In this article, an attitudinal perspective on organizational members’ reactions to change is proposed and developed. By viewing change as an attitude object in this sense, a richer conceptualization of perceptions of change and reactions to change in terms of emotions, cognitions, and behaviors is achieved. The perspective also frames organizational changes in terms of aspects that are relevant for change recipients because of their relationships with important values that are held by organizational members. To identify classes of beliefs underlying the formation of attitudes toward change, constructs are integrated from theories of job characteristics and organizational justice with the overarching attitude perspective. Research implications of the framework as well as implications for managing change are discussed.
Abelson, R. P., Kinder, D. R., Peters, M. D., & Fiske, S. T. (1982). Affective and semantic components in political person perception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 619-630.
2.
Ajzen, I. (2001). Nature and operation of attitudes. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 27-58.
3.
Allen, T. D., Freeman, D. M., Russell, J. E. A., Reizenstein, R. C., & Rentz, J. O. (2001). Survivor reactions to organizational downsizing: Does time ease the pain?Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 74, 145-164.
Armenakis, A. A., Harris, S. G., & Mossholder, K. (1993). Creating organizational readiness for change. Human Relations, 46, 681-703.
6.
Armitage C. J., & Conner, M. (2000). Attitudinal ambivalence: A test of three key hypotheses. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 131-152.
7.
Bar-Tal, D. (1990). Group beliefs. New York: Springer Verlag.
8.
Bem, D. J. (1972). Self-perception theory. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in social psychology, (Vol. 6. pp. 1-62). New York: Academic Press.
9.
Bernerth, J. (2004). Expanding our understanding of the change message. Human Resource Development Review, 3, 36-52.
10.
Bovey, W. H., & Hede, A. (2001a). Resistance to organizational change: The role of cognitive and affective processes. Leadership and Organizational Development Journal, 22, 372-382.
11.
Bovey, W. H., & Hede, A. (2001b). Resistance to organizational change: The role of defence mechanisms. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 6, 21-30.
12.
Brockner, J., Konovsky, M., Cooper-Schneider, R., Folger, R., Martin, C., & Bies, R. J. (1994). Interactive effects of procedural justice and outcome negativity on victims and survivors of job loss. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 397-409.
13.
Burgelman, R. (1983). A process model of internal corporate venturing in the diversified major firm. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 223-244.
14.
Cacioppo, J. T., Marshall-Goodell, B. S., Tassinary, L. G., & Berntson, G. G. (1992). Rudimentary determinants of attitudes: Classical conditioning is more effective when prior knowledge about the attitude stimulus is low than high. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 67, 115-125.
15.
Carnall, C. A. (1986). Toward a theory for the evaluation of organizational change. Human Relations, 39, 745-766.
16.
Chaiken, S., Pomerantz, E. M., & Giner-Sorolla, R. (1995). Structural consistency and attitude strength. In R. E. Petty & J. A. Krosnick (Eds.), Attitude strength: Antecedents and consequences (pp. 387-412). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
17.
Chan Kim, W., & Mauborgne, R. A. (1993). Procedural justice, attitudes and subsidiary top management compliance with multinationals’ corporate strategic decisions. Academy of Management Journal, 36, 502-506.
18.
Cobb, A. T., Wooten, K. C., & Folger, R. (1995). Justice in the making: Toward understanding the theory and practice of justice in organizational change and development. In W. A. Pasmore & R. W. Woodman (Eds.), Research in organizational change and development, (Vol. 8, pp. 234-295). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
19.
Dasborough, M., Frick, G., Lamb, P., & Suseno, Y. (2003, August). Emotions in mergers: A phenomenological approach. Paper presented at the Academy of Management Meeting, Seattle, WA.
20.
Dent, E. B., & Goldberg, S. G. (1999). Challenging “resistance to change.”The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 35, 25-41.
21.
Dooley, R. S., Fryxell, G. E., & Judge, W. Q. (2000). Belaboring the not-so-obvious: Consensus, commitment and strategy implementation speed and success. Journal of Management, 26, 1237-1257.
22.
Eagly, A. H., & Chaiken, S. (1998). Attitude structure and function. In D. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (4th ed., pp.269-322). New York:McGraw-Hill.
23.
Eby, L. T., Adams, D. M., Russell, J. E. A., & Gaby, S. H. (2000). Perceptions of organizational readiness for change: Factors related to employees’ reactions to the implementation of team-based selling. Human Relations, 53, 419-442.
24.
Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
25.
Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
26.
Fiske, S. T., & Taylor, S. E. (1991). Social cognition (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
27.
Folger, R. (1977). Distributive and procedural justice: Combined impact of voice and improvement on experienced inequity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 108-119.
28.
Frijda, N. H. (1986). The emotions. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
29.
Frijda, N. H., & Mesquita, B. (2000). Beliefs through emotions.In N. H. Frijda, A. S. R. Manstead, & S. Bem (Eds.), Emotions and beliefs: How feelings influence thoughts (pp. 43-54). Paris: Oxford University Press.
30.
