Exploring predictors of organizational identification: Moderating role of trust on the associations between empowerment, organizational support, and identification

The purpose of this study is to explore the associations among psychological empowerment, perceived organizational support (POS), trust in supervisor, and organizational identification. In particular, this study posits that trust in supervisor moderates the relationships between psychological empowerment, POS, and organizational identification. Blue collar employees from the shipping industry in Turkey are selected as the main target of this study. A total of 518 questionnaires were analysed. Results indicate that all the dimensions of psychological empowerment, namely goal internalization, perceived competence, and perceived control, POS, cognition- and affect-based trust in supervisor are positively associated with organizational identification. Moderation analysis shows that cognition-based trust in supervisor moderates the relationships between perceived competence, perceived control, and organizational identification, whereas affect-based trust in supervisor moderates the relationships between goal internalization, POS, and organizational identification. Furthermore, some practical implications are also discussed.