전통적으로 전문직에 관한 연구는 전문직은 동질적 집단이라는 가정 아래, 전문직과 비전문직을 비교하는 것에 초점을 맞추어 왔다. 그러나 최근 다양한 직업들이 새로운 전문직으로 부상하면서 전문직 간의 이질적 특성에 대한 연구가 필요하다는 주장이 제기되고 있다. 본 연구는 전문직 간의 이질적 특성, 특히 똑같이 전문직으로 불리더라도 사회적 정당성 측면에서 제도화된 정도가 서로 다른 직업들에 종사하는 사람들이 보이는 태도와 행동의 차이를 살펴본다. 이를 위해 제도화 정도가 현격하게 다른 두 직업집단을 선정하여 이들의 사회적 정체성과 친사회적 행동을 비교 연구하였는데, 제도화 정도가 높은 집단으로는 변호사를, 제도화 정도가 낮은 집단으로는 경영컨설턴트를 선정하였다. 그리고 사회정체성 이론과 인지부조화 이론을 활용하여 연구모형을 설정하고 가설을 도출하였다. 연구모형의 핵심은 전문직 종사자들의 전문가주의(professionalism), 조직 동일시(organizational identification), 직업동일시(professional identification), 조직시민행동 (OCB), 그리고 전문가들의 친사회적 행동(professional pro-social behavior) 사이의 관계가 제도화 정도의 차이에 의해 어떻게 조절(moderate) 되는가를 따져 보는 것이었다. 그래서 1) 전문가주의가 조직 및 직업동일시에 미치는 영향과 2) 조직동일시가 조직시민행동에, 그리고 직업동일시가 전문가의 친사회적(pro-social) 행동에 미치는 영향의 정도는 모두 변호사보다 경영컨설턴트에서 더 강하게 나타날 것이라는 가설이 설정되었다. 총 296명(변호사 : 130명, 경영컨설턴트 : 166명)의 표본에서 얻어진 자료를 활용하여 가설을 검증한 결과, 두 직업집단 간의 차이는 유의미한 것으로 나타났고 대부분의 가설은 지지되었다. 다만 조직동일시와 조직시민행동 간의 관계는 가설에서 제시한 것과는 달리 변호사 집단에서 더 강하게 나타났다. 전체적으로 보았을 때, 본 연구가 보여주는 결과는 전문가로서 기능하는 제도적 기반이 상대적으로 미약한 경영컨설턴트에게 있어서 조직은 이들이 전문가 정체성을 유지하는 중요한 기반이 될 수 있음을 시사한다. 또한 경영컨설턴트들은 상대적으로 낮은 제도적 정당성을 더 강한 직업동일시와 전문가의 친사회적 행동으로 정당화하고 있음을 보여준다. 일반적으로 직업사회학은 여러 직업들의 전문직화 과정에 초점을 두어 왔다. 반면, 미시 조직연구에서는 전통적으로 전문가들의 미시적 태도와 행동을 연구의 대상으로 해왔다. 본 연구는 서로 다른 전문직화 과정에 있는 두 직업집단에 속한 사람들의 태도와 행동을 비교 연구함으로써 이러한 두 흐름을 통합적으로 살펴보고, 최근 조직 연구에서 주목받고 있는 전문가 조직에 대한 이해를 넓히고자 했다는 데 그 의의가 있다.

Behavioral research regarding professionals has mostly focused on the comparison between professionals and non-professionals, based on the assumption that the characteristics of professionals are homogeneous. As a variety of occupations have been newly recognized as professional jobs, however, several scholars have recently argued for the need for research into this basic assumption, positing instead that the behaviors exhibited by professionals in various fields are likely heterogeneous. It is this heterogeneity that is the primary concern of this study, which may be determined by the degree of institutionalization of a profession. This degree of institutionalization is caused by the level of professional qualifications acquired through formal training systems, official licenses, professional associations, and so on, which may have an impact on professionals’ attitudes and behaviors. In particular, it affects how a professional in an organization develops his social identity and the extent to which his self-concept is based on his organizational and/or professional membership. As the professional’s self-concept develops, his organization and profession may each have a different degree of importance, leading to dissimilarities in his pro-social behavior toward them. To understand the differences between professionals’ social identification, we investigated two professional groups that demonstrate a significant difference in professional institutionalization: the legal profession and management consultancies. The legal field can be characterized as having a significantly stronger degree of institutionalization than that of management consultancies. For instance, lawyers must acquire recognized credentials through formal education, licensing, and admission to professional associations. We hypothesized that the two groups will exhibit different patterns in the relationships between a) professionalism and social identity and b) social identity and pro-social behavior toward their organizations or professions. Specifically, we tested the following hypotheses. Hypothesis 1: The degree of institutionalization of a profession will have a significant moderating effect on the positive relationship between professionalism and organizational identification. In other words, management consultants will demonstrate a stronger relationship between professionalism and organizational identification compared to lawyers. Hypothesis 2: The degree of institutionalization of a profession will have a significant moderating effect on the positive relationship between professionalism and professional identification. In other words, management consultants will demonstrate a stronger relationship between professionalism and professional identification compared to lawyers. Hypothesis 3: The degree of institutionalization of a profession will have a significant moderating effect on the positive relationship between organizational identification and organizational citizenship behavior. In other words, management consultants will demonstrate a stronger relationship between organizational identification and organizational citizenship behaviors compared to lawyers. Hypothesis 4: The degree of institutionalization of a profession will have a significant moderating effect on the positive relationship between professional identification and professional pro-social behavior. In other words, management consultants will demonstrate a stronger relationship between professional identification and professional pro-social behavior compared to lawyers. The authors analyzed survey data collected from 130 lawyers and 166 management consultants. The results supported hypotheses 1, 2, and 4, but did not support hypothesis 3. Consequently, the organization carried a higher significance for management consultants, because it can play a crucial role in establishing them as professionals. Management consultants tended to make a greater effort, perhaps to offset their weak professional legitimacy, by strongly identifying with professional groups and engaging in active pro-social behavior. Negative evidence was found for hypothesis 3, as lawyers demonstrated a much stronger relationship between organizational identification and organizational citizenship behaviors. However, this finding further supports the idea that a management consultant relies heavily on an organization to achieve professional legitimacy. For a management consultant to engage in active pro-social behavior toward his or her organization, it can be far more important to affiliate himself or herself with the organization rather than to identify with it. Traditionally, research into the sociology of professions has focused on the professionalization process of an occupation, while organizational behavior research has emphasized the attitudes and behaviors of professionals. Reflecting both research streams, this study investigates the differences in professionals caused by the varied degrees of institutionalization of their respective professions. Considering the relative lack of comparative studies of professions in organizational behavior research, we hope this comparative study between professionals in the legal field and management consultancies contributes new substance to the debate regarding professional heterogeneity and organizational behavior.

Professionalism, Organizational Identification, Professional Identification, Management Consultant, Lawyer