Showing papers on "Identity (social science) published in 2016"

Is Eco-Friendly Unmanly? The Green-Feminine Stereotype and Its Effect on Sustainable Consumption

Abstract: Why are men less likely than women to embrace environmentally friendly products and behaviors? Whereas prior research attributes this gender gap in sustainable consumption to personality differences between the sexes, we propose that it may also partially stem from a prevalent association between green behavior and femininity, and a corresponding stereotype (held by both men and women) that green consumers are more feminine. Building on prior findings that men tend to be more concerned than women with gender-identity maintenance, we argue that this green-feminine stereotype may motivate men to avoid green behaviors in order to preserve a macho image. A series of seven studies provides evidence that the concepts of greenness and femininity are cognitively linked and shows that, accordingly, consumers who engage in green behaviors are stereotyped by others as more feminine and even perceive themselves as more feminine. Further, men’s willingness to engage in green behaviors can be influenced by threatening or affirming their masculinity, as well as by using masculine rather than conventional green branding. Together, these findings bridge literatures on identity and environmental sustainability and introduce the notion that due to the green-feminine stereotype, gender-identity maintenance can influence men’s likelihood of adopting green behaviors.

Overcoming alcohol and other drug addiction as a process of social identity transition: the social identity model of recovery (SIMOR)

Abstract: In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on a recovery model within alcohol and drug policy and practice. This has occurred concurrently with the emergence of community- and strengths-based approaches in positive psychology, mental health recovery and desistance and rehabilitation from offending. Recovery is predicated on the idea of substance user empowerment and self-determination, using the metaphor of a “journey”. Previous research describing recovery journeys has pointed to the importance of identity change processes, through which the internalised stigma and status of an “addict identity” is supplanted with a new identity. This theoretical paper argues that recovery is best understood as a personal journey of socially negotiated identity transition that occurs through changes in social networks and related meaningful activities. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is used as a case study to illustrate this process of social identity transition. In line with recent social identity theorising...

Teacher professionalism: why are we still talking about it?

Abstract: It is now more than 10 years after the publication of the monograph, The Activist Teaching Profession, which, at the time, could be described as a call to action for the teaching profession. I reflect here on how far has the profession progressed in responding to that call to action. The idea of a ‘call to action’ could be seen to born out of industrial rather than professional discourses: 10 years ago different factors were shaping teachers’ professional practice and identity and a call to action was a metaphor and a strategy to mobilize teachers. In this paper, I identify the factors that are still influencing and shaping the teaching profession and argue that different times require different responses and that current thinking and debates around teacher professionalism circulate around professional learning. In this paper, I argue that the time for an industrial approach to the teaching profession has passed. I make the case for systems, schools and teachers to be more research active with tea...

Social media and citizen engagement: A meta-analytic review

Abstract: This meta-analytic study reviews empirical research published from 2007 to 2013 with an aim of providing robust conclusions about the relationship between social media use and citizen engagement. It includes 22 studies that used self-reported measures of social media use and participation, with a total of 116 relationships/effects. The results suggest that social media use generally has a positive relationship with engagement and its three sub-categories, that is, social capital, civic engagement, and political participation. More specifically, we find small-to-medium size positive relationships between expressive, informational, and relational uses of social media and the above indicators of citizen engagement. For identity- and entertainment-oriented uses of social media, our analyses find little evidence supporting their relationship with citizen engagement.

The multiple dimensions of race

Abstract: Increasing numbers of people in the United States and beyond experience ‘race' not as a single, consistent identity but as a number of conflicting dimensions. This article distinguishes the multiple dimensions of the concept of race, including racial identity, self-classification, observed race, reflected race, phenotype, and racial ancestry. With the word ‘race' used as a proxy for each of these dimensions, much of our scholarship and public discourse is actually comparing across several distinct, albeit correlated, variables. Yet which dimension of race is used can significantly influence findings of racial inequality. I synthesize scholarship on the multiple dimensions of race, and situate in this framework distinctive literatures on colourism and genetic ancestry inference. I also map the relationship between the multidimensionality of race and processes of racial fluidity and racial boundary change.

