Anticipated organizational identity change, job anxiety and affective commitment during macro-level turbulence: a cross-lagged study in the shifting sands of Brexit

Abstract

The current study examines how events external to organizations raise a challenge to perceptions of organizational identity continuity leading to a negative affective and attitudinal workforce response. This 5-wave study surveys full-time employees (N = 1309) from around the UK during a period of socio-political turmoil during negotiations of terms of withdrawal from the EU (Brexit). Drawing on Conservation of Resources Theory and Affective Events Theory we hypothesize that employees’ anticipation of change in organizational identity will lead to negative individual-level affective responses of job anxiety and a subsequent reduction in affective commitment. Utilizing a Random Intercept Cross Lagged Panel Model, the results show that within-person increases in perceptions of anticipated organizational identity change are followed by increases in job anxiety, which is followed by reductions in affective organizational commitment. Thus, the turbulent external context challenges employees’ enduring sense of organizational identity which can have profound effects on employees and their relationship with their employer.