Work-related Identity Research Articles

Work-Related Identity Discrepancy and Employee Turnover Intention: The Mediation Effect of Job Satisfaction

Work-Related Identity Discrepancy and Employee Turnover Intention: The Mediation Effect of Job Satisfaction

Work-related Identity Discrepancy and Work Withdrawal Behavior: the Mediation Effect of Negative Emotion

Work-related Identity Discrepancy and Work Withdrawal Behavior: the Mediation Effect of Negative Emotion

Identity incongruence and negotiation in the transition from work to retirement: A theoretical model

In an aging society, dealing with the disengagement from one’s work-related identity and the quality of retirement adjustment become major concerns for individuals and organizations. However, the processes through which retirement adjustment can be achieved and upon which conditions this depends are only partially understood, especially regarding identity transition processes. To address this issue, we suggest that identity incongruence, identity transition negotiation, and the variety of high-quality exchange relationships represent key factors that explain the different experiences in retirement adjustment quality. Integrating social identity, self-categorization, identity negotiation, and interpersonal perspectives, we develop a theoretical model with 12 propositions highlighting the dynamic changes in identity incongruence across time and the possible coexistence of the work-related identity and the retiree identity. We also discuss the potential boundary conditions of the model, outline directions for future research, and suggest practical implications at the individual and organizational levels.

Flexible resources and adaptable human beings – the identity of temporary agency workers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the work-related identity of temporary agency workers (TAWs), a topic that has received a limited amount of attention in previous research.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a qualitative method and draws upon interviews with 30 TAWs from four agencies in the south of Denmark in order to link the experiences, as narrated by Danish TAWs, to their identity.FindingsThe study unpacks the components of the TAWs’ work-related identity and provides an understanding of the self-notions that the TAWs mobilize to respond to the conditions of temporary agency work. It identifies six components of work-related identity: Being new and unfamiliar, demonstrating the ability to adapt, dealing with uncertainty, feeling inferior and marginalized, pursuing opportunities, and the necessity to impress others. Both the agency and the user-firm try to regulate the TAWs’ identity as they expect agency workers to be flexible and adaptable persons, who possess a high degree of self-control. In so doing they provide a template for identification that the workers have to respond to. The study shows that TAWs develop this identity along two dimensions: their liminal position between the agency and the user-firm; and prescribed identity templates as TAWs strive for autonomy and craft their own work-related identity.Practical implicationsThere are managerial challenges with regard to motivation, tensions between temps and permanent staff, low levels of organizational commitment, well-being, and the performance of TAWs. These challenges can be better understood (and probably solved) when agencies and user-firms would take into account the agency workers’ struggle for identification. The paper demonstrates that the work-related identity of TAWs not only has consequences for their performance but also for their whole life. Furthermore, the constitution of agency workers as flexible resource has consequences for HRM in the user-firm.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the limited amount of knowledge about the meanings that TAWs reflexively attach to themselves as they seek to make sense of the conditions of temporary agency work. Investigating their work-related identity helps to better understand the implications of temporary agency work based on the investigation of the agency workers’ experiences.

The Effects of Compassion experienced by Social Workers on Collective Self-Esteem: Mediating Effect of Positive Work-Related Identity and Moderating Effect of Organizational Identification

The Effects of Compassion experienced by Social Workers on Collective Self-Esteem: Mediating Effect of Positive Work-Related Identity and Moderating Effect of Organizational Identification

Examining Certified Nursing Assistants' Perceptions of Work-Related Identity.

The purpose of this study was to examine certified nursing assistants' (CNAs') perceptions of their work identity within the context of their relationships with nursing facility residents and residents' family members. Such information can help clarify CNAs' roles and respond to their job needs. Although CNAs provide valuable care for residents, they often experience low status at work; it is important that they have opportunities to find value in their work. Eight focus groups were conducted with 45 CNAs from 4 nursing facilities. Thematic analysis and role theory were used to analyze the data. Participants identified with the roles of connector, advocate, overloaded worker, and companion. CNAs expressed a lack of work-related control in the advocate and overloaded worker roles, and satisfaction in the companion role. Adequate organizational resources can help CNAs gain more satisfaction and effectiveness in their work.

