Shattering the Myth of Separate Worlds: Negotiating Nonwork Identities at Work
TL;DR: The authors developed a model of how people negotiate non-work identities (e.g., national, gender, family) in the context of organizational/occupational pressures and personal preferences regarding this identity.
Abstract: How much of our self is defined by our work? Fundamental changes in the social organization of work are destabilizing the relationship between work and the self. As a result, parts of the self traditionally considered outside the domain of work—that is, nonwork identities—are increasingly affected by organizations and occupations. Based on an interdisciplinary review of literature on identity and work, we develop a model of how people negotiate nonwork identities (e.g., national, gender, family) in the context of organizational/occupational pressures and personal preferences regarding this identity. We propose that the dual forces of pressures and preferences vary from inclusion (e.g., incorporating the nonwork identity within the work identity) to exclusion (e.g., keeping the identities separate). We suggest that the alignment or misalignment of these pressures and preferences shapes people's experience of the power relationship between themselves and their organization/occupation and affects how they ma...
Citations
More filters
Cornell University1, National University of Singapore2, University of New South Wales3, University of Lausanne4, University of Michigan5, Erasmus University Rotterdam6, Tel Aviv University7, University of Melbourne8, Singapore Management University9, University of Maryland, College Park10, University of Pennsylvania11, Eindhoven University of Technology12, Stanford University13, Concordia University14, London Business School15, Baylor University16, University College London17, California State University, Sacramento18, INSEAD19, Saint Louis University20, Nanyang Technological University21, University of Minnesota22, Harvard University23, University of Arkansas24, VU University Amsterdam25
TL;DR: A broad-scope overview provides an integrative approach for considering the implications of COVID-19 for work, workers, and organizations while also identifying issues for future research and insights to inform solutions.
Abstract: The impacts of COVID-19 on workers and workplaces across the globe have been dramatic. This broad review of prior research rooted in work and organizational psychology, and related fields, is intended to make sense of the implications for employees, teams, and work organizations. This review and preview of relevant literatures focuses on (a) emergent changes in work practices (e.g., working from home, virtual teamwork) and (b) emergent changes for workers (e.g., social distancing, stress, and unemployment). In addition, potential moderating factors (demographic characteristics, individual differences, and organizational norms) are examined given the likelihood that COVID-19 will generate disparate effects. This broad-scope overview provides an integrative approach for considering the implications of COVID-19 for work, workers, and organizations while also identifying issues for future research and insights to inform solutions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
654 citations
Cites background from "Shattering the Myth of Separate Wor..."
...Employees often find it challenging to maintain boundaries between work and nonwork (Ramarajan & Reid, 2013)....
[...]
TL;DR: In this article, a meta-theory of paradox is proposed to enrich existing management studies by reengaging the less developed themes of paradox, such as individual approaches, collective approaches, and outcomes.
Abstract: Paradox studies offer vital and timely insights into an array of organizational tensions. Yet this field stands at a critical juncture. Over the past 25 years, management scholars have drawn foundational insights from philosophy and psychology to apply a paradox lens to organizational phenomena. Yet extant studies selectively leverage ancient wisdom, adopting some key insights while abandoning others. Using a structured content analysis to review the burgeoning management literature, we surface six key themes, which represent the building blocks of a meta-theory of paradox. These six themes received varying attention in extant studies: paradox scholars emphasize types of paradoxes, collective approaches, and outcomes, but pay less attention to relationships within paradoxes, individual approaches, and dynamics. As this analysis suggests, management scholars have increasingly simplified the intricate, often messy phenomena of paradox. Greater simplicity renders phenomena understandable and testable, however, oversimplifying complex realities can foster reductionist and incomplete theories. We therefore propose a future research agenda targeted at enriching a meta-theory of paradox by reengaging these less developed themes. Doing so can sharpen the focus of this field, while revisiting its rich conceptual roots to capture the intricacies of paradox. This future research agenda leverages the potential of paradox across diverse streams of management science.
600 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a constitutive approach to the study of organizational contradictions, dialectics, paradoxes, and tensions is presented, highlighting five constitutive dimensions (i.e., discourse, developmental actions, socio-historical conditions, presence in multiples, and praxis).
Abstract: This article presents a constitutive approach to the study of organizational contradictions, dialectics, paradoxes, and tensions. In particular, it highlights five constitutive dimensions (i.e., discourse, developmental actions, socio-historical conditions, presence in multiples, and praxis) that appear across the literature in five metatheoretical traditions—process-based systems, structuration, critical, postmodern, and relational dialectics. In exploring these dimensions, it defines and distinguishes among key constructs, links research to process outcomes, and sets forth a typology of alternative ways of responding to organizational tensions. It concludes by challenging researchers to sharpen their focus on time in process studies, privilege emotion in relation to rationality, and explore the dialectic between order and disorder.
518 citations
References
More filters
TL;DR: In this paper, it is argued that the degree of overlap of two individuals' friendship networks varies directly with the strength of their tie to one another, and the impact of this principle on diffusion of influence and information, mobility opportunity, and community organization is explored.
