Showing papers on "Identity (social science) published in 2012"

Social identity theory and the organization

Abstract: It is argued that (a) social identification is a perception of oneness with a group of persons; (b) social identification stems from the categorization of individuals, the distinctiveness and prestige of the group, the salience of outgroups, and the factors that traditionally are associated with group formation; and (c) social identification leads to activities that are congruent with the identity, support for institutions that embody the identity, stereotypical perceptions of self and others, and outcomes that traditionally are associated with group formation, and it reinforces the antecedents of identification. This perspective is applied to organizational socialization, role conflict, and intergroup relations.

The Personalization of Politics Political Identity, Social Media, and Changing Patterns of Participation

Abstract: This article proposes a framework for understanding large-scale individualized collective action that is often coordinated through digital media technologies. Social fragmentation and the decline of group loyalties have given rise to an era of personalized politics in which individually expressive personal action frames displace collective action frames in many protest causes. This trend can be spotted in the rise of large-scale, rapidly forming political participation aimed at a variety of targets, ranging from parties and candidates, to corporations, brands, and transnational organizations. The group-based “identity politics” of the “new social movements” that arose after the 1960s still exist, but the recent period has seen more diverse mobilizations in which individuals are mobilized around personal lifestyle values to engage with multiple causes such as economic justice (fair trade, inequality, and development policies), environmental protection, and worker and human rights.

Resisting Reality: Social Construction and Social Critique

Abstract: Introduction I. Social Construction 1. "Social Construction: Myths and Reality" 2. "On Being Objective and Being Objectified." 3. "Ontology and Social Construction." 4. "Social Construction: The "Debunking" Project." 5. "Feminism and Metaphysics: Negotiating the Natural." 6. "Family, Ancestry and Self: What is the Moral Significance of Biological Ties?" 7. "Gender and Race: (What) Are They? (What) Do We Want Them To Be?" 8. "Future Genders? Future Races?" 9. "You Mixed? Racial Identity without Racial Biology." 10. "A Social Constructionist Analysis of Race" 11. "Oppressions: Racial and Other" III. Language and Knowledge 12. "What Knowledge Is and What It Ought To Be: Feminist Values and Normative Epistemology" 13. "What Are We Talking About? The Semantics and Politics of Social Kinds" 14. "What Good Are Our Intuitions? Philosophical Analysis and Social Kinds" 15. "But Mom, Crop-Tops Are Cute!" 16. "Language, Politics and 'The Folk': Looking for the 'Meaning' of Race " 17. "Ideology, Generics, and Common Ground"

When group membership gets personal: A theory of identity fusion.

Abstract: Identity fusion is a relatively unexplored form of alignment with groups that entails a visceral feeling of oneness with the group. This feeling is associated with unusually porous, highly permeable borders between the personal and social self. These porous borders encourage people to channel their personal agency into group behavior, raising the possibility that the personal and social self will combine synergistically to motivate pro-group behavior. Furthermore, the strong personal as well as social identities possessed by highly fused persons cause them to recognize other group members not merely as members of the group but also as unique individuals, prompting the development of strong relational as well as collective ties within the group. In local fusion, people develop relational ties to members of relatively small groups (e.g., families or work teams) with whom they have personal relationships. In extended fusion, people project relational ties onto relatively large collectives composed of many individuals with whom they may have no personal relationships. The research literature indicates that measures of fusion are exceptionally strong predictors of extreme pro-group behavior. Moreover, fusion effects are amplified by augmenting individual agency, either directly (by increasing physiological arousal) or indirectly (by activating personal or social identities). The effects of fusion on pro-group actions are mediated by perceptions of arousal and invulnerability. Possible causes of identity fusion—ranging from relatively distal, evolutionary, and cultural influences to more proximal, contextual influences—are discussed. Finally, implications and future directions are considered.

