Collapsing the Myth of Separate Worlds: How Organizations Shape Workers’ Non-Work Identities

Abstract

Organizations clearly influence work identities, but their effect on non-work identities is less well understood. We propose that organizations pressure workers to encompass or delete non-work identities, workers acquiesce to or resist these pressures, and four distinct non-work identity states emerge from this dialogue. We discuss characteristics of non-work identities that influence organizations and individuals’ choices and the implications of our cross-level model for work identity.