Exploring feelings about technology integration in higher education: individuation and congruence

Purpose - This study utilises two key psychoanalytical concepts – individuation and congruence – in order to analyse individual responses to organisational change and to propose a tentative framework for considering psychoanalytical dynamics when organisational change is proposed, or underway. Design/methodology/approach - We analysed 146 responses to an open ended survey, which focused on respondents’ attitudes to the introduction of learning technology in a higher educational context. We asked organisational members to share their views about the proposed organisational change, and clustered these anonymous responses into meaningful categories, based on the psychoanalytically relevant notions of congruence and individuation. Findings – As well as generating a proposed list of archetypes associated with individual responses to organisational change, we emphasise how strongly our own tentatively generated categories align with the notion of authentic individuation as an important aspect of motivated organisational behaviour. Originality/value - This tool could provide a useful analytical backdrop for organisational change in general, and it could help to focus organisational attention on the importance of a psychoanalytically informed discussion on change by paying attention to privately held views, and partially articulated feelings about change.