Addressing Cultural Complexities in Practice: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Therapy

Abstract: This engaging book helps readers move beyond one-dimensional conceptualizations of identity to an understanding of the complex, overlapping cultural influences that form each of us. Pamela Hays' "ADDRESSING" framework enables therapists to better recognize and understand cultural influences as a multidimensional combination of Age, Developmental and acquired Disabilities, Religion, Ethnicity, Socioeconomic status, Sexual orientation, Indigenous heritage, Native origin, and Gender. Unlike other books on therapy with diverse clients, which tend to focus on working with one particular ethnic group, "Addressing Cultural Complexities in Practice" presents a framework that can be used with a person of any cultural identity.This second edition has been updated throughout and has new sections on cross-cultural assessment of trauma, on psychotherapy with people living in poverty, and on ethical boundaries and complex relationships in rural and minority communities. A special section describes how to integrate cultural considerations into the evidence-based practice of cognitive - behavioral therapy. Organized according to the flow of clinical work (in contrast to the one chapter-per-group approach), the book's contents are summarized in handy Key Tables at the end of each chapter for ease of use in education and supervision.This stimulating book will be an important resource for counselors, clinicians, and mental health professionals working with clients from a variety of backgrounds.

Social identities promote well‐being because they satisfy global psychological needs

Abstract: Social identities are known to improve well-being, but why is this? We argue that this is because they satisfy basic psychological needs, specifically, the need to belong, the need for self-esteem, the need for control and the need for meaningful existence. A longitudinal study (N = 70) revealed that gain in identity strength was associated with increased need satisfaction over 7 months. A cross-sectional study (N = 146) revealed that social identity gain and social identity loss predicted increased and reduced need satisfaction, respectively. Finally, an experiment (N = 300) showed that, relative to a control condition, social identity gain increased need satisfaction and social identity loss decreased it. Need satisfaction mediated the relationship between social identities and depression in all studies. Sensitivity analyses suggested that social identities satisfy psychological needs in a global sense, rather than being reducible to one particular need. These findings shed new light on the mechanisms through which social identities enhance well-being.

Race as a Bundle of Sticks: Designs that Estimate Effects of Seemingly Immutable Characteristics

Abstract: Although understanding the role of race, ethnicity, and identity is central to political science, methodological debates persist about whether it is possible to estimate the effect of something immutable. At the heart of the debate is an older theoretical question: Is race best understood under an essentialist or constructivist framework? In contrast to the “immutable characteristics” or essentialist approach, we argue that race should be operationalized as a “bundle of sticks” that can be disaggregated into elements. With elements of race, causal claims may be possible using two designs: (a) studies that measure the effect of exposure to a racial cue and (b) studies that exploit within-group variation to measure the effect of some manipulable element. These designs can reconcile scholarship on race and causation and offer a clear framework for future research.

Narratives as sources of stability and change in organizations:approaches and directions for future research

Abstract: Although narrative analysis has made significant advances in organization and management studies, scholars have not yet unleashed its full potential. This review provides an understanding of key issues in organizational narrative analysis with a focus on the role of narratives in organizational stability and change. We start by elaborating on the characteristics of organizational narratives to provide a conceptual framework for organizational narrative analysis. We elaborate on three key approaches to narrative analysis on stability and change: realist, interpretative, and poststructuralist. We then review several topic areas where narrative analysis has so far offered the most promise: organizational change, identity, strategy, entrepreneurship, and personal change. Finally, we identify important issues that warrant attention in future research, both theoretically and methodologically.

Consistency Versus Licensing Effects of Past Moral Behavior

Abstract: Why does past moral behavior sometimes lead people to do more of the same (consistency), whereas sometimes it liberates them to do the opposite (licensing)? We organize the literature on moderators of moral consistency versus licensing effects using five conceptual themes: construal level, progress versus commitment, identification, value reflection, and ambiguity. Our review reveals that individuals are more likely to exhibit consistency when they focus abstractly on the connection between their initial behavior and their values, whereas they are more likely to exhibit licensing when they think concretely about what they have accomplished with their initial behavior—as long as the second behavior does not blatantly threaten a cherished identity. Moreover, many studies lacked baseline conditions (“donut” designs), leaving it ambiguous whether licensing was observed. And although many proposed moderators yielded significant interactions, evidence for both significant consistency and balancing simple effect...

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

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...

