THE DARK SIDE OF IDENTIFICATION: OVERCOMING IDENTIFICATION-INDUCED PERFORMANCE IMPEDIMENTS

This chapter describes a two-year comparative study in two investment banking departments that investigated the relationship between identification, shared cognition, and group performance. The data replicates previous research that found a positive relationship between group members’ subjective experience of unity with their group, shared cognition, and group performance. However, in contrast to previous research, we found that identification did not facilitate but undermined such a subjective experience of unity. Identification, therefore, impeded shared cognition and group performance, as compared to an alternative way in which bankers experienced unity that we refer to as direct involvement.