George, J. M., & Brief, A. P. (1996). Motivational agendas in the workplace: The effects of feelings on focus of attention and work motivation. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior, (Vol. 18, pp. 1-74). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
31.
George, J. M., & Jones, G. R. (1997). Experiencing work: Values, attitudes and mood. Human Relations, 50, 393-416.
32.
Gilmore, T. N., Shea, G. P., & Useem, M. (1997). Side effects of corporate cultural transformations. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 33, 174-189.
33.
Goleman, D. (1998). What makes a leader?Harvard Business Review, 76, 93-102.
34.
Gopinath, C., & Becker, T. E. (2000). Communication, procedural justice, and employee attitudes: Relationships under conditions of divestiture. Journal of Management, 26, 63-83.
35.
Gresov, C. (1997). Equifinality: Functional equivalence in organizational design. Academy of Management Review, 22, 403-426.
36.
Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1975). Development of the job diagnostic survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 159-170.
37.
Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1980). Work redesign. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
38.
Henderson, G. M. (2002). Transformative learning as a condition for transformational change in organizations. Human Resource Development Review, 2, 103-121.
39.
Holton, E. F., III. (2002). Theoretical assumptions underlying the performance paradigm of human resource development. Human Resource Development International, 5, 199-215.
40.
Huy, Q. N. (2002). Emotional balancing of organizational continuity and radical change: The contribution of middle managers. Administrative Science Quarterly, 47, 31-69.
41.
Hymes, R. W. (1986). Political attitudes as social categories: A new look at selective memory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 233-241.
42.
Isabella, L. (1990). Evolving interpretations as change unfold: How managers construe key events. Academy of Management Journal, 33, 7-41.
43.
Jaffe, D., Scott, C., & Tobe, G. (1994). Rekindling commitment: How to revitalize yourself, your work and your organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
44.
Johnson, B. T., & Eagly, A. H. (1989). Effects of involvement on persuasion: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 106, 290-314.
45.
Kickul, J., Lester, S. W., & Finkl, J. (2002). Promise breaking during organizational change: Do justice interventions make a difference?Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23, 469-488.
46.
Konovsky, M. A. (2000). Understanding procedural justice and its impact on business organizations. Journal of Management, 26, 489-511.
47.
Korsgaard, A. M., Schweiger, D. M., & Sapienza, H. J. (1995). Building commitment, attachment, and trust in strategic decision making teams. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 60-84.
48.
Kotter, J. (1995). Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, 73, 59-67.
49.
Kotter, J., & Schlesinger, L. (1979). Choosing strategies for change. Harvard Business Review, 57, 106-114.
50.
Larsen, R. L., & Diener, E. (1992). Promises and problems with the circumplex model of emotion. In M. S. Clarke (Ed.), Review of personality and social psychology: Emotion and social behavior, (Vol. 114, pp. 25-59). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
51.
Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press.
52.
Ledford, G. E., Mohrman, S. A., Mohrman, A. M., & Lawler, E. E., III. (1989). The phenomenon of large-scale organizational change. In A. M. Mohrman, S. A. Mohrman, G. E. Ledford, T. G. Cummings, & E. E. Lawler III (Eds.), Large-scale organizational change (pp. 1-31). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
53.
Lewin, K. (1947). Frontiers in group dynamics: 1. Concept, method and reality in social sciences; social equilibria and social change. Human Relations, 21, 5-41.
54.
Lighthall, F. F (1989). Making and transcending local adaptations: A pragmatic constructivist perspective on “participation.” In S. B. Bacharach (Ed.), Research in the sociology of organizations, (Vol. 7, pp. 1-26). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
55.
Lines, R. (2004). Heating up learning in organizations: An emotion based perspective. Scandinavian Journal of Business Research, 18, 31-46.
56.
Locke, E. A. (1976). The nature and consequences of job satisfaction. In M. D. Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 1297-1349). Chicago: Rand-McNally.
57.
Maheswaran, D., & Chaiken, S. (1991). Promoting systematic processing in low-motivation settings: Effect of incongruent information on processing and judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 13-33.
58.
Maio, G. R., Bell, D. W., & Esses, V. M. (1996). Ambivalence and persuasion: The processing of messages about immigrant groups. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 32, 513-536.
59.
Moore, D. L., & Reardon, R. (1987). Source magnification: The role of multiple sources in the processing of advertising appeals. Journal of Marketing Research, 24, 412-417.
60.
Morrison, E. W., & Phelps, C. C. (1999). Taking charge at work: Extrarole efforts to initiate work-place change. Academy of Management Journal, 42, 403-419.
61.
Naquin, S. S., & Holton, E. (2003). Motivation to improve work through learning in resource development. Human Resource Development International, 6, 355-370.
62.
Nord, W. R., Brief, A. P., Atieh, J. M., & Doherty, E. M. (1990). Studying meanings of work: The case of work values. In A. P. Brief & W. R. Nord (Eds.), Meanings of occupational work (pp. 21-34). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
63.
Organ, D. W. (1990). The motivational basis of organizational citizenship behavior. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior, Vol. 12 (pp. 43-72). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
64.
