Under Threat: Responses to and the Consequences of Threats to Individuals' Identities

doi:10.5465/AMR.2009.0087

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Under Threat: Responses to and the Consequences of Threats to Individuals' Identities

Journal Article•DOI•

Under Threat: Responses to and the Consequences of Threats to Individuals' Identities

Jennifer Louise Petriglieri¹•Institutions (1)

Harvard University¹

01 Oct 2011-Academy of Management Review (Academy of Management)-Vol. 36, Iss: 4, pp 641-662

TL;DR: In this article, the authors review and reconceptualize identity threat, defining it as an experience appraised as indicating potential harm to the value, meaning, or enactment of an identity.

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Abstract: I review and reconceptualize identity threat, defining it as an experience appraised as indicating potential harm to the value, meanings, or enactment of an identity. I also develop a theoretical model and propositions that generate insights into how individuals respond to identity threats originating from a range of sources. I use this theory to explore individual and organizational consequences of different identity threat responses and their implications for research on identity dynamics within organizations.

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Journal Article•DOI•

Sensemaking in Organizations: Taking Stock and Moving Forward

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Sally Maitlis¹, Marlys K. Christianson²•Institutions (2)

University of British Columbia¹, University of Toronto²

10 Jun 2014-The Academy of Management Annals

TL;DR: For instance, the authors defined sensemaking as the process through which people work to understand issues or events that are novel, ambiguous, confusing, or in some other way violate expectations.

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Abstract: Sensemaking is the process through which people work to understand issues or events that are novel, ambiguous, confusing, or in some other way violate expectations. As an activity central to organizing, sensemaking has been the subject of considerable research which has intensified over the last decade. We begin this review with a historical overview of the field, and develop a definition of sensemaking rooted in recurrent themes from the literature. We then review and integrate existing theory and research, focusing on two key bodies of work. The first explores how sensemaking is accomplished, unpacking the sensemaking process by examining how events become triggers for sensemaking, how intersubjective meaning is created, and the role of action in sensemaking. The second body considers how sensemaking enables the accomplishment of other key organizational processes, such organizational change, learning, and creativity and innovation. The final part of the chapter draws on areas of difference and debate h...

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1,174 citations

Cites background from "Under Threat: Responses to and the ..."

...Petriglieri (2011) highlights different kinds of sensemaking triggered by an identity threat, arguing that when the identity is newly acquired (for example, when embarking on a new profession), individuals are prompted to change the meaning of the new identity....
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...In contrast, when a long-established identity is threatened, sensemaking is more likely to focus on the importance of that identity, often revising it downwards to reduce the impact of the threat (Petriglieri, 2011)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Identities and Identity Work in Organizations

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Andrew D. Brown¹•Institutions (1)

University of Bath¹

01 Jan 2015-International Journal of Management Reviews

TL;DR: Identities, people's subjectively construed understandings of who they were, are and desire to become, are implicated in, and thus key to understanding and explaining, almost everything that happens in and around organizations as mentioned in this paper.

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Abstract: Identities, people's subjectively construed understandings of who they were, are and desire to become, are implicated in, and thus key to understanding and explaining, almost everything that happens in and around organizations The research contribution that this review paper makes is threefold First, it analyses the often employed but rarely systematically explored concept ‘identity work’, and argues that it is one metaphor among many that may be useful in the analysis of professional and more generally work identities Second, it focuses on five fundamental, interconnected debates in contemporary identities research centred on notions of choice, stability, coherence, positivity and authenticity Third, it outlines the roles that the concept ‘identity work’ may play in bridging levels of analysis and disciplinary boundaries, and sketches some possible future identities-focused ideas for further research Under-specification has meant that ‘identity’ has not always fulfilled its analytical promise in either theoretical explorations of identities issues or in empirical studies of identities in practice; and it is to these ends that this paper seeks to contribute

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531 citations

Cites background from "Under Threat: Responses to and the ..."

...…occurs when individuals move into new professional roles (Ibarra 1999) or organizations (Beyer and Hannah 2002), exit a role (Ebaugh 1988), respond to workplace bullying and stigma (Kaufman and Johnson 2004; LutgenSandvik 2008), and experience identity threat (Collinson 2003; Petriglieri 2011)....
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...…‘bounding’, ‘stabilizing’, ‘sensemaking’, ‘reconciling’, ‘stabilizing’ and ‘restructuring’, and to differentiate between work that is ‘active’ and ‘passive’ and that which is ‘conscious’ and ‘sub-conscious’ (Alvesson and Willmott 2002; Kreiner, Hollensbe, and Sheep 2006; Petriglieri 2011)....
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...Much attention has been devoted to the identity work that occurs when individuals move into new professional roles (Ibarra 1999) or organizations (Beyer and Hannah 2002), exit a role (Ebaugh 1988), respond to workplace bullying and stigma (Kaufman and Johnson 2004; LutgenSandvik 2008), and experience identity threat (Collinson 2003; Petriglieri 2011)....
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...There have been multiple attempts to specify ‘generic’ processes of identity work, though there is little consensus on these, including ‘claiming’, ‘affirming’, ‘accepting’, ‘complying’, ‘resisting’, ‘separating’, ‘joining’, ‘defining’, ‘limiting’, ‘bounding’, ‘stabilizing’, ‘sensemaking’, ‘reconciling’, ‘stabilizing’ and ‘restructuring’, and to differentiate between work that is ‘active’ and ‘passive’ and that which is ‘conscious’ and ‘sub-conscious’ (Alvesson and Willmott 2002; Kreiner, Hollensbe, and Sheep 2006; Petriglieri 2011)....
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...…relatively secure and stable’ understanding of their selves in order to function effectively (Ashforth and Kreiner 1999, p. 417): ‘individuals are strongly motivated to maintain and enact their identities in their current state in order to achieve a sense of stability’ (Petriglieri 2011, p. 644)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

The validation of the turnover intention scale

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Chris F.C. Bothma¹, Gert Roodt¹•Institutions (1)

University of Johannesburg¹

15 Apr 2013-Sa Journal of Human Resource Management

TL;DR: The TIS-6 can be used as a reliable and valid scale to assess turnover intention and for predicting actual turnover as mentioned in this paper, which can therefore be used in research to validly and reliably assess turnover intentions or to predict actual turnover.

