Understanding the Gap Between Union Sentiment and Union Joining: A Moderated Mediated Psychological Model of Willingness to Join

Abstract

Abstract Stemming from recent national U.S. polls that indicate a notable gap between feelings about unions and willingness to act in accordance with a union, we proposed and tested a psychological model to address the apparent disconnect between sentiment and action. As an internal process model featuring emotional elements, we hypothesized that negative social emotions perceived to be encouraged by unions relate to willingness to join a union, in which the link between emotions and willingness to join unfolds through union intolerance. Drawing from psychodynamics, we proposed that the linking mechanism for the hypothesized mediation is a case example of projection. We demonstrated the fit of the model based on survey data collected from nonunion employees (N = 385), and further detailed the fit in relation to hypothesized moderated mediation to show conditions under which: (a) projection is more likely, and (b) intolerance linked to willingness to join is more negative. Discussed are model results that bear on future model expansions and applications.

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