Shared identity in organizational stress and change

Area of Science:

• Organizational Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Workplace Well-being

Background:

• The social identity approach is widely used to understand organizational phenomena, including employee stress, well-being, and responses to change.
• Existing research often examines individual employees' identification with work-related social categories.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight a discrepancy between the theoretical emphasis on shared identities in teams and organizations and the empirical focus on individual identification.
• To review the literature on the social identity approach concerning employee stress and organizational change.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of studies applying the social identity approach to workplace stress and organizational change.
• Analysis of the theoretical underpinnings versus empirical applications of social identity in organizational research.

Main Results:

• A gap exists between the theoretical concept of shared organizational and team identities and empirical research that predominantly investigates individual-level social identification.
• Current research on stress and change often overlooks the collective dimension of social identity.

Conclusions:

• Future research should bridge the gap by investigating shared identities within teams and organizations.
• A more nuanced understanding of social identity is needed to fully grasp its impact on workplace phenomena like stress and change.