Exploring environmental entrepreneurship: : Identity coupling, venture goals, and stakeholder incentives

Abstract: On the basis of a qualitative study of 25 renewable energy firms, we theorize why and how individuals engage in environmental entrepreneurship, inductively defined as: the use of both commercial and ecological logics to address environmental degradation through the creation of financially profitable organizations, products, services, and markets. Our findings suggest that environmental entrepreneurs: (1) are motivated by identities based in both commercial and ecological logics, (2) prioritize commercial and/or ecological venture goals dependent on the strength and priority of coupling between these two identity types, and (3) approach stakeholders in a broadly inclusive, exclusive, or co-created manner based on identity coupling and goals. These findings contribute to literature streams on hybrid organizing, entrepreneurial identity, and entrepreneurship's potential for resolving environmental degradation.

Language Socialization Practices and Cultural Identity: Case Studies of

Abstract: Mexican-descent families: two in northern California and two in south Texas. The analysis considers both the patterns of meaning suggested by the use of Spanish and English in the speech and literacy performances of four focal children as well as family and dominant societal ideologies concerning the symbolic importance of the two languages, the way language learning occurs, and the role of schooling-all frameworks in which the children's linguistic behaviors were embedded. All four focal children defined themselves in terms of allegiance to their Mexican or Mexican American cultural heritage. However, the families were oriented differently to the Spanish language as a vehicle for affirmation of this commonly articulated group identity. The differences are emblematic of stances taken in a larger cultural and political debate over the terms of Latino participation in U.S. society. Parents in all of the families endorsed Spanish maintenance and spoke of the language as an important aspect of their sense of cultural identity. Only two of the families, however, pursued aggressive home maintenance strategies. Of the other two families, one used a protocol combining some Spanish use in the home with instruction from Spanish-speaking relatives, whereas the family that had moved most fully into the middle class was the least successful in the intergenerational transmission of Spanish, despite a commitment to cultural maintenance. Recent discussions of identity construction have represented the process as complex, multifaceted, and dialogic. Identities are seen as symbolic performances generated by individual choices of practices in fluid societal and situational contexts (Butler, 1990; Faigley, 1994;

Teacher Identity in Language Teaching: Integrating Personal, Contextual, and Professional Factors.

Abstract: This article reviews notions of identity and teacher identity, how these relate to the specific characteristics of language teaching, and how teacher identity can evolve or be developed through experience and teacher education. The notion of teacher identity highlights the individual characteristics of the teacher and how these are integrated with the possibilities and potentials provided in the institutional identity of teacher and the content and methods of a specific field, as these are realized in specific contexts of teaching. The elements of a teacher identity in language teaching are derived from a review of literature on identity and described in terms of the foundational and advanced competences required for language teaching, as illustrated by excerpts from teacher narratives. The discussion concludes with recommendations for teacher education and professional development with a focus on identity.

The app generation: How today’s youth navigate identity, intimacy, and imagination in a digital world

Abstract: When I finished reading The App Generation by Howard Gardner and Katie Davis, I was struck by an example in the book about young people who have never been lost because of their smart phones. With a global positioning system (GPS) app or Google Maps at their disposal, they have never had to problem-solve or orient themselves based on a landmark, or rely on memory. This, the authors say, is an example of the impact digital media have had on today’s youth. Howard Gardner is a professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and is best known for his theory of multiple intelligences. His coauthor, Katie Davis, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington Information School studying the role of technology in teens’ lives. Combined, they present a unique perspective on the discussion of what we know of as “digital natives.” They set out to define today’s young people as the “App Generation,” using the literary device of the authors’ own configurations across generations. The three generations used as a framework are Howard, a digital immigrant who grew up in the 1950s in America; Katie, who grew up in the 1980s and early 1990s in Bermuda; and Molly (Katie’s younger sister), who grew up in Bermuda and the United States and cannot remember a time without digital media. The authors define the word “app” as a software program, often made for a mobile device, utilizing one or more operations. It can be a shortcut that takes you straight to where you want to go with no searching on the Internet or in your own memory:

The Legacy of Racism and Indigenous Australian Identity within Education.

