Followership identity construction: an insight on the non-profit sector

Purpose - The purpose of this study was to understand and examine the relationship between follower self-identity and organisational commitment, with an examination of how trust indirectly influences the relationship between follower self-identities and organisational commitment.

Design/methodology/approach - To test the established hypotheses, partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was utilised. The data were obtained from 612 European board members in the non-profit sector from organisations in the UK, France, Germany and Switzerland.

Findings - The results show that the relationship between follower identity factor with trust and commitment are positive and significant. Results also show follower identity had an indirect effect on commitment through trust. The presence of a strong level of follower identity can help reinforce the trust between the chief executive and the governors/board members in the organisation.

Originality/value - This study is innovative in the sense that it seeks to gain a better understanding of the mediating role of trust between follower identify and commitment in the non-profit sector.