Professional and religious identity conflict: individual and organizational dynamics in ethically-charged circumstances

Abstract

In this article, we investigated individual-level mechanisms and organizational-level conditions to explain the emergence and unfolding of professionals’ identity conflict in ethically-charged situations. Specifically, we examined identity conflict in doctors as triggered by discrepant work and non-work identity values of moral nature, namely their professional and religious identity values. We conducted a multilevel analysis in a two-time-lagged, questionnaire-based study (N = 120 doctors) in 22 National Healthcare Service Trusts in England. We found that professional-religious identity conflict has a negative influence on psychological well-being, but does not mediate the relationship between the interplay of religious and professional identity values and psychological well-being. Furthermore, whilst hospital peer social support positively buffered the negative relationship between identity conflict and psychological well-being, hospital ethical climate negatively moderated this relationship. By incorporating both intrapersonal processes and socio-ethical boundary conditions surrounding identity conflict, we extended research on identity dynamics within organizational contexts shedding light on the implications of such dynamics for the psychological well-being of professionals.