Organizational identification, work engagement, and job satisfaction

Purpose: Organizational identification refers to a person’s sense of belonging within the organization in which they work. Despite the importance of organizational identification for work-related attitudes and organizational behavior, little research has directly examined the mechanisms that may link these. The purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of how organizational identification relates to job satisfaction.

Design, methodology and approach: Adopting a social identity perspective, the authors present and test two models that describe work engagement and its constituent dimensions (vigor, dedication, absorption) as mediating the relationship between organizational identification and job satisfaction.

Findings: Bootstrapped mediation analyses provided support for full mediation whereby there is an indirect (via work engagement) and positive effect of organizational identification on job satisfaction. Analyses also provided support for the mediating effects of the three dimensions of work engagement, vigor, dedication, and absorption, in this relationship.

Practical implications: Although cross-sectional, this study provides a needed first step toward an understanding of the important role of organizational identification for job satisfaction and the mediating role of work engagement in this relationship.

Originality and value: The results provide valuable insights into the effects of organizational identification and address some of the gaps in understanding social identity as the context for work behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications for strengthening employee engagement and enhancing organizational identification are discussed.