Identity Polarization in Organizations: Causes, Potential Solutions and Research Agenda

It should perhaps come as no surprise that the identity polarization around socio-cultural issues currently roiling many countries have found their way into business and other organizations. In the U.S., for example, conflicts over religious practices have been on the rise since 9/11; and following the 2016 election, human resource (HR) managers began noticing
increasing workplace friction over matters of politics. Such polarization may also be triggered as organizations increasingly take on (at various levels of engagement) issues related to the “#MeToo” and “Black Lives Matter” movements, LGBTQIA+ and voting rights, as well as issues of climate change. Although taking such stands are sometimes embraced by employees
–indeed, Gartner HR Research (2021) finds 68% of employees would consider leaving their organization for one that took a stronger stance on socio-cultural issues –as organizational engagement with these issues has increased, so too have examples of internal conflicts characterized by disgust and antipathy between groups and intense infighting within them.
Although organizational engagement with issues has long been found to trigger identity dynamics, what is different about these socio-cultural issues is that have become moralized – that is, framed in terms of morally right versus wrong. Building on research on moralization and identity, I will discuss research with my co-authors (Luke Hedden and Hamza Kahn) that
explains how such issues enter the workplace, and how an organizations’ engagement with moralized issues can spur unique identity dynamics. These unique identity dynamics include the display of moral emotions (e.g., disgust) toward opposing (and disinterested) groups, and derogation of ingroup members who do not agree strongly enough the group’s stance. I will
elaborate new theory at the group level regarding the nature of such intergroup and intragroup identity polarization dynamics, as well as their unique consequences for organizations. In doing so, I explain how moralized issues alter traditional identity processes in organizations and why novel solutions are required to manage them. Finally, I will propose some potential solutions to help organizations alleviate the negative effects of moralized identity conflicts and lay out an agenda for future research.