Between Alignment and Over-Identification: A Qualitative Exploration of Corporate Identity Internalization and Identity Conflict across Millennials and Gen Z Employees

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21356202

Prachi Sachdev¹ and Sohanjeet Singh² (Counselling Psychologist (MA Clinical Psychology)¹ and MBA – Amity University, Noida Campus, Uttar Pradesh²)

This paper analyzes the psychological spectrum of corporate identity engagement at the intergenerational levels, the difference between over-internalization of Millennials and the idea of identity conflict by employees of Gen Z. Based on the theoretical lenses of Cognitive Dissonance Theory, Social Identity Theory, and Identity Fusion, the study seeks to learn the extent that different levels of identification to organizational values produce work related behavior, psychological well-being, and identity constructions. A qualitative approach was used, where semi-structured interviews were conducted on 30 employees working in different corporate environments and data were analyzed using thematic analysis to generate the in-depth experiential patterns. The results indicate that there is a clear separation between Millennials and Gen Z employees: Millennials are more likely to be heavily internally-oriented to a corporate identity, thus becoming workaholics and more susceptible to Burnout, whereas Gen Z employees are more predisposed to value incongruence, which causes cognitive dissonance, low levels of job satisfaction, and disengagement. It is important to note that an emergent zone of identity balance emerged, which is an adaptive midstate in which people are conciliated to organisational values but retain boundaries to personal identities. The research concludes that the establishment of such a balanced type of identification may advance the well-being of the employees and organizational sustainability and provide valuable insights to the formulation of psychologically knowledgeable workplace strategies across generations.