Building member attachment in online communities: applying theories of group identity and interpersonal bonds

Abstract: Online communities are increasingly important to organizations and the general public, but there is little theoretically based research on what makes some online communities more successful than others. In this article, we apply theory from the field of social psychology to understand how online communities develop member attachment, an important dimension of community success. We implemented and empirically tested two sets of community features for building member attachment by strengthening either group identity or interpersonal bonds. To increase identity-based attachment, we gave members information about group activities and intergroup competition, and tools for group-level communication. To increase bond-based attachment, we gave members information about the activities of individual members and interpersonal similarity, and tools for interpersonal communication. Results from a six-month field experiment show that participants' visit frequency and self-reported attachment increased in both conditions. Community features intended to foster identity-based attachment had stronger effects than features intended to foster bond-based attachment. Participants in the identity condition with access to group profiles and repeated exposure to their group's activities visited their community twice as frequently as participants in other conditions. The new features also had stronger effects on newcomers than on old-timers. This research illustrates how theory from the social science literature can be applied to gain a more systematic understanding of online communities and how theory-inspired features can improve their success.

Competency is not enough: integrating identity formation into the medical education discourse.

Abstract: Despite the widespread implementation of competency-based medical education, there are growing concerns that generally focus on the translation of physician roles into "measurable competencies." By breaking medical training into small, discrete, measurable tasks, it is argued, the medical education community may have emphasized too heavily questions of assessment, thereby missing the underlying meaning and interconnectedness of how physician roles shape future physicians. To address these concerns, the authors argue that an expanded approach be taken that includes a focus on professional identity development. The authors provide a conceptual analysis of the issues and language related to a broader focus on understanding the relationship between the development of competency and the formation of identities during medical training. Including identity alongside competency allows a reframing of approaches to medical education away from an exclusive focus on "doing the work of a physician" toward a broader focus that also includes "being a physician." The authors consider the salient literature on identity that can inform this expanded perspective about medical education and training.

A Social Context Model of Envy and Social Undermining

Abstract: We integrate moral disengagement, social identification, and social norms theories to develop, test, and replicate a model that explains how and when envy is associated with social undermining. In Study 1, a two-wave study of hospital employees, results support the prediction that the mediated effect of envy on social undermining behavior through moral disengagement is stronger when employees have low social identification with coworkers. Study 2, a four-wave, multilevel study of student teams, shows that the indirect effect of envy on social undermining through moral disengagement is stronger in teams with low team identification and high team undermining norms. Employees have numerous opportunities to observe and contemplate how the benefits and advantages they enjoy at work compare with those of their colleagues. Whether these opportunities present themselves formally (e.g., through performance appraisals) or informally (e.g., through friendship networks), common experience and empirical research suggest that favorable social comparison information gives people pleasure, but unfavorable information can focus their attention on what they lack relative to their colleagues (Hogg, 2000). In the latter case, feelings of envy—the emotion that surfaces when one lacks and desires others’ superior qualities, achievements, or possessions (Parrott & Smith, 1993)—may arise. Envy of others at work (referred to here as “envy”) may have positive consequences if, for example, it motivates a person to increase performance or attempt self-improvement (Duffy, Shaw, & Schaubroeck, 2008; Schaubroeck & Lam, 2004). But envy also has a dark side. Envy poses threatens the core of an individual’s professional identity

"I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess": Becoming-Intersectional in Assemblage Theory

Abstract: “Grids happen” writes Brian Massumi, at a moment in Parables for the Virtual where one is tempted to be swept away by the endless affirmative becomings of movement, flux, and potential, as opposed to being pinned down by the retroactive positioning of identity. Since the publication of Terrorist Assemblages, in response to anxieties about apparent prescription to leave intersectionality behind (as if one could), this chapter elaborates on the political usages of assemblages and assemblage theory. The theory of intersectionality argues that all identities are lived and experienced as intersectional—in such a way that identity categories themselves are cut through and unstable—and that all subjects are intersectional whether or not they recognize themselves as such. In the succinct words of Arun Saldanha, using Venn diagrams to illustrate his point, “The theory of intersectionality holds that there is no actual body that is a member of only one set”.