Abstract: Analysis of social networks is suggested as a tool for linking micro and macro levels of sociological theory. The procedure is illustrated by elaboration of the macro implications of one aspect of small-scale interaction: the strength of dyadic ties. It is argued that the degree of overlap of two individuals' friendship networks varies directly with the strength of their tie to one another. The impact of this principle on diffusion of influence and information, mobility opportunity, and community organization is explored. Stress is laid on the cohesive power of weak ties. Most network models deal, implicitly, with strong ties, thus confining their applicability to small, well-defined groups. Emphasis on weak ties lends itself to discussion of relations between groups and to analysis of segments of social structure not easily defined in terms of primary groups.
37,560 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the relationship between information control and personal identity, including the Discredited and the Discreditable Social Information Visibility Personal Identity Biography Biographical Others Passing Techniques of Information Control Covering.
Abstract: CONTENTS 1. Stigma and Social Identity Preliminary Conceptions The Own and the Wise Moral Career 2. Information Control and Personal Identity The Discredited and the Discreditable Social Information Visibility Personal Identity Biography Biographical Others Passing Techniques of Information Control Covering 3. Group Alignment and Ego Identity Ambivalence Professional Presentations In-Group Alignments Out-Group Alignments The Politics of Identity 4. The Self and Its Other Deviations and Norms The Normal Deviant Stigma and Reality 5. Deviations and Deviance
17,631 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1963
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the relationship between information control and personal identity, including the Discredited and the Discreditable Social Information Visibility Personal Identity Biography Biographical Others Passing Techniques of Information Control Covering.
Abstract: CONTENTS 1. Stigma and Social Identity Preliminary Conceptions The Own and the Wise Moral Career 2. Information Control and Personal Identity The Discredited and the Discreditable Social Information Visibility Personal Identity Biography Biographical Others Passing Techniques of Information Control Covering 3. Group Alignment and Ego Identity Ambivalence Professional Presentations In-Group Alignments Out-Group Alignments The Politics of Identity 4. The Self and Its Other Deviations and Norms The Normal Deviant Stigma and Reality 5. Deviations and Deviance
13,742 citations
Book•
01 Dec 1934
10,737 citations
"Shattering the Myth of Separate Wor..." refers background in this paper
...Selves, people’s self-definitions and meanings constructed through interaction with others (Goffman, 1959; James, 1890; Mead, 1934), encompass multiple identities developed within different aspects of social life (Burke & Stets, 2009; James, 1890)....
[...]
...Meaning and enactment are central and interconnected dimensions of identity construction: interpretation and self-narrative are integral to identity formation (Ashmore, Deaux, & McLaughlin-Volpe, 2004; Bruner, 1990; Ibarra & Barbulescu, 2010), and people further establish their selves through behavior and social interaction (Goffman, 1959; Mead, 1934; Swann, 1987)....
[...]
...Since identities are sustained through situated social interaction (Goffman, 1959; Mead, 1934), preventing nonwork identity enactments may diminish the identity’s importance over time....
[...]
...…construction: interpretation and self-narrative are integral to identity formation (Ashmore, Deaux, & McLaughlin-Volpe, 2004; Bruner, 1990; Ibarra & Barbulescu, 2010), and people further establish their selves through behavior and social interaction (Goffman, 1959; Mead, 1934; Swann, 1987)....
[...]
Book•
[...]
TL;DR: Jerome Bruner argues that the cognitive revolution has led psychology away from the deeper objective of understanding mind as a creator of meanings, and only by breaking out of the limitations imposed by a computational model of mind can be grasped.
Abstract: Jerome Bruner argues that the cognitive revolution, with its current fixation on mind as "information processor;" has led psychology away from the deeper objective of understanding mind as a creator of meanings. Only by breaking out of the limitations imposed by a computational model of mind can we grasp the special interaction through which mind both constitutes and is constituted by culture. (http://books.google.fr/books?id=YHt_M41uIuUC&pg=PA157&dq=Bruner,+J.+%281990%29.+Acts+of+meaning&hl=fr&ei=EwOXTrqpCsPWsgaGgO2YBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false)
10,465 citations
"Shattering the Myth of Separate Wor..." refers background in this paper
...Meaning and enactment are central and interconnected dimensions of identity construction: interpretation and self-narrative are integral to identity formation (Ashmore, Deaux, & McLaughlin-Volpe, 2004; Bruner, 1990; Ibarra & Barbulescu, 2010), and people further establish their selves through behavior and social interaction (Goffman, 1959; Mead, 1934; Swann, 1987)....
[...]
...…dimensions of identity construction: interpretation and self-narrative are integral to identity formation (Ashmore, Deaux, & McLaughlin-Volpe, 2004; Bruner, 1990; Ibarra & Barbulescu, 2010), and people further establish their selves through behavior and social interaction (Goffman, 1959; Mead,…...
[...]