Does ethical membership matter? Moral identification and its organizational implications

Area of Science:

• Business Ethics
• Organizational Behavior
• Social Psychology

Background:

• The study bridges the gap between organizational identification and business ethics literature.
• It introduces the novel concept of moral identification, defined as a sense of belongingness to an ethical organization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and validate the construct of moral identification.
• To examine its role in employee attraction, motivation, and retention.
• To integrate social identity theory and moral self theory.

Main Methods:

• Three empirical studies were conducted to test the theoretical model.
• Study 1: Examined attraction of job seekers to socially responsible organizations.
• Study 2: Assessed the link between moral identification and unethical proorganizational behavior.
• Study 3: Investigated the relationship between moral identification and turnover intentions, moderated by legal compliance.

Main Results:

• Moral identification positively influences job seeker attraction to ethical organizations.
• Higher moral identification is linked to reduced unethical proorganizational behavior.
• Moral identification decreases employee turnover intentions, particularly when organizational legal compliance is high.

Conclusions:

• Moral identification is a significant predictor of employee attraction, behavior, and retention.
• The findings offer valuable insights for organizations seeking to foster ethical conduct and reduce turnover.
• The research highlights the importance of ethical traits in organizational belongingness and employee commitment.