Organizational Identification: A Mixed Methods Study Exploring Students’ Relationship with Their University

Abstract

Organizational identification (OID) is the outcome of social construction processes in which individuals define themselves in terms of their organizational membership. Students’ identification with their university reflects value congruence with the institution and is reflected in communication. Drawing on social identity theory (SIT) and utilizing quantitative and qualitative data from students (n = 555), we found relationships between OID and construed external image of the university, trust in the university, satisfaction with the university, perceived interorganizational competition, and outcomes, including intended future involvement. Students were re-surveyed nine months later (n = 397, with 83 respondents matching Time 1 and Time 2) to assess their OID stability. Open-ended responses describe situations and events that strengthen/lessen OID. We offer implications for OID, SIT, and for organizational communication research and practice.

Keywords:

• Construed External Image
• Organizational Identification
• Social Identity Theory
• Students' Identification with Their University

Notes

[1] To determine whether the full T2 data set was similar to the 83 respondents for which T1 and T2 data were matched, we compared the means of the full T2 data with the data for the 83 selected respondents on OID full T2 data set (M = 4.85, SD = 1.18) and 83 T1 and T2 respondents (M = 4.81, SD = 1.27), t(83) = 0.24, p = 0.81, construed external image full T2 data set (M = 5.04, SD = 1.03) and 83 T1 and T2 respondents (M = 5.04, SD = 0.92), t(83) = -0.04, p = 0.97, trustworthiness full T2 data set (M = 4.18, SD = 1.30) and 83 T1 and T2 respondents (M = 4.11, SD = 1.17), t(83) = 0.28, p = 0.78, and satisfaction with the university full T2 data set (M = 5.28, SD = 1.00) and 83 T1 and T2 respondents (M = 5.34, SD = 1.02), t(83) = -0.04, p = 0.97). We found no significant differences.