Summary Understanding how, why, and when individuals create particular self‐meanings has preoccupied scholars for decades, leading to an explosion of research on identity work. We conducted a wide‐ranging review this literature with the aim presenting overarching framework that comprehensively summarizes integrates vast amount recent in domain. Drawing our analysis empirical literature, we present enhanced conceptual understanding then summarize four dominant theoretical approaches...

To understand how people cultivate and sustain authenticity in multiple, often shifting, work roles, we analyze qualitative data gathered over five years from a sample of 48 plural careerists—people who choose to simultaneously hold identify with multiple jobs. We find that identities struggle being, feeling, seeming authentic both their contextualized roles broader selves. Further, practices developed cope these struggles change time, suggesting two-phase emergent process authentication...

Work interruptions are ubiquitous in today’s workplaces as a result of the proliferation technology and growing emphasis on collaboration open workspaces. Although large body research has accumulated over last two decades, this is scattered across disciplines with little integration. While fragmentation indicates complex nature interruptions, it also led to inconsistencies how defined studied. Such differences reduce generalizability results, lead conflicting findings, hinder knowledge...

Scholars are increasingly interested in understanding the content and process of employee identification. In this paper, I contribute to discussion by performing a qualitative case study investigating accounts employees provide as they make sense their identification with workgroup, organization, profession. Analyses from 31 members an architecture firm reveal nine explanations individuals use identifications, which can be categorized using four sensemaking logics: similarity, familiarity,...

Denied promotions occur when individuals go up for but do not receive at work. The extant literature focuses on the negative implications of denied promotions. We argue, in contrast, that can ultimately benefit from and experience positive outcomes they construct growth-based stories about event. Drawing a sensemaking perspective, we articulate are likely to promotion stories, highlighting identity social conditions support such stories. then link behavioral work engagement career...

Do individuals with callings perform better than those without? Why or why not? There are not clear answers to these questions in the literature. Using a social exchange framework, we posit an intervening process between and job performance, focusing on role of organizational commitment ideological contract fulfillment – degree which organizations live up their promises. Specifically, will be more committed organization, this commitment, turn, leads performance. Further, relationship calling...

While most work on image has focused character traits, we argue that, with respect to professions, roles represent an important, underexplored source of image. Employing qualitative data from 85 members four identify "role-based discrepancies"—misalignments between what professionals perceive as the content their professional and they believe others think constitutes professionals' work—as a salient costly issue for professionals. Specifically, find that clients' perceptions lead clients not...

Proactive work behaviors are self-initiated, future-focused actions aimed at bringing about changes to processes in organizations. Such occur within the social context of work. The extant literature that has focused on role for proactivity as an overall input or output proactivity. However, this article we argue process engaging proactive behavior (proactive goal-striving) may also be a function which it occurs. Based qualitative data from 39 call center employees energy-supply company, find...

The existing research on identity work is primarily focused individual identities and responses to threats. We seek broaden the literature in several ways. First, or...

Work intrusions-unexpected interruptions by other people that interrupt ongoing work, bringing it to a temporary halt-are common in today's workplaces. Prior research has focused on the task-based aspect of work intrusions and largely cast as events harm employee well-being general job satisfaction particular. We suggest apart from their aspect, also involve social aspect-interaction with interrupter-that can have beneficial effects for interrupted employees' well-being. Using...

While there has been a great deal of guidance on qualitative research methodology, such scholarship focused almost exclusively the first three parts process: study design, data gathering, and coding/analysis. We suggest that writing findings is fourth stage involves pre-writing composing. Our intent to provide practices for this phase those who are using as evidentiary basis their claims. The strengthened by structuring claims storyboarding findings, while composing improved critically...

Abstract The extant retirement literature primarily focuses on factors that influence the decision to retire and generic decision‐making process. While these approaches have extended our understanding of decision‐making, we propose a sensemaking perspective orients attention towards subjective meanings people attach trigger decision, rather than simply themselves. Accordingly, see process as bounded by situational constraints rooted in identity work. Based interviews with 48 retired Canadian...

We argue that improvisational theatre training creates a compelling experience of co-creation through interaction and, as such, can be used to build distinctive kind leadership skills. Theories relational, collaborative or shared are in pointed contrast traditional notions an individual “hero leader” who possesses the required answers, and whom others follow. Corresponding thinking on how develop these newer forms has, date, been relatively rare. In this article, we draw recent research...

The focus in research on envy has recently shifted to include not only the envious person but also who is a target of that envy. We join conversation this nascent developing literature by addressing critical question: Given covert emotion, how do employees come perceive they are envied? answer, we propose, when faced with ambiguous coworker behavior, will, under certain circumstances, make an attribution for behavior. position attributions as type relational and elaborate model grounded...

Although scholars across fields have studied threats to individuals' identities for their impact and ubiquity, the absence of standard scales has hindered advancement this research. Due lack identity threat measures, myriad existing propositions models remain untested which may generate skepticism field. In comparatively rare instances where deductive been tested, studies often suffer from methodological shortcomings related a measure (e.g., use that tap into adjacent constructs) or an...

Establishing a new firm presents variety of challenges to organizational founders. An important concern is the development set clear and coherent identity claims that can inform future strategic decision-making. While practices have been identified as resources individuals draw on during change formation, their role in initiating shifts has not examined. In this longitudinal study seven de novo organizations, we develop process model showing how engaged by founders when establishing firms...

The way we respond to the casual question "What do you for a living?" involves making claims about work-related identity. As individuals often have multiple identities, including at work, deciding which identities claim over others may not be straightforward. We explored how 29 entrepreneurs across Canada, United States, and Australia this question. Contrary what would predicted from prior research, these informants largely resisted claiming label of "entrepreneur" in informal social...

We develop a conceptual model of the effects advertising on an employee's organizational identification. Advertising is proposed to affect identification based attention advertisement, congruence between advertisement and experience in organization, self-concept, attributions employee makes about intent advertisement. Resulting propositions provide basis for future research this increasingly important phenomenon.

Summary In line with the research on how specific episodes affect relationships, we advance workplace social gaffes—work where employees think either their own or others' behavior unintentionally violated interactional expectations and threatened actor's relational value—as an event that can shape employees' exchange relationships. Using a sensemaking lens, explain when why will believe they committed gaffe. so doing, new definition of gaffe outlines its necessary attributes. We then...