“A whole new future” – identity construction among disadvantaged young adults

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how disadvantaged young adults construct a positive work-related identity in their transition from unemployment to employment, and what enables or constrains a successful transition. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with 29 apprentices of a reemployment program (Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen). The qualitative data were complemented by data on participants’ reemployment status one year after the program ended. Findings Identity construction was not preceded by clear motives or “possible selves.” Rather, serendipitous events led to participation in the reemployment program, after which provisional selves seemed to emerge through different pathways. The data also suggested that disadvantaged young adults had to discard their old selves to consolidate their new identity. Research limitations/implications A successful transition from unemployment to employment may require that old selves must be discarded before new selves can fully emerge. Given that our qualitative design limits the generalizability of the findings, the authors propose a process model that deserves further empirical examination. Practical implications A clear employment goal is not always required for the success of a reemployment intervention: interventions should rather focus on accommodating the emergence and consolidation of provisional selves. Yet, such programs can be simultaneously effective and unhelpful: especially group identification should be monitored. Originality/value Most research assumes that people are driven by specific goals when making a transition. The current study shows otherwise: the factors that enable or constrain a successful transition are not to be found in people’s goals, but rather in the process of identity construction itself.

Work-Related Identity of Clinical Research Sector Employees in Poland Against Professional Transformation of the Industry

Purpose: Established professions and knowledge workers identify more with their professional groups than with their organisations. The purpose of the study was to find what kind of work-related identities are shown by clinical research sector employees in Poland, what is the intensity of those identities and which one is dominant. Methodology: The study started with qualitative interviews dedicated to professional changes and to work-related identity. The latter was selected for the main quantitative part of the study and its five types were defined related to the trained profession, the practised profession, organizational, relational and task-related work identities. Intensity of these pre-defined identities was tested with a use of a questionnaire completed by 147 representatives of the sector under study. Statistical analysis of the collected data verified the research hypotheses that assumed a certain gradation of these work-related identities. Results: Professional identity related to the practised occupation was placed on the highest level followed by task-related identity. Relational and organisational identities were classified on the third and fourth levels. Identity related to the trained occupation achieved the lowest score. The employing organization type had no effect on the manifested professional identity. Originality value: As a developing new occupation, the study group itself was an interesting population for studying work-related identity. Combining the qualitative and quantitative methods enabled evaluation of the results against the professional changes shaping the sector, which can have an impact on building the work-related identity of its employees.

Communicating Health at Work: Organizational Wellness Programs as Identity Bridges

ABSTRACTWith the growth in workplace health promotion (WHP) initiatives, organizations are asking employees to enact their personal health identities at work. To understand this prominent yet poorly understood phenomenon, we surveyed 204 employees at a company with a WHP program and found that participation in the wellness program mediated personal health and organizational identities. Results fill a gap in communication literature by demonstrating the effect of individual identity enactment on organizational identification and contribute to recent research stressing the relationship between identity and health behaviors. In addition, findings illuminate the role of situated activity in identity negotiation, suggesting that certain activities in organizations, like wellness programs, serve as identity bridges between personal and work-related identity targets.

Identity transition during pregnancy: The importance of role models

This qualitative study reports on how pregnant women integrate their future maternal identity with their existing work-related identity. Twenty-four women were interviewed at three times during their pregnancy: during the first, second and third trimesters. A grounded theory approach was used to analyse the data and social learning theory was adopted as a theoretical framework to assist in interpreting the findings. The findings suggest that the availability or lack of realistic and attainable role models influences the degree to which the transition to motherhood during pregnancy was successful. When role models were readily available, the transition went well, but, when role models were absent, two less successful strategies were identified, leading to negative psychological outcomes. The study also stresses the importance of other contextual factors, such as the gender composition of organizations and the educational attainment of the individual pregnant women, in the way women perceive their transition to motherhood while working.

Toward a Model of Work-Related Self: A Narrative Review.

Occupational work as personal and social identification can be conceptualized as one of the life goals that we strive for and find meaning in. A basic categorization of the phenomenon of work-related identity is suggested, based on psychological theories of identity, memory and relational schema. It distinguishes between organizational, workgroup and professional identity. The two former relate to the concepts of social identity and collective self and the latter to the concepts of personal identity and individual self. These are assumed to form functionally independent cognitive structures, leading to separate motivations and influences on work-related satisfaction. Given this, empirical research on the impact of work-related identity on employee satisfaction, in general terms, is reviewed. The article concludes with some prospective directions for future research by sketching a general model of work-related self. It is hypothesized to evolve by a causal progression from employment across time via emotional and cognitive components.

