Whereas organizational identification is defined as a cognitive connection between a person and an organization, disidentification is defined as a sense of separateness. The authors conducted a mail survey to compare the attitudes and behaviors of people who identify or disidentify with the National Rifle Association or view it in a neutral fashion. The results show that whereas identification is related to people's personal experiences, disidentification is related to their values surrounding the organization. Moreover, although both identifiers and disidentifiers talk, only identifiers take action.

Through two exploratory studies, we develop and test an introductory framework of "organizational disidentification." Our first study explores the concept of organizational disidentification through a qualitative investigation of cognitive relationships with the National Rifle Association (NRA). Findings suggest that organizational disidentification is a self-perception based on: (1) a cognitive separation between one's identity and the organization's identity, and (2) a negative relational categorization of oneself and the organization (e.g., categorizations such as "rivals" or "enemies"). Organizational disidentification appears to be motivated by individuals' desires to both affirm positive distinctiveness and avoid negative distinctiveness by distancing themselves from incongruent values and negative stereotypes attributed to an organization. Our findings also suggest that organizational disidentification can lead individuals to take action (either volunteer work or voicing their opinion) as a result of their perceived separation from the organization's identity. Results of our second study - a large-scale survey of public attitudes about the NRA - provide support for this framework.