Parker, S. K., Wall, T. D., & Cordery, J. L. (2001). Future work design research and practice: Toward an elaborated model of work design. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 74, 413-440.
65.
Petty, R. E., & Wegener, D. T. (1998). Attitude change: Multiple roles for persuasion variables. In D. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (4th ed., pp. 323-390). New York: McGraw-Hill.
66.
Pfeffer, J. (1981). Management as symbolic action: The creation and maintenance of organizational paradigms. In L. L. Cummings & B. M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior, (Vol. 3, pp. 1-31). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
67.
Phillips, J. M. (1998). Effects of realistic job previews on multiple organizational outcomes: A meta-analysis. Academy of Management Journal, 41, 673-690.
68.
Piderit, S. K. (2000). Rethinking resistance and recognizing ambivalence. A multidimensional view of attitudes toward organizational change. Academy of Management Review, 25, 783-794.
69.
Pratkanis, A. R. (1989). The cognitive representation of attitudes. In A. R. Pratkanis, S. J. Breckler, & A. G. Greenwald (Eds.), Attitude structure and function (pp. 71-98). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
70.
Rajagopalan, N., & Spreitzer, G. M. (1996). Toward a theory of strategic change: A multi-lens perspective. Academy of Management Review, 22, 48-79.
71.
Read, S. J., & Rosson, M. B. (1982). Rewriting history: The biasing effects of attitudes on memory. Social Cognition, 1, 240-255.
72.
Reykowski, J. (1982). Social motivation. Annual Review of Psychology, 33, 123-154.
73.
Rice, R. E., & Aydin, C. (1991). Attitudes toward new organizational technology: Network proximity as a mechanism for social information processing. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36, 219-244.
74.
Rogers, R. W. (1983). Cognitive and physiological processes in fear appeals and attitude change: A revised theory of protection motivation. In J. T. Cacioppo & R. E. Petty (Eds.), Social psychophysiology: A sourcebook (pp. 153-176). New York: Guilford.
75.
Rosch, E. (1978). Principles of categorization. In E. Rosch & B. B. Lloyd (Eds), Cognition and categorization (pp. 27-48). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
76.
Saavedra, R., & Kwun, S. K. (2000). Affective states in job characteristics theory. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21, 131-146.
77.
Salancik, G. R., & Pfeffer, J. (1978). A social information processing approach to job attitudes and task design. Administrative Science Quarterly, 23, 224-252.
78.
Sanchez, R., & Heene, A. (1997). Managing for an uncertain future. A systems view of strategic organizational change. International Studies of Management and Organization, 27, 21-42.
79.
Shaver, P., Schwartz, J., Kirson, D., & O’Connor, C. (1987). Emotion knowledge: Further exploration of a prototype approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 1061-1086.
80.
Shavitt, S. (1989). Operationalizing functional theories of attitudes. In A. R. Pratkanis, S. J. Breckler, & A. G. Greenwald (Eds.), Attitude structure and function (pp. 311-338). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
81.
Shimp, T. A., Stuart, E. W., & Engle, R. W. (1991). A program of classical conditioning experiments testing variations in the conditioned stimulus and context. Journal of Consumer Research, 18, 1-12.
82.
Snyder, M., & DeBono, K. G. (1989). Understanding the function of attitudes: Lessons from personality and social behavior. In A. R. Pratkanis, S. J. Breckler, & A. G. Greenwald (Eds.), Attitude structure and function (pp. 339-359). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
83.
Taylor, S. E. (1991). The asymmetrical impact of positive and negative events: The mobilization-minimization hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 67-85.
84.
Thompson, M. M., Zanna, M. P., & Griffin, D. W. (1995). Let’s not be indifferent about (attitudinal) ambivalence. In R. E. Petty & J. A. Krosnik (Eds.), Attitude strength: Antecedents and consequences (pp. 361-386). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
85.
Thompson, R. C., & Hunt, J. G. (1996). Inside the black box of alpha, beta, and gamma change: Using a cognitive-processing model to assess attitude change. Academy of Management Review, 21, 655-690.
86.
Tyler, T. R. (1999). Why people cooperate with organizations: An identity-based perspective. In R. I. Sutton & B. M. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior, (Vol. 21, pp. 204-246). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
87.
Tyler, T. R., & Bies, R. (1990). Beyond formal procedures: The interpersonal context of procedural justice. In J. Carroll (Ed.), Applied social psychology and organizational settings (pp. 201-246). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
88.
Venkatesh, V., & Davis, F. D. (2000). A theoretical extension of the technology acceptance model: Four longitudinal field studies. Management Science, 46, 186-204.
89.
Watson, D., & Tellegen, A. (1985). Toward a consensual structure of mood. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 219-235.
90.
Weiss, H. M., & Cropanzano, R. (1996). Affective events theory: A theoretical discussion of the structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior, (Vol. 18, pp. 1-74). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
91.
Wood, W. (2000). Attitude change: Persuasion and social influence. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 539-570.
