When Women Can’t Be Who They Are at Work: Religious-Based Identity Threat

Abstract

Employees can be authentic at work only if they work within an organization, where they can freely behave in line with their core values. Over the last four decades, adherence to Islamic rules became a necessity in Iran’s organizational environment. As a result, Iranian employees, especially women, continuously fail to enact their non-religious identity at work. Drawing on identity theory and social identity theory, this study examines the religious-based identity threat experienced by Iranian women and its effect on women’s authenticity at work. We surveyed 177 Iranian women and examined a moderated mediation model. We predicted that accepting external influence as an individual trait moderates the mediating effect of authenticity at work on the association between religious-based identity threat and two organizational outcomes: turnover intentions and job satisfaction. Our findings show that female employees’ perception of religious-based identity threat driven by their organization’s religious rules, policies, and norms prevents them from expressing their authentic core values, resulting in increased turnover intention and decreased job satisfaction. We discuss managerial implications, limitations, and opportunities for future research.