‘National’ identity, perceived fairness and organizational commitment in a Hong Kong context: a test of mediation effects

Abstract

This paper builds on research exploring antecedents of organizational commitment in non-Western contexts. Using identity theory as a foundation, we develop a model which posits that the relationship between the strength of one's ‘national’ identity and affective and normative commitment is mediated by justice perceptions. Using a sample of indigenous Hong Kong employees, we found that perceptions of distributive, procedural and interactional justice mediated the relationship between the strength of one's Hong Kong ‘national’ identity and normative commitment; while perceptions of distributive and interactional justice mediated the relationship between the strength of one's Hong Kong ‘national’ identity and affective commitment.

Keywords:

• Hong Kong
• identity theory
• national identity
• organizational commitment
• organizational justice
• structural equation modeling

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Steve Jaros for his helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.