The linguistics of self-branding and micro-celebrity in Twitter: The role of hashtags:

Abstract: Twitter is a linguistic marketplace (Bourdieu, 1977) in which the processes of self-branding and micro-celebrity (Marwick, 2010) depend on visibility as a means of increasing social and economic ga...

Self-efficacy, job satisfaction, motivation and commitment: exploring the relationships between indicators of teachers' professional identity

Abstract: This study investigates how relevant indicators of teachers' sense of their professional identity (job satisfaction, occupational commitment, self-efficacy and change in level of motivation) are related. A model is proposed, tested with structural equation modelling (SEM) and refined using data from 1,214 Dutch teachers working in secondary education. Classroom self-efficacy and relationship satisfaction play a key influencing role in the relationships between the indicators. Using multiple-group SEM, the parameters of the overall model are similar for the novice, experienced and senior teachers in a constrained model. This aspect of similarity across experience groups is in line with findings of previous research on teachers' professional identity. The present study contributes to the further development of a solid theory on teachers' professional identity, which has been lacking.

The formation of professional identity in medical students: Considerations for educators

Abstract: Context: Medical education is about more than acquiring an appropriate level of knowledge and developing relevant skills. To practice medicine students need to develop a professional identity – ways of being and relating in professional contexts.Objectives: This article conceptualises the processes underlying the formation and maintenance of medical students’ professional identity drawing on concepts from social psychology.Implications: A multi-dimensional model of identity and identity formation, along with the concepts of identity capital and multiple identities, are presented. The implications for educators are discussed.Conclusions: Identity formation is mainly social and relational in nature. Educators, and the wider medical society, need to utilise and maximise the opportunities that exist in the various relational settings students experience. Education in its broadest sense is about the transformation of the self into new ways of thinking and relating. Helping students form, and successfully integ...

The Power Of Identity: The Information Age: Economy,

Abstract: In this second volume of The Information Age trilogy, with an extensive new preface following the recent global economic crisis, Manuel Castells deals with the social, political, and cultural dynamics associated with the technological transformation of our societies and with the globalization of the economy.Extensive new preface examines how dramatic recent events have transformed the socio-political landscape of our worldApplies Castells hypotheses to contemporary issues such as Al Qaeda and global terrorist networks, American unilateralism and the crisis of political legitimacy throughout the worldA brilliant account of social, cultural, and political conflict and struggle all over the worldAnalyzes the importance of cultural, religious, and national identity as sources of meaning for people, and its implications for social movementThrows new light on the dynamics of global and local changeAuthor: Castells, Manuel Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Illustration: N Language: ENG Title: The Power of Identity: The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture Volume II Pages: 00584 (Encrypted EPUB) / 00592 (Encrypted PDF) On Sale: 2011-09-20 SKU-13/ISBN: 9781405196871 Category: Social Science : Sociology General

Displacement, Diaspora, and Geographies of Identity

Abstract: Displacement, Diaspora, and Geographies of Identity challenges conventional understandings of identity based on notions of nation and culture as bounded or discrete. Through careful examinations of various transnational, hybrid, border, and diasporic forces and practices, these essays push at the edge of cultural studies, postmodernism, and postcolonial theory and raise crucial questions about ethnographic methodology. This volume exemplifies a cross-disciplinary cultural studies and a concept of culture rooted in lived experience as well as textual readings. Anthropologists and scholars from related fields deploy a range of methodologies and styles of writing to blur and complicate conventional dualisms between authors and subjects of research, home and away, center and periphery, and first and third world. Essays discuss topics such as Rai, a North African pop music viewed as westernized in Algeria and as Arab music in France; the place of Sephardic and Palestinian writers within Israel’s Ashkenazic-dominated arts community; and the use and misuse of the concept “postcolonial” as it is applied in various regional contexts. In exploring histories of displacement and geographies of identity, these essays call for the reconceptualization of theoretical binarisms such as modern and postmodern, colonial and postcolonial. It will be of interest to a broad spectrum of scholars and students concerned with postmodern and postcolonial theory, ethnography, anthropology, and cultural studies. Contributors. Norma Alarcon, Edward M. Bruner, Nahum D. Chandler, Ruth Frankenberg, Joan Gross, Dorinne Kondo, Kristin Koptiuch, Smadar Lavie, Lata Mani, David McMurray, Kirin Narayan, Greg Sarris, Ted Swedenburg

