The Management of Identity-Based Conflicts: New Directions in Justice Research

Abstract

This symposium explores a recently intensifying phenomenon of how actors manage their public identities in the #MeToo era – an era that highlights the tensions among those seeking distributive justice, due process, accountability, and endorsing psychological safety. We explore this phenomena through the lens of organizational justice, thereby broadening its application and relevance by raising new research questions and domains of study. In particular, we explore how one’s social identity shapes the aftermath of organizational conflicts, including how harshly (and why) actors’ actions may be judged and whether actors may (or may not) be forgiven, redeemed, and reintegrated. Three papers speak to these topics. Most of the symposium will be devoted to interactive discussions of each paper, then interactive discussion of the broad themes, questions, and challenges. Forgiveness in the Workplace: An Identity-Based Perspective Presenter: Michael E. Palanski; Rochester Institute of Technology Presenter: Laurie Barclay; Wilfrid Laurier U. Presenter: Nicholas Difonzo; Rochester Institute of Technology The Effect of Mindsets and Ex-Offenders’ Redemptive Narratives on Managers’ Willingness to Hire Presenter: Eunjeong Shin; Washington State U. Easier Lie the Heads: Evidence of a Gender Vilification Gap in Appraisals of Employee Misbehavior Presenter: Chuck Howard; U. of British Columbia Presenter: Ramona Bobocel; U. of Waterloo Presenter: Samir Nurmohamed; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Karl Aquino; U. of British Columbia Presenter: Maja Graso; U. of Otago