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Abstract: Orientation: Turnover intention as a construct has attracted increased research attention in the recent past, but there are seemingly not many valid and reliable scales around to measure turnover intention. Research purpose: This study focused on the validation of a shortened, six-item version of the turnover intention scale (TIS-6). Motivation for the study: The research question of whether the TIS-6 is a reliable and a valid scale for measuring turnover intention and for predicting actual turnover was addressed in this study. Research design, approach and method: The study was based on a census-based sample ( n = 2429) of employees in an information, communication and technology (ICT) sector company ( N = 23 134) where the TIS-6 was used as one of the criterion variables. The leavers (those who left the company) in this sample were compared with the stayers (those who remained in the employ of the company) in this sample in respect of different variables used in the study. Main findings: It was established that the TIS-6 could measure turnover intentions reliably (α= 0.80). The TIS-6 could significantly distinguish between leavers and stayers (actual turnover), thereby confirming its criterion-predictive validity. The scale also established statistically significant differences between leavers and stayers in respect of a number of the remaining theoretical variables used in the study, thereby also confirming its differential validity. These comparisons were conducted for both the 4-month and the 4-year period after the survey was conducted. Practical/managerial implications: Turnover intention is related to a number of variables in the study which necessitates a reappraisal and a reconceptualisation of existing turnover intention models. Contribution/value-add: The TIS-6 can be used as a reliable and valid scale to assess turnover intentions and can therefore be used in research to validly and reliably assess turnover intentions or to predict actual turnover.

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287 citations

Cites background from "Under Threat: Responses to and the ..."

...Another theoretical framework which may shed light on an individual’s decision to exit an organisation is Petriglieri’s (2011) theory of identity threat responses....
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...…Several authors (Bakker & Demerouti, 2006; Jacobs, 2005; Lee & Mitchell, 1994; Mobley, 1982; Morrell, Loan-Clarke, Arnold & Wilkinson, 2008; Petriglieri, 2011; Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004; Zeffane, 1994) have developed and tested models in an attempt to explain turnover intentions and related…...
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...Several authors (Bakker & Demerouti, 2006; Jacobs, 2005; Lee & Mitchell, 1994; Mobley, 1982; Morrell, Loan-Clarke, Arnold & Wilkinson, 2008; Petriglieri, 2011; Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004; Zeffane, 1994) have developed and tested models in an attempt to explain turnover intentions and related constructs....
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...Turnover is the result of a coping strategy used by employees to escape the current situation (cf. Petriglieri, 2011)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

It's What You Make of It: Founder Identity and Enacting Strategic Responses to Adversity

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E. Erin Powell¹, Ted Baker²•Institutions (2)

Clemson University¹, University of Cape Town²

01 Oct 2014-Academy of Management Journal

TL;DR: This paper conducted a longitudinal field study of 13 resource-constrained founder-run textile and apparel firms to understand how and why firms vary in their strategic responses to the same adversity, finding that founders enact distinctly different definitions of the adversity and use their firms as vehicles to defend who they are or to become who they want to be.

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Abstract: We conducted a longitudinal field study of 13 resource-constrained founder-run textile and apparel firms to understand how and why firms vary in their strategic responses to the same adversity. We discovered that founders enact distinctly different definitions of the adversity and use their firms as vehicles to defend who they are or to become who they want to be. Bridging two formerly disparate social psychological theories of identity, we develop grounded theory and a process model that together contribute toward our understanding of how and why differences in the structure of founder identity—the set of identities that is chronically salient to a founder in her/his day-to-day work—drive patterned differences in firms’ strategic responses. The processes we describe help explain responses to adversity and also provide a platform for research that may generate new insights into the significance for founders of bringing “who I am” into closer alignment with “who I want to be.”

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263 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Identity Under Construction: How Individuals Come to Define Themselves in Organizations

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Blake E. Ashforth, Beth S. Schinoff¹•Institutions (1)

Arizona State University¹

23 Mar 2016-Social Science Research Network

TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the process of identity construction in organizations and describe how individuals construct their identities through sensebreaking, rendering individuals more receptive to organizational cues conveyed via sensegiving.

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Abstract: Individuals need a situated identity, or a clear sense of “who they are” in their local context, to function. Drawing largely on interpretivist research, we describe the process of identity construction in organizations. Organizations set the stage for members to construct their identities through sensebreaking, rendering individuals more receptive to organizational cues conveyed via sensegiving. Individuals utilize sensemaking to construe their situated identity as they progress toward a desired self. Affect (feeling “this is me”), behavior (acting as “me”), and cognition (thinking “this is me”) are each viable and intertwined gateways to a situated identity that resonates with one's desired self and a given context. Individuals formulate identity narratives that link their past and present to a desired future, providing direction. If their identity enactments and narratives receive social validation, individuals feel more assured, fortifying their emergent identities. The result of these dynamics is a v...

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231 citations

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References

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"Under Threat: Responses to and the ..." refers background in this paper

...As socially embedded creatures, individuals negotiate their identities within social relationships and interactions that assign value to identities, define and shape their meanings, and ascribe (or deny) identities (Mead, 1934; Swann, 1987; White, 1992)....
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