Psychological attachment to the group: Cross-cultural differences in organizational identification and subjective norms as predictors of workers' turnover intentions

Two studies wed the theory of reasoned action, social identity theory, and Ashforth and Mael's work on organizational identification to predict turnover intentions in Japanese and British commercial and academic organizations. In both studies and in both countries, the authors expected and found that identification with the organization substantially and significantly predicted turnover intentions. Attitudes predicted intentions only in Study 2, and subjective norms significantly predicted intentions across both studies. The authors hypothesized that subjective norms would be a significantly stronger predictor of turnover intentions in a collectivist setting. This prediction was supported. Although social identity is strongly associated with turnover intentions across both cultures, the subjective normative aspects of group membership are significantly more strongly associated in the Japanese organizations

Identification as an organizational anchor: How identification and job satisfaction combine to predict turnover intention

The article examines the role of organizational identification and job satisfaction in relation to turnover intentions in seven organizations. Two models are proposed in which either job satisfaction ororganizational identification was treated as a mediator of the other's relationship with turnover intention. The organizations varied in terms of culture (Japan vs. UK), and institutional domain (academic,business, health, mail, legal).Within each organization,and meta-analytically combined across the seven samples (N=1392),organizational identification, mediated the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention more than job satisfaction mediated the relationship between organizational identification, and turnover intention. Organizational identification also had the larger overall relationship with turnover intention. This pattern remained true when gender, age, type of organization, culture, and length of tenure were accounted for, although the direct relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention was stronger in private than public organizations and when the ratio of men was higher. The findings are consistent with a social identity theory (SIT) perspective and with the idea that identification is a more proximal predictor of turnover intention. Over and above job satisfaction, organizational identification offers a sting psychological anchor that discourages turnover intention ill a range of organizational contexts