Abstract: It may be argued that the emerging discourses focusing on the social, emotional, educational, and economic disadvantages identified for Australia’s First Peoples (when compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts) are becoming increasingly dissociated with an understanding of the interplay between historical and current trends in racism. Additionally, and if not somewhat related to this critique, it can be suggested that the very construction of research from a Western perspective of Indigenous identity (as opposed to identities) and ways of being are deeply entwined within the undertones of epistemological racism still prevalent today. It is the purpose of this article to move beyond the overreliance of outside-based understanding Western epistemologies, and to explore not only the complex nature of both racism and identity from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, but to also explore the role of education and research in perpetuating varying levels of racism and resistance to Indigenous ...

Scripting professional identities: how individuals make sense of contradictory institutional logics

Abstract: This article examines how individual accountants subjectively interpret competing logics of professionalism as they transform from practicing accountants to managerial roles and as their organizations transform from traditional professional partnerships to more corporate organizational forms. Based on a longitudinal ethnography of professionals in a Big Four accounting firm we analyse the process by which individual professionals make sense of their new roles and integrate the conflicting demands of professional and managerial logics. We find that individuals are active authors of their own identity scripts. We further observe considerable interpretive variation in how identity scripts are reproduced and enacted. We contribute to the emerging understanding of institutions as ‘inhabited’ by individuals and extend this literature by demonstrating that the institutional work of reinterpreting competing logics is based less of inter-subjective interactions, as prior literature has assumed, and is, instead, based on individual cognition and interpretive subjectivity. We also contribute to research in professional service firms by offering a conceptual model of the individual micro-processes required for successful archetypal change.

Religious identity and economic behavior.

Abstract: We find using laboratory experiments that primes that make religion salient cause subjects to identify more with their religion and affect their economic choices. The effect on choices varies by religion. For example, priming causes Protestants to increase contributions to public goods, whereas Catholics decrease contributions to public goods, expect others to contribute less to public goods, and become less risk averse. A simple model implies that priming effects reveal the sign of the marginal impact of religious norms on preferences. We find no evidence of religious priming effects on disutility of work effort, discount rates, or dictator game generosity.

“He has a way gayer Facebook than I do”: Investigating sexual identity disclosure and context collapse on a social networking site

Abstract: This study extends previous research into social networking sites (SNSs) as environments that often reduce spatial, temporal, and social boundaries, which can result in collapsed contexts for social situations. Context collapse was investigated through interviews and Facebook walkthroughs with 27 LGBTQ young people in the United Kingdom. Since diverse sexualities are often stigmatized, participants’ sexual identity disclosure decisions were shaped by both the social conditions of their online networks and the technological architecture of SNSs. Context collapse was experienced as an event through which individuals intentionally redefined their sexual identity across audiences or managed unintentional disclosure. To prevent unintentional context collapse, participants frequently reinstated contexts through tailored performances and audience separation. These findings provide insight into stigmatized identity performances in networked publics while situating context collapse within a broader understanding of impression management, which paves the way for future research exploring the identity implications of everyday SNS use.

Reducing Crime and Violence: Experimental Evidence from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Liberia

Abstract: We show that a number of “noncognitive” skills and preferences, including patience and identity, are malleable in adults, and that investments in them reduce crime and violence. We recruited criminally-engaged men and randomized half to eight weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy designed to foster self-regulation, patience, and a noncriminal identity and lifestyle. We also randomized $200 grants. Cash alone and therapy alone initially reduced crime and violence, but effects dissipated over time. When cash followed therapy, crime and violence decreased dramatically for at least a year. We hypothesize that cash reinforced therapy’s impacts by prolonging learning-by-doing, lifestyle changes, and self-investment.

Identity and identification at work

Abstract: Work identity and identification have generated a great deal of interest in the fields of organizational psychology and organizational behavior. Given several theoretical perspectives available to study work identity, the field has developed in somewhat haphazard fashion with independent streams of research investigating the same or highly similar phenomena. In the present review, we provide a broad overview of theoretical approaches and topics in work identity literature to inform and guide future integration. We review over 600 published articles and organize the literature along two dimensions: level of identity inclusiveness (i.e., individual, interpersonal, and collective) and static/dynamic approaches to identity change. Within each review category, a brief summary of extant research is provided, along with suggestions for future research.

