This Article Full Text (PDF) Free References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Terry, D. J. Articles by O’Brien, A. T. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Status, Legitimacy, and Ingroup Bias in the Context of an Organizational Merger

The University of Queensland, deborah{at}psy.uq.edu.au

Anne T. O’Brien

The University of Queensland

Adopting an intergroup perspective, the research was designed to examine predictors of employee responses to an organizational merger. Data were collected from 120 employees of a newly merged scientific organization. As predicted from social identity theory, the most negative responses to the merger were apparent among the employees of the low status premerger organization. There was also evidence of ingroup bias among both groups of employees involved in the merger—as expected, the bias was most marked on the status-irrelevant dimensions for the employees of the lower status organization, but most marked on the status-relevant dimensions for the employees of the high status organization. Also, in support of social identity theory, the perceived legitimacy of the basis for the status differentiation between the groups was associated with more positive responses to the merger among employees of the low status premerger organization, but with poorer responses among employees of the high status premerger organization. There was consistent evidence that the status by legitimacy interaction was mediated through the extent to which employees of the newly merged organization perceived a common ingroup identity

Key Words: common ingroup identity • ingroup bias • legitimacy • organizational merger • status

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				F. Boen, N. Vanbeselaere, and M. Cool Group Status as a Determinant of Organizational Identification After a Takeover: A Social Identity Perspective Group Processes Intergroup Relations, October 1, 2006; 9(4): 547 - 560. [Abstract] [PDF]

				G. E. Kreiner, B. E. Ashforth, and D. M. Sluss Identity Dynamics in Occupational Dirty Work: Integrating Social Identity and System Justification Perspectives Organization Science, September 1, 2006; 17(5): 619 - 636. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. R. Giessner, G. T. Viki, S. Otten, D. J. Terry, and S. Tauber The Challenge of Merging: Merger Patterns, Premerger Status, and Merger Support Pers Soc Psychol Bull, March 1, 2006; 32(3): 339 - 352. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M.-G. Seo and N. S. Hill Understanding the Human Side of Merger and Acquisition: An Integrative Framework Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, December 1, 2005; 41(4): 422 - 443. [Abstract] [PDF]