Identity maintenance and adaptation: A multilevel analysis of response to loss

This paper develops a general model of response to loss. Based on original empirical research of the U.S. auto industry and dual literature analyses o f macro-organizational behavior and clinical psychology, I observe that org anizational response to major environmental change is remarkably similar to individual response to loss. To explain this similarity, I propose that a common identity maintenance and adaptation imperataive drives the process a t all social levels through all phases. I explain loss as a chasm between t wo forms of identity-structural and cognitive-that a viable entity must hol d in some reasonable congruence:. The analysis suggests a logic underlying Kubler-Ross's (1969) stage theory of loss:, a model that has enjoyed widesp read clinical acceptance but has met with scientific skepticism. Based on t his stage theory, I develop a modified, general model of loss that explains important anomalous findings about loss including loss aversion, escalatio n, and rigidity under threat, and, more generally why it usually takes so l ong to respond and adapt. Practical applications for understanding and mana ging change processes are proposed.