Exploring the relationships between compassion at work, the evaluative perspective of positive work-related identity, service employee creativity, and job performance

PurposeThis study examines whether compassion at work increases service employees’ job performance. More specifically, the purpose of this study is to show the mechanism through which experienced compassion in an organization affects the job performance of service employees.Design/methodology/approachThe employees from a department store in South Korea were surveyed using a self-administered instrument for data collection. Out of 550 questionnaires, a total of 309 usable questionnaires were obtained after list-wise deletion, for a 61.6 per cent response rate.FindingsThe results of this study suggest that the evaluative perspective of positive work-related identity mediates the relationship between compassion at work and service employees’ job performance. In addition, the findings of this study demonstrate that there is significant mediating effect of service employee creativity on the relationship between compassion at work and job performance. Furthermore, the relationship between compassion at work and job performance was sequentially mediated by the evaluative perspective of positive work-related identity and the creativity of service employees.Research limitations/implicationsThe common method variance in the self-reported variables imposes a need for caution in the interpretation of the findings. Future studies could avoid the problem of common method bias by, for example, using supervisor ratings of creativity and job performance. On the other hand, this study will add to the growing body of research on service marketing by highlighting the role of compassion at work to enhance service employees’ job performance.Practical implicationsThis study offers new insight for practitioners (i.e. CEOs, top management teams, employees) by suggesting that they may promote service employees’ job performance if they pay more attention to compassionate acts in service marketing.Originality/valueAs services are becoming more important and harder to sell simultaneously, this study provides a new perspective to improve service employees’ job performance by examining its link with compassion at work.

Go Back to Texas, Gas Bastards! How a Newcomer Population of Itinerant Energy Workers Manage Dirty Work Stigma in the Marcellus Shale Region

The present study examines how itinerant energy workers in the Marcellus Shale region reject stigmatizing labels and construct a positive, work-related identity around sociopositive actions. Qualitative interviews (n = 22) with employees at one contract drilling company are the primary data collection method. Participants use several protective techniques to manage the dirty work stigma that they perceive Marcellus Shale residents ascribe to their work and project onto them. By reframing, recalibrating, and refocusing stigma onto personal and environmental safety, oil-field workers reinforce their preferred self-identities. A social weighting technique allows workers to condemn those community residents who condemn them. This study expands knowledge on how the dirty work label fosters occupational communities within natural resource-based labor, while complementing boomtown studies that focus almost exclusively on community residents.

Positive Work-Related Identity as a Mediator of the Relationship between Compassion at Work and Employee Outcomes

Our purpose in this study was to examine an explanation of how experienced compassion relates to employee outcomes, such as affective organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and turnover intention. The model tested suggests that compassion at work influences these organizational outcomes by developing positive work-related identity, which in turn prompts employees to accelerate affective commitment toward their organizations and organizational citizenship behavior, while at the same time decreasing turnover intention. The findings of our study demonstrate that compassion at work is an antecedent to positive work-related identity, which in turn fully mediates the relationship between compassion at work and organizational outcomes i.e., affective organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and turnover intention.

Professional identity of faculty members at higher education institutions: a criterion for workplace success

This research aimed to develop and validate a psychometrically sound and convenient measure of the professional identity questionnaire (PIQ) and to determine the level of professional identity among faculty members employed by higher education institutions in Jordan. The PIQ was administered to a sample of 551 faculty members employed by three universities in Jordan. The data set was subject to exploratory factor analysis utilising principal axis factoring with oblique rotation to uncover the underlying structure of the PIQ. Four factors emerged with 25 items retained. These factors were self-related identity, skill-related identity, work-related identity and student-related identity. Internal consistency reliability coefficients for these factors ranged between 0.89 and 0.94. The results indicated that faculty members possessed high levels of self-related and skill-related identities, moderate levels of work-related identities and low levels of student-related identities. The study ended with a number of theoretical and practical recommendations for the field of study.