Social Constructions of Mothering: A Thematic Overview

Abstract: The establishment of maternity and family leave policy; requiring workfare for welfare recipients; women's entry into the priesthood: some of the most heated social and political debates taking place in late-twentieth-century America turns out to revolve around disputed meanings of mothering and motherhood in contemporary society. The author, Felice Schwartz, claimed her proposal would expand opportunities for women by allowing them to combine mothering and careers. In order to free women from the inevitability of current mothering arrangements, feminists have had to challenge theories that tie women's position to biological imperatives. Feminist analysis of mothering must also contend with the ideologies that 'have shaped people culture's thinking about motherhood. Feminist historians have uncovered the historical specificity of the construction of mothering as women's primary and exclusive identity, the encapsulation of women and children in the nuclear household, and the emphasis on mothering as emotional care.

Shaping the Entrepreneurial Mindset : Entrepreneurial Intentions of Business Students in Croatia

Abstract: Business students from a public university in Croatia participated in an international study on entrepreneurial self-efficacy, identity, and education. The results of this preliminary empirical research indicate that the main predictors of the entrepreneurial intentions in Croatia are strength of entrepreneurial identity aspiration and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. These two main constructs mediate the number of personal, situational, or contextual factors, including education. Empirical analysis supports the majority of Social Cognitive Career Theory hypothesized interaction between control variables and main constructs such as self-efficacy, positive outcome expectations, and entrepreneurial identity. These findings thus fill the gap in the empirical evidence of the theoretical framework validity derived from different contexts.

Mechanisms of Identity Conflict Uncertainty, Anxiety, and the Behavioral Inhibition System

Abstract: Social identities are associated with normative standards for thought and action, profoundly influencing the behavioral choices of individual group members These social norms provide frameworks for identifying the most appropriate actions in any situation Given the increasing complexity of the social world, however, individuals are more and more likely to identify strongly with multiple social groups simultaneously When these groups provide divergent behavioral norms, individuals can experience social identity conflict The current manuscript examines the nature and consequences of this socially conflicted state, drawing upon advances in our understanding of the neuropsychology of conflict and uncertainty Identity conflicts are proposed to involve activity in the Behavioral Inhibition System, which in turn produces high levels of anxiety and stress Building upon this framework, four strategies for resolving identity conflict are reviewed

Globalization as Governmentality

Abstract: At the 2002 International Sociological Association meeting, globalization was described in one session as "the story we all know." It was suggested that whereas economists tend to develop empiricist accounts of globalization focused on outcomes, scholars of international relations and international political economy were to be commended for their move toward feminist and postpositivist accounts focused on ideas, identities, and culture. Yet in the discussion that ensued it became apparent that, despite such theoretical innovations, the story of globalization itself remained remarkably unaltered. The shared collective conception was one of epochal macrolevel change. The intellectual challenge was to specify more clearly the content of this change, to develop more rigorous accounts of hegemonic projects and institutions, to examine the consequences for different places and people, and to identify how globalization was being resisted. Our argument is that while there is considerable diversity in the way that globalization is understood, above and beyond this, the major international relations and international political economy theories are linked by a certain sociological and political realism. Put simply, globalization is treated as a transformation in the very structure of the world. This is true not just of mainstream accounts, but even many of those employing critical perspectives. The task of the researcher is to capture the substance of change along axes such as speed, space, time, territoriality, sovereignty, and identity. We suggest a useful alternative is to consider globalization as a "governmentality," that is, as a governmental rationality.1 More specifically, we are interested in what we call elsewhere "global governmentality."2 This article demonstrates the value of this approach in terms of four key

Entrepreneurs’ social identity and the preference of causal and effectual behaviours in start-up processes

Abstract: This paper examines how the social identity of an entrepreneur influences his or her behaviour when engaged in new venture formation. Building on the typology of entrepreneurial identities developed by Fauchart and Gruber, this study examines the relationship between the social identity of the entrepreneur and subsequent entrepreneurial behaviour using a mixed-method approach. Based on interviews with entrepreneurs in six start-ups within the tourism sector and on previous literature, three hypotheses were developed regarding the relationship between entrepreneurial identity and entrepreneurial behaviour (causation, effectuation). Subsequently, the hypotheses were tested using a survey among a sample of entrepreneurs who registered a new firm in 2013. The study finds that the entrepreneurial identity influences whether the individual predominantly engages in effectual or causal behaviour. Hence, the study contributes by focusing on entrepreneurial identity as an important factor shaping the behavi...