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Identity control theory has long posited that there are positive emotional consequences to identity verification and negative emotional consequences to the lack of identity verification. While some of the positive consequences of identity verification have been discussed, little work has been done to elaborate the variety of negative emotions that...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... that both the source of the identity meanings (self or other) and source of the discrepancy (self or other) are important in understanding the nature of identity discrepancies because of the additional meanings they provide, we anticipate that different emotional experiences will result from different combinations of self-other meanings and discrepancies. Table 1 reveals this, and we express it in the following hypotheses: ...Context 2
... general, actors take responsibility for the identity standard meanings and the discrepancy that may emerge in the situation (an internal attribution), or they do not take responsibility for the identity meanings and discrepancy (an external attribution). Blaming the self for not being able to verify one's identity standards, whether those standards are set by the self or others, usually involves a negative evaluation of the self as ''bad,'' and directs negative feelings inward (row 1 of Table 1). Blaming others for not being able to verify one's identity standards keeps intact the evaluation of the self as ''good,'' and redirects negative feelings outward, onto others (row 2 of Table 1). ...Context 3
... the self for not being able to verify one's identity standards, whether those standards are set by the self or others, usually involves a negative evaluation of the self as ''bad,'' and directs negative feelings inward (row 1 of Table 1). Blaming others for not being able to verify one's identity standards keeps intact the evaluation of the self as ''good,'' and redirects negative feelings outward, onto others (row 2 of Table 1). ...Context 4
... external attribution that others are responsible involves related feelings that range from anger to rage at having someone else cause the failure to meet one's own expectations, and from annoyance to hostility when someone else is responsible for the actor's failure to meet the internalized expectations of others ( Lewis, 2000;Tangney, 2003). In each cell in Table 1, we suggest that there is a range of emotion (from weak to strong) on that dimension. ...Context 5
... emotions in Tables 2 and 3 include the feeling states typically associated with internal attributions (row 1 in each table) and external attributions (row 2 in each table) as revealed in Table 1. Also included in Tables 2 and 3 but not included in Table 1 are the emotions of anxiety and fear, which we think emerge when the other is the source of one's identity discrepancy and the other is of high status or power. ...Context 6
... emotions in Tables 2 and 3 include the feeling states typically associated with internal attributions (row 1 in each table) and external attributions (row 2 in each table) as revealed in Table 1. Also included in Tables 2 and 3 but not included in Table 1 are the emotions of anxiety and fear, which we think emerge when the other is the source of one's identity discrepancy and the other is of high status or power. In each row in Tables 2 and 3, the feeling states become milder as one moves from the other in the situation being higher in status or power, to equal status, to the other being lower in status or power when the self is the source of the discrepancy. ...Context 7
... when the other is the source of the discrepancy, there are shifts in the tone of the emotion from anxiety to hostility (going from higher to lower status), and from fear to rage (going from higher to lower power) as the feelings become more externalized. As in Table 1, the emotional states in Tables 2 and 3 are consistent with the idea that the information about the source of the discrepancy and the relative status and power of the other provide additional meanings for the actor. These additional meanings as to the source of the discrepancy and the relative status and power of the other yield emotions and behaviors that reduce the present discrepancy, future discrepancies, and attempt to keep intact the self-other relationship. ...Citations
... The ability to successfully enact such identities, or the lack of this ability, exerts influence on a person's sense of self-meaning, feeling of self-worth, psychological well-being, and has emotional consequences. Stryker (2004), and Stets and Burke (2005), offer several theoretical hypotheses of the influence of emotions on the enactment of identities and roles. Stryker suggests that: ...
... When commitment is high, a greater discrepancy in failing to meet role expectations will result in a greater negative affective response. (Stryker 2004;quoted from Stets 2006, 207) Stets and Burke (2005) have elaborated these hypotheses, suggesting that the source of the meanings of our identity (either the self or others), and the source of the disruptions to the Manuscript in print, please do not cite or circulate without the author´s permission meanings of our identity (either the self or others), are both relevant for the type of emotion felt. ...
... As typical social scientists Stets and Burke (2005) still associate shame primarily with a failure to meet the expectations or the identity meanings set by others rather than those set by the self. However, I believe this is a false dichotomy. ...