Social Integration and Workplace Industrial Relations

This paper tackles the question of how social integration of migrant and native employees takes place in German industry and what role workplace industrial relations play in it. Three company case studies in manufacturing based on expert interviews with management representatives and works councillors, interviews and group discussions with employees of different origin, employee surveys, as well as company statistics, were used to explore this issue. The paper analyzes the social structure of the investigated companies, examines the interaction of employees of different origin and the role workplace industrial relations play in fostering cooperation and social integration. The case studies show that migrants are more likely to be positioned in the lower ranks of the companies’ social structure. Findings suggest, however, that this is primarily a consequence of the migrants having insufficient vocational training, which is probably the result of discrimination outside and at the threshold of the companies rather than a sign of direct discrimination within the companies. Nevertheless, the interviews and surveys show that there is employee resentment against people of different origin. There is a coexistence of resentment on the one hand and good cooperation on the other. Work requirements and the works councils’ and managements’ “internal universalism” (i.e. an orientation towards equal treatment of employees and the interdiction of discrimination within the companies) foster collegial cooperation among employees. German co-determination favours an employee model of interest representation which encourages individuals to choose a work-related identity and labour solidarity to assert their interests rather than identities related to ethnic groups. It is argued that this framework and the daily interaction of the employees eventually evoke feelings of collegiality and foster social integration.

Letting Go and Moving On: Work-Related Identity Loss and Recovery

Transitions in work memberships, relationships, and roles can result in work-related identity loss. This article contributes to a growing body of research examining identity transitions by providing a dynamic model to explain these identity losses. Our model incorporates principles from identity research and grief research to predict how employees will react to the loss of a work-related identity. We conceptualize the transition period as one of liminality, during which individuals engage in sensemaking and emotion regulation to determine who they were and who they are becoming. Specifically, the process involves cognitive and emotional processing in two domains: loss orientation and restoration orientation. We propose that emotions experienced (and their associated regulatory foci) are critical for determining whether individuals experience adaptive or maladaptive identity-related outcomes.

Differentiating Organizational Identification and Dis-identification of Employees Through A Nomological Network

Workers form their own work-related identity through identification and dis-identification with their organizations,and the processes depend on their perceptions of their organizations' identity.Workers' motivation to identify or dis-identify with an organization is to enhance their self-esteem.However,an organization has rich identity elements,making it possible that a worker can identify with some but dis-identify with others at the same time.The construct of organizational identification has been comprehensively studied in the literature,but the construct of organizational dis-identification needs much conceptual clarification,theoretical elaboration,and empirical exploration.Organizational dis-identification is a unique construct,different from though relevant to organizational identification.In our nomological network,organizational identification and dis-identification have different antecedents and consequences.Survey data came from 250 workers in five firms in Southwest China.Workers reported their perceptions on organizational prestige,procedural justice,organizational identification,organization dis-identification,loyalty boosterism,and organizational expedience.These scales were either previously validated in their Chinese version or back-translated using double-blind procedures.All scales satisfied the traditional psychometric properties.Out of a structural equation model,results supported all the hypotheses.Perceived organizational prestige positively predicted organizational identification,which in turn positively predicted loyalty boosterism actions toward organizations.Procedural justice negatively predicted organizational dis-identification,which then positively predicted workers' expedient behaviors.The model fit indices satisfied the conventional criteria.In addition,a series of nested structural equation models indicated that organizational identification and dis-identification are distinct—combining them will make the model much worse and the fit indices unacceptable.In conclusion,organizational identification and dis-identification are different constructs.Theoretically,the nomological network proposed the different antecedents and consequences.Empirically,treating them as distinct constructs fit the data much better than dealing with them as one.The differentiation of these two constructs,especially research on organizational dis-identification,has great implications to management practices of organizations.

Identity Separation in Response to Stereotype Threat

Despite widespread evidence for the performance costs of stereotype threat, little research has examined other psychological consequences, such as disengagement or disidentification. The present studies investigated such consequences of stereotype threat for women working at major international firms. Study 1 found that female leaders who experienced stereotype threat separated their feminine identities from their work-related (i.e., more masculine) identity. Study 2 extended this finding by demonstrating that even when the feminine identity comprised those characteristics that serve women well in the workplace (e.g., being understanding and aware of the feelings of others), female employees still engaged in identity separation after experiences of stereotype threat. These results suggest that stereotype threat is an ongoing concern in the workplace, and they provide evidence for psychological consequences of stereotype threat.

PATHWAYS FOR POSITIVE IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION AT WORK: FOUR TYPES OF POSITIVE IDENTITY AND THE BUILDING OF SOCIAL RESOURCES.

In this paper we organize research on work-related identities into a four-perspective typology that captures different ways identities can be “positive.” Each perspective on positive identity—virtue, evaluative, developmental, and structural—highlights a different source of positivity and opens new avenues for theorizing about identity construction. We use these four perspectives to develop propositions about how different forms of positive work-related identity construction can strengthen employees through building social resources.