest correlation of .41. Furthermore, the change was similar across the situational, gender and cohort groups. There were, in addition, significant effects of career trajectory and locality. Results are discussed in the context of the dispositional versus situational debate, and in relation to the origins of work attitudes.

Patricia Henry

Papers

Change and stability in employment commitment