In this chapter, I suggest that shame is a "master emotion" of contemporary neoliberal societies and an essential part of emotional mechanisms that motivate support for populist political parties, especially for the political right in both Europe and the United States. I first argue that typical instances of shame are both individual and social as they involve an appraisal of a failure to live up to the values constitutive of one´s social identity, which are shared with others who share the same social identity. Second, I argue that contemporary neoliberal societies promote feelings of insecurity, powerlessness, and worthlessness, as well as fears of losing status and established living standards that give rise to actual or anticipatory shame, both in work and other domains of social life that have adopted a competitive logic. Finally, drawing from my previous work (Salmela and von Scheve 2017), I identify an emotional mechanism that may have contributed to the rise of right-wing political populism in contemporary neoliberal societies. The mechanism is ressentiment: the repression and transmutation of negative self-focused emotions, particularly shame, into anger, resentment, or hatred-which are directed at out-groups, such as political and cultural elites, refugees, immigrants, and the long-term unemployed, who are perceived as threats to the social identities of the shame-ridden subjects. Ressentiment also contributes to emotional distancing from social identities that inflict both shame and other negative self-focused emotions, and to seeking meaning and self-esteem from other social identities that are perceived to be stable and, to some extent, exclusive (such as nationality, ethnicity, religion, language, and traditional gender roles).
... This closely links with concepts of identity and identification, which is broadly defined by Jenkins (2014) as the capacity to know who one is, including knowing one's place within the world, and others knowing and seeing one's identity. Interruption in a preferred identity arises between internal standards, subjective meanings, and external factors of the environment including others' perceptions, socio-political setting, and availability of resources (Burke 1991;Stets and Burke 2005;Thoits 1991). Identity theorists show that events connected to identity disruption are more likely to cause anxiety than any other life events (Burke 1991;Thoits 1991). ...
... According to Thoits (2013, p. 357), "It is virtually impossible to develop a theory of the etiology of mental illness without thinking about self and identity issues." Some authors called for broadening the scope of occupational mental health research by adopting identity theory and examining the role of the self as identity in the explanation of mental health issues at work (Thoits, 2013(Thoits, , 1991Marcussen, 2006;Haines and Saba, 2012;Stets and Burke, 2005;Burke and Harrod, 2005). Moreover, Marcussen (2006) called for the investigation of the relationship between the identity process, self-esteem and negative psychological outcomes. ...
... Prior studies called for examining the role of the self and identity in the explanation of mental health issues at work by adopting identity theory (Thoits, 2013(Thoits, , 1991Marcussen, 2006; Occupational identity verification Haines and Saba, 2012;Stets and Burke, 2005;Burke and Harrod, 2005). They also called for the investigation of the relationship between the identity process, self-esteem and negative psychological outcomes (Marcussen, 2006). ...
... By doing so, it sheds light on new factors and mechanisms that have rarely been addressed to examine these mental health issues among managers. It helps to add evidence and expand the research of authors who called for broadening the scope of research on mental health problems by adopting identity theory as well as analyzing the contribution of the self and identity in the explanation of these problems (Thoits, 2013(Thoits, , 1991Marcussen, 2006;Haines and Saba, 2012;Stets and Burke, 2005;Burke and Harrod, 2005). Furthermore, the use of identity theory to examine managers' mental health at work helps to go beyond the dominant stress theories, expand their scope, and add evidence to their contribution. ...
Purpose
Managers play a crucial role in organizations. They make decisions that directly influence organizational success and significantly impact employees’ mental health, development and performance. They are responsible for ensuring the financial well-being and long-term sustainability of organizations. However, their mental health is often overlooked, which can negatively affect employees and organizations. This study aims to address managers’ mental health at work, by examining specifically the direct and indirect effects of identity verification on their psychological distress and depression through self-esteem at work. The study also aims to examine the moderating as well as moderated mediation effects of identity salience.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 314 Canadian managers working in 56 different companies was studied, using multilevel analyses.
Findings
The findings showed that the verification of managers’ identity vis-à-vis recognition is positively associated with psychological distress and depression. Self-esteem completely mediates the association between low identity verification vis-à-vis work control and psychological distress, and also the association between low identity verification vis-à-vis work control and superior support and depression, while it partially mediates the association between low identity verification vis-à-vis recognition and depression.
Practical implications
This study can also help both managers and human resource management practitioners in understanding the role of workplaces in the identity verification process and developing relevant interventions to prevent mental health issues among managers at work.
Originality/value
This study proposed a relatively unexplored approach to the study of managers’ mental health at work. Its integration of identity theory contributes to expanding research on management and workplace mental health issues.
... People monitor their own and others' reactions to the meanings implied by their behavior as indicators of whether their identity performance is consistent with their identity standard meanings. How persons perceive or think that others see them in a situation, known as "reflected appraisals," is a key source of information (Stets & Burke, 2005). Reflected appraisals represent one of three sources of input that influences the degree to which one experiences identity verification (Burke & Stets, 2022). ...
... Stets and Trettevik (2014: 39) succinctly summarize that "[t]he core identity theory prediction regarding emotions is that individuals will feel good when their identities are verified, and they will feel bad when their identities are not verified." Stets and Burke (2005) outline how the source of identity meanings interacts with the source of identity discrepancies to produce a range of negative emotions. Specifically, they predict that internal attributions for failure to meet one's identity standards lead to sadness, while external attributions for such failure leads to anger. ...
