Organizational virtuousness and spontaneity: a social identity view

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and indirect effect of perceived organizational virtuousness (POV) on organizational spontaneity. The assumed indirect effect is investigated through the social identity perspective. As such, organizational identification, pride and respect are examined as mediators of the POV-spontaneity relationship. Design/methodology/approach To test the hypotheses the authors conducted two studies. First, the authors conducted an experimental study with 136 participants in which the authors investigated the role of organizational identification as mediator of the examined relationship. Second, the authors conducted a field study in which 572 employees working in various organizations participated. In this study, pride and respect were incorporated as first-step mediators explaining serially (indirectly) the relationship between the independent and the dependent variable through organizational identification. Findings The findings of the experimental study indicate that organizational identification mediates the positive relationship between POV and organizational spontaneity. The results of the field study indicate that pride and respect serially mediate the examined relationship through organizational identification. Practical implications The study accumulates further evidence that treating employees with care and respect can bring benefits to organizations. Perceiving organizational virtuousness makes employees identify with their organization and view organizational successes as their own. Thus, they become more willing to benefit the organization. Originality/value This study is unique to the literature by being the first to examine the relationship between POV and organizational spontaneity through social identity processes.