The social identity theory of leadership: Theoretical origins, research findings, and conceptual developments

Abstract: Over the past decade the social identity theory of leadership (Hogg, 2001a; Hogg & van Knippenberg, 2003) has reinvigorated social psychological research on leadership by reconnecting leadership to the social psychology of influence, and by explicitly elaborating on the (social) identity function, and associated social cognitive and social interactive processes, associated with leadership. The main tenet is that group prototypical leaders are better supported and more trusted, and are perceived as more effective by members than are less prototypical leaders; particularly when group membership is a central and salient aspect of members’ identity and members identify strongly with the group. This hypothesis has attracted unequivocal support across numerous studies, research teams, and research paradigms. In this article we describe the social identity theory of leadership and its conceptual origins, and overview the state of evidence. The main focus of the article is on new conceptual developments and assoc...

Donation Behavior Toward In-Groups and Out-Groups: The Role of Gender and Moral Identity

Abstract: We investigate how two important social identities — gender identity and moral identity — result in differential donations to in-groups and out-groups. Results from three studies indicate that moral identity importance tends to increase donations to out-groups (Iraq, Indonesia) and not to in-groups (London, New Orleans). However, this occurs only for consumers with a feminine gender identity. For consumers with a masculine gender identity, moral identity importance increases donations to the in-group but not the out-group. Inclusion of Other in the Self (IOS) mediates the moderating role of gender identity on the effect of moral identity on in-group and out-group donations.

Professional identity and nursing: contemporary theoretical developments and future research challenges

Abstract: JOHNSON M., COWIN L.S., WILSON I. & YOUNG H. (2012) Professional identity and nursing: contemporary theoretical developments and future research challenges. International Nursing Review Aim: We propose that the conceptual orientation of professional identity is a logical consequence of self-concept development by focusing on career and its meaning and presents a measurable set of concepts that can be manipulated to improve retention of student and registered nurses within health service. Background: Although professional identity is a term that is commonly written of in nursing literature, its theoretical origins remain unclear, and available empirical evidence of its presence or ability to change is omitted from nursing research. Sources of evidence: We present a professional identity pathway and explore the factors that influence professional identity throughout a career in nursing. Discussion: Nurses' professional identities develop throughout their lifetimes, from before entering nursing education, throughout their years of study and clinical experience, and continue to evolve during their careers. Education is, however, a key period as it is during this time students gain the knowledge and skills that separate nurses as professional healthcare workers from lay people. Conclusion: Finally, a call for longitudinal studies of students to graduates, using conceptually derived and psychometrically proven instruments capable of detecting the subtle changes in the construct over time, is recommended. Further empirical research into the theoretical concepts that underline professional identity, and the factors that influence changes in this important construct in nursing, is required. Ultimately, the practical relevance of such research will lie in the potential it provides for enhanced nursing career support and improved workforce policies.

Bright Futures in Malawi’s New Dawn: Educational Aspirations as Assertions of Identity

Abstract: Imagined futures, once a vital topic of theoretical inquiry within the sociology of culture, have been sidelined in recent decades. Rational choice models cannot explain the seemingly irrational optimism of youth aspirations, pointing to the need to explore other alternatives. This article incorporates insights from pragmatist theory and cognitive sociology to examine the relationship between imagined futures and present actions and experiences in rural Malawi, where future optimism appears particularly unfounded. Drawing from in-depth interviews and archival sources documenting ideological campaigns promoting schooling, the author shows that four elements are understood to jointly produce educational success: ambitious career goals, sustained effort, unflagging optimism, and resistance to temptation. Aspirations should be interpreted not as rational calculations, but instead as assertions of a virtuous identity, claims to be “one who aspires.”

