Social Identification in Organizations: The Double‐Edged Nature of Identity Fusion and Workgroup Identification via Harmonious and Obsessive Passion at Work

Drawing on Social Identity Theory, this research examines how identification with one's workgroup shapes employees' workexperiences. We propose that work passion, as a motivational drive, may direct the relationship between identification and workoutcomes in different ways. Specifically, we hypothesized that strong workgroup identification would be associated with bothharmonious and obsessive passion, with harmonious passion predicting adaptive outcomes and obsessive passion predictingmaladaptive ones. In Study 1 (N = 247 Italian employees), workgroup identification was positively related to both forms of pas-sion. Harmonious passion was associated with higher job satisfaction and lower turnover intention. Contrary to expectations,obsessive passion did not explain negative outcomes, as it was positively related to job satisfaction and unrelated to turnoverintention. In Study 2 (N = 401 Italian employees), we examined both workgroup identification and identity fusion. Workgroupidentification was indirectly associated with lower work stress through harmonious passion but with higher stress throughobsessive passion. When identity fusion was included, it emerged as a better predictor of adaptive outcomes. Overall, findingshighlight work passion as a key mechanism linking group bonds to work outcomes and suggest that identity fusion is a valuableconstruct for understanding workplace group dynamics.