Identity leadership predicts career calling via organizational identification: evidence from Iran, Italy, and Germany and the moderating role of ambivalent identification

Introduction This study examines the role of identity leadership in shaping employees' career calling and work-related attitudes across cultural contexts. Drawing on the Social Identity Approach and research on calling, we propose a serial mediation model where identity leadership fosters organizational identification, which in turn strengthens employees' sense of career calling. Methods We propose that career calling is expected to relate positively to organizational citizenship behavior, job satisfaction, and innovative work behavior, and negatively to turnover intention and burnout. The study further examines whether ambivalent identification attenuates the relationship between organizational identification and career calling. To test these hypotheses, survey data were collected from 552 employees across Iran, Italy, and Germany. Results The results support the mediation model; identity leadership positively influences career calling both directly and indirectly via organizational identification. Additionally, career calling significantly mediates the relationship between identity leadership and key work-related outcomes. Contrary to expectations, ambivalent identification strengthens rather than weakens the effect of organizational identification on career calling. Discussion Exploratory cross-cultural analyses suggest that the strength of these relationships varies across national contexts, pointing to the potential influence of cultural values on leadership, identification, and meaning-making processes.