Differentiating the Dark Triad Within the Interpersonal Circumplex

Abstract: goals included identity, whereas concr( the attainment of goods o example may be found i communication theorist. (1979) included a highe labeled "identity makin{ others labeled "instrurn tional" (e.g., Clark & Del to say, instrumental and sions map onto the agen motives of the interper respectively. The identit ∎ sponds to our identity TIE Experimental work fi social psychology corrc vational power of mean porarily undermining anxiety, which then mo tion of new meaning f (Heine, Proulx, & Vohs, individuals who encoun event are motivated to their situation. Consiste psychologists such as meaning-making quells iety of everyday life. Application to persoi researchers deal with n the level of identity (see by Singer, 2004). Indes he defined as the creatioi of an abstract integration of information about the 258 HANDBOOK OF INTERPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY 15 • DIFFERENTIATII,

Identifiable but Not Identical: Combining Social Identity and Uniqueness Motives in Choice

Abstract: How do consumers reconcile conflicting motives for social group identification and individual uniqueness? Four studies demonstrate that consumers simultaneously pursue assimilation and differentiation goals on different dimensions of a single choice: they assimilate to their group on one dimension (by conforming on identity-signaling attributes such as brand) while differentiating on another dimension (distinguishing themselves on uniqueness attributes such as color). Desires to communicate social identity lead consumers to conform on choice dimensions that are strongly associated with their group, particularly in identity-relevant consumer categories such as clothing. Higher needs for uniqueness lead consumers to differentiate within groups by choosing less popular options among those that are associated with their group. By examining both between- and within-group levels of comparison and using multidimensional decisions, this research provides insight into how multiple identity motives jointly influence consumer choice.

Collective Memory Meets Organizational Identity: Remembering to Forget in a Firm's Rhetorical History

Abstract: Much organizational identity research has grappled with the question of identity emergence or change. Yet the question of identity endurance is equally puzzling. Relying primarily on an analysis of...

Identity and entrepreneurship: do school peers shape entrepreneurial intentions?

Abstract: We incorporate the concept of social identity into entrepreneurship and analyze the determinants of having entrepreneurial intentions. We argue that an entrepreneurial identity results from an individual’s socialization. This could be parental influence but, as argued in this paper, also peer influence. Based on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006 data in which students report their entrepreneurial intentions at the age of 15, we find that having an entrepreneurial peer group has a positive effect on an individual’s entrepreneurial intentions. We find that the strength of the peer effect in a country is moderated by prevailing values, namely individualism.

Policing and Social Identity: Procedural Justice, Inclusion, and Cooperation between Police and Public

Abstract: Accounts of the social representation of policing and of the relationship between police and citizen converge on the idea that police behaviour carries important identity-relevant meaning. Opinions of and ideas about the police are implicated in the formation of social identities that relate to the social groups it represents – nation, state and community. Procedural justice theory suggests that judgements about the fairness of the police will be the most important factor in such processes. Fairness promotes a sense of inclusion and value within the group. Furthermore, positive social identities in relation to the police should on this account promote cooperation with it. This paper presents an empirical test of these ideas in the context of British policing. Data from a survey of young Londoners are used to show that perceptions of police fairness are indeed associated with social identity, and in turn social identity can be linked to cooperation. Yet these relationships were much stronger among those with multiple national identities. Police behaviour appeared more identity relevant for people who felt they were citizens of a non-UK country, while for those who identified only as British there was a weaker link between procedural fairness and social identity, and legitimacy judgements were the main ‘drivers’ of cooperation. Policy and theoretical implications are discussed.

The Glass Slipper: 'Incorporating' Occupational Identity in Management Studies

Abstract: Management scholars have long separated the study of work and diversity, assuming that the nature of work itself is not affected by race or gender. Research on occupational segregation invalidates this assumption, confirming that we judge the nature of work in large part by the social identities aligned with it. Management theorists have yet to digest this evidence because of a unilateral view of the work-practitioner relation (i.e., people derive identity from work), which conceals a reciprocal relation (i.e., work derives identity from associated people). I build a bilateral view that accommodates available evidence by theorizing a new glass metaphor—the glass slipper—to capture occupational identity by association as it yields systematic forms of advantage and disadvantage. The metaphor elucidates how occupations come to appear “naturally” possessed of features that fit certain people yet are improbable for others. This article thus contributes to management knowledge by redefining the current division...

