FROM BEHAVIORAL COMPLIANCE TO VALUE INTERNALIZATION: The critical role of the match between employee’s pre socialization habitual behavior and organization’s expected employee behaviour

This paper systematically explores the following under-examined question in social influence theories: can an individual‘s sustained behavioral compliance in an organizing context lead to internalization of the values underpinning the behavior. Particular focus is on the context where the value-to-be-internalized conflicts with the value that the individual has already internalized. I identify the boundary conditions within which this outcome can occur and the underlying social-psychological mechanisms that lead to such outcomes. To accomplish this, I develop propositions, drawing upon social influence theories and developments in critical sociology. I also provide guidelines to convert these propositions into hypotheses and test them. Finally, I discuss the implications of testing these hypotheses including a potential challenge to the dominant employee recruitment practice that HR professional usually adopt.