ISSN 0439-755X
CN 11-1911/B

Acta Psychologica Sinica ›› 2023, Vol. 55 ›› Issue (12): 2035-2058.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.02035

• Reports of Empirical Studies • Previous Articles    

Identity embarrassment and identity defense: The development of organizational identity of dispatched employees

LI Luyun1, JIA Liangding1(), ZHANG Yijie1, WEI Liangyu2   

  1. 1Business School, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210008, China
    2Faculty of Business & Economics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3052, Australia
  • Received:2022-12-31 Published:2023-12-25 Online:2023-10-16
  • Contact: JIA Liangding E-mail:jldyxlzs@nju.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(71632005)

Abstract:

The dual organizational identity of dispatched employees has complementary and dynamic characteristics. Existing literature mainly discusses the management of multiple identities in a single organization, and little is known about how employees manage their dual organizational identity with complementarity and dynamic. Based on the qualitative analysis of the interview data of 34 dispatched employees from different industries, this article constructs a model of the dynamic development of dual organizational identity of dispatched employees: (1) There are three possible outcomes in the comparison of expectations and experiences of dual organizational identity: the “Match-Match” promotes the realization of dual organizational identity, the “Mismatch-Mismatch” causes the rupture of dual organizational identity, and “Match-Mismatch” is the main factor that triggers the dynamic management of dual organizational identity. (2) “Match-mismatch” poses a psychological dilemma called identity embarrassment for dispatched employees; they do not know where they belong. They will adopt different identity defense strategies according to the relative importance of the dispatching unit and the employing unit in their identities. Three of these strategies - identity isolation, identity comparison, and identity creation will alleviate the identity embarrassment and promote dual organization identity realization, and the strategy of identity rumination will cause further deterioration of identity embarrassment and lead to the rupture of dual organizational identity. The article enriches identity theory and organizational socialization theory and is of great significance to the management of dispatched employees.

Key words: dispatched employees, dual organizational identity, identity defense, identity embarrassment, identity synergy