Leader identity as an antecedent of the frequency and consistency of transformational, consideration, and abusive leadership behaviors

Abstract: Drawing from identity-based theories of leadership, we examined relations of leader identity with leader behavior and perceived effectiveness. To do so, we employed multiwave methodology to examine the differential impact of leaders' chronic collective, relational, and individual identities on the frequency and consistency of their subsequent transformational, consideration, and abusive behaviors over a 3-week period. We also examined the relative importance of these leadership behaviors for predicting perceived leader effectiveness as rated by subordinates and peers. Results indicated that leaders' collective and individual identities were uniquely related to transformational and abusive behaviors, respectively. We also observed a significant collective by individual identity interaction, such that abusive behaviors were most frequent when a strong individual identity was paired with a weak collective identity. Frequency of transformational behaviors accounted for the largest proportion of variance in perceived leader effectiveness, followed by frequency of abusive behaviors and consistency of transformational behaviors. We discuss the implications of these findings for leadership theory and development.

Identifiable but Not Identical: Combining Social Identity and Uniqueness Motives in Choice

Abstract: How do consumers reconcile conflicting motives for social group identification and individual uniqueness? Four studies demonstrate that consumers simultaneously pursue assimilation and differentiation goals on different dimensions of a single choice: they assimilate to their group on one dimension (by conforming on identity-signaling attributes such as brand) while differentiating on another dimension (distinguishing themselves on uniqueness attributes such as color). Desires to communicate social identity lead consumers to conform on choice dimensions that are strongly associated with their group, particularly in identity-relevant consumer categories such as clothing. Higher needs for uniqueness lead consumers to differentiate within groups by choosing less popular options among those that are associated with their group. By examining both between- and within-group levels of comparison and using multidimensional decisions, this research provides insight into how multiple identity motives jointly influence consumer choice.

Intergroup Leadership in Organizations: Leading Across Group and Organizational Boundaries

Abstract: Intergroup leadership-leadership of collaborative performance of different organizational groups or organizations-is associated with unique intergroup challenges that are not addressed by traditional leadership theories. To address this lacuna, we describe a theory of intergroup leadership. Firmly grounded in research on social identity and intergroup relations, the theory proposes that effective intergroup performance rests on the leader's ability to construct an intergroup relational identity. We describe key leadership actions to establish such an identity.

Group processes in medical education: learning from social identity theory.

Abstract: Medical Education 2012: 46: 143–152 Context The clinical workplace in which doctors learn involves many social groups, including representatives of different professions, clinical specialties and workplace teams. This paper suggests that medical education research does not currently take full account of the effects of group membership, and describes a theoretical approach from social psychology, the social identity approach, which allows those effects to be explored. Methods The social identity approach has a long history in social psychology and provides an integrated account of group processes, from the adoption of group identity through a process of self-categorisation, to the biases and conflicts between groups. This paper outlines key elements of this theoretical approach and illustrates their relevance to medical education. Results The relevance of the social identity approach is illustrated with reference to a number of areas of medical education. The paper shows how research questions in medical education may be usefully reframed in terms of social identity in ways that allow a deeper exploration of the psychological processes involved. Professional identity and professionalism may be viewed in terms of self-categorisation rather than simply attainment; the salience of different identities may be considered as influences on teamwork and interprofessional learning, and issues in communication and assessment may be considered in terms of intergroup biases. Conclusions Social identity theory provides a powerful framework with which to consider many areas of medical education. It allows disparate influences on, and consequences of, group membership to be considered as part of an integrated system, and allows assumptions, such as about the nature of professional identity and interprofessional tensions, to be made explicit in the design of research studies. This power to question assumptions and develop deeper and more meaningful research questions may be increasingly relevant as the nature and role of the medical profession change.