Differentiating the Three Components of Resistance to Change: The Moderating Effect of Organization-Based Self-Esteem on the Employee Involvement-Resistance Relation

This article deepens and expands the study of the three dimensions of resistance to change in employees: resistant thought, resistant feeling, and resistant behavior. It includes an analysis of the moderating effect of the employee's organization‐based self‐esteem on the influence of variables related to the management of the change process (i.e., involvement in the change—communication and participation) on each of these dimensions of resistance. The empirical analysis uses a sample of 143 employees who work in companies that embarked on programs of structural change in the two years prior to the current research being carried out. The results support the moderating effect of organization‐based self‐esteem on the influence of employee participation on resistant thought and resistant feeling, but not on resistant behavior. The results also suggest that resistant thought, resistant feeling, and resistant behavior have different antecedents related to the context of the change (employee involvement in the change and employee perceived benefits).