Identity-based Perspective Research Articles

Why follow? The interplay of leader categorization, identification, and feeling respected

Guided by both social cognitive and identity-based perspectives of leadership, the present study investigated how and when the process of leader categorization results in greater leader effectiveness. Specifically, we propose that the relationship between leader categorization and subordinates’ openness toward leadership should be partially mediated by subordinates’ identification with their leaders. Furthermore, seeking to corroborate that the issue of self-esteem is the central ingredient in the identification process, we argue that the mediation should become weaker the more subordinates feel that they are being treated disrespectfully by their leaders, and thus are explicitly undermined in their efforts toward self-enhancement. The proposed mediating effect was tested and supported in two field studies ( N1 = 244, N2 = 645). In the second study, we also tested and found support for the proposed moderated mediation model. The theoretical and managerial consequences are discussed.

Organizational birth: An identity-based perspective

Organizational birth: An identity-based perspective

Role Transitions in Organizational Life: An Identity-Based PerspectiveRole Transitions in Organizational Life: An Identity-Based Perspective, by AshforthBlake E.. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001.

The article reviews the book “Role Transitions in Organizational Life: An Identity-Based Perspective,” by Blake E. Ashforth.

Gender, Work, and Stress: The Potential Impact of Role-Identity Salience And Commitment

In a period when most women and men combine work and family roles, the relationship between these roles and stress is of particular importance. Using an identity theory perspective, this study focuses primarily on gender differences in the sources and levels of stress associated with these roles. An identity-based perspective provides a more parsimonious way to address this issue than the frequently employed gender specific models. Based on differences in the meaning and salience of and commitment to work and family role identities, this study predicts gender differences in identity-linked sources of stress, and relates these to the results of prior stress research. Despite reliance on general norms to infer the salience and commitment of men and women to their work and family roles, and identity perspective demonstrates considerable promise.