Download Identity, Emotions and Stress

Identity, Emotions and Stress
Futuristech
Identity: “Who am I?”
Identity consists of personal identity + social identity
• Social identity often based on group affiliations
Paradigm shift in conceptions of identity —
Modern (Enlightenment through 20th century)
• Fixed, stable, unitary
Post-Modern (now)
• Fluid, multiple, socially constructed
• Different roles in different settings: Different contexts make different
aspects of our identity more salient: e.g., a classroom, party, church, or
family dinner.
Self-Definitions
Who Am I? Where does
this come
from?
What does it
mean to have
this identity?
Who do others
think I am?
Are some identities more important to you
than others?
Identity Centrality and Salience
Identity Theory (Sociology)
Identity Theory (e.g., Stryker 1980)
• Individuals have “role identities”:
character and the role an individual
devises as an occupant of a particular
social position.
• ‘Self’ is hierarchical ordering of
identities by salience. The greater the
commitment on an identity, the greater
the salience of the identity.
• Salience of identity influences behavioral
choices in a situation.
When and where do you “activate” your identity?
Social Identity Theory (Psychology)
Social Identity Theory
(e.g., Tajfel et al. 1981; Turner 1985)
How group membership and
“belongingness” have
consequences for interpersonal
and intergroup relations. As one
looks for a positive sense of self,
they compare their group with
other groups and tend to create a
favorable distinction for their own
group
Self-presentation and identity
• Symbolic markers express our identity to others —
and help us make sense of it ourselves
• Signals of who we are
(or want to be, or want people to think we are)
• Offline: clothes, hair, body modifications
• Online?
• Identity is socially constructed and informed by our relations
with others — what they think of us, what we think of them,
how we think of ourselves.
Goffman’s approach and focus
How individuals create and maintain
their “social self”
Dramaturgical approach:
Uses theater and drama as a
metaphor for how we develop and
present ourselves
Frontstage and backstage
Impression management
• Behaving in ways so that others
perceive us how we want to be
perceived
How to do it - positively
• Self descriptions (personal characteristics)
• Conformity (agree with someone for approval)
• Accounts (give excuses, justifications)
• Apologies (admit and ask forgiveness)
• Acclaiming (taking credit)
• Flattery (saying nice things make yourself likable)
• Favors (doing something nice – tit for tat?)
Identity and Authenticity
• What happens when you need to conceal an identity?
• Outcomes of inauthenticity:
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Stress
Dissonance
Lowered performance
Health impact
Organizational Identity
• Do people define by their organizational membership?
• Who am I?
• I am an employee of…
• I am in the Department of…
• I am a trade union leader in…
• Outcomes of that
• Greater job satisfaction and commitment
• More helpful behaviors at work
• Less employee turnover
Identity Issues in the Workplace
• When identities collide:
•
•
•
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Gendered expectations
A Muslim woman
A gay man
A disabled person
Others…
• Specific ways of managing your ‘different’ identity?
• Specific ways an organization manages diversity?
Emotions in the Workplace
• Emotional labor
• Emotional dissonance
• Emotional intelligence
• Mood vs Emotions
• Display rules – do they vary by cultures?
Workplace behaviors
Positive
Negative
• Organizational Citizenship –
helping
• Cooperating
• Mentoring
• Counseling
• Cyberloafing
• Bullying
• Aggression
• Theft
• Incivility
• Damaging
Stress
• What is it?
• Impact?
• Acute
• Episodic
• Chronic
Stress
Causes
Actions
• Occupational demands
• Conflict between work and nonwork
• Ambiguity and uncertainty
• Overload
• Responsibility of others
• Lack of social support
• Individual actions – everyday
and episodic
• Organizational actions – support
programs
• Leadership actions – team
processes