Sexualities scholars have long been interested in situations in which a person’s sexual identity and behavior are mismatched—e.g., when a gay or lesbian-identified person remains “closeted” and only dates different-gender partners. We argue that this mismatch represents a useful proxy for applying identity theory’s perceptual control predictions to an important topic in the sexuality literature. Using identity theory, we predict that identity discrepancies implied by sexual identity and behavior mismatches will lead to increased perceived stress, lower levels of self-esteem, and higher levels of depression. Using three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we show that sexual-identity behavior inconsistency—our proxy measure of identity discrepancy—is associated with more stress, lower self-esteem, and more depressive symptoms. As identity theory predicts, we find that identity discrepancies are linked to worse mental health outcomes regardless of the direction of the inconsistent behavior. Overall, our findings strongly support the utility of applying identity theory to understand sexual identity processes.KeywordsSexualityIdentityMental healthLGBSocial psychology
... Therefore, the identity has a central role in entrepreneurship, in particular for the effectuators (Sarasvathy, 2001;2008;Nielsen et al., 2012). A reason for such centrality is the important role of identity in molding the behavior and in action motivation (Stets & Burke, 2005). An example of this occurred with WK Sistemas, one of the most important companies that originated the cluster of management software production in Blumenau -SC (Lima, 2005). ...
The study aimed to analyze the existing literature on the identity of the entrepreneur in connection with effectuation, characterizing the state of the art of research on the subject. A systematic literature review was carried out, which searched for publications indexed by Scopus (23 articles) and Web of Science (37 articles) from the last 21 years, being operationalized with the StArt tool. The results show that, with effectuation, the identity of the entrepreneur influences decisions, the type of opportunity explored, the objectives and the commitment of partners in the entrepreneurial process. It is concluded that, with effectuation, personal and social identities can guide effectual (intuitive) or causal (planned) behavior, which shapes the entrepreneurial activities.
... And these actions carry with it meanings. "essentially, individuals bring self-in-situation meanings into alignment with their self-defining meanings held in the identity standard when there is a discrepancy, and they maintain that alignment when there is no discrepancy" (Stets & Burke, 2005). "Within ICT, an identity is the set of meanings that define who one is in terms of a group or classification (such as an American or a female), in terms of a role (e.g. a stockbroker or a truck driver), or in terms of personal attributes (as in being friendly or honest)." ...
This is a manuscript for the study on ethnic identity, orientalism and nomothetic universalism
... As illustrated in the examples provided above, potential triggers of identity threat are quite varied (e.g., negative performance feedback, S. Kang & Kim, 2022, unfavorable media coverage, Eury et al., 2018, stigma, Major & O'Brien, 2005. Fundamentally, however, triggers of threat are experiences, cues, or changes in the environment that individuals recognize as lastingly harmful to who they are, how they should act, or their value in a social context (e.g., Higgins, 1987;Stets & Burke, 2005). Importantly, however, these triggers in and of themselves are not identity threat. ...
Although scholars across fields have studied threats to individuals’ identities for their impact and ubiquity, the absence of standard scales has hindered the advancement of this research. Due to the lack of identity threat measures, the myriad existing propositions and models remain untested which may generate skepticism of the field. In the comparatively rare instances where deductive models have been tested, studies often suffer from methodological shortcomings related to the absence of a standard measure (e.g., the use of scales that tap into adjacent constructs) or an assumption of unidimensionality, despite recognition that identity threat can take various forms. Such shortcomings can yield inaccurate conclusions and threaten content validity. In response to these issues, we followed recommended steps to develop three measures capturing threats to identity value, meanings, and enactment. We rigorously validated these measures across different contexts: threats to teachers’ work-related identity, to pregnant women’s leader identity, and to organizational members’ lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning identities. Our results provide evidence of the psychometric validity of the three measures and their applicability to different types of identities individuals hold. Using our measures, scholars will be able to further explore identity threat triggers and outcomes, the mechanisms underlying the effects of the three different types of threat on outcomes, and temporal dynamics. Researchers can also use our measures in designing interventions. Ultimately, this will allow management and applied psychology scholars to develop better guidance for organizations and employees dealing with the commonplace, yet difficult experience of identity threat.
... These standards are continually compared to one's perceptions of situations that are relevant to their identity. In comparison, when an individual experiences a discrepancy between the meanings they associate with their identity (identity standards) and the perception of their identity in the situation, they experience negative emotions such as anger, embarrassment, and shame (Stets & Burke, 2005). In responding to such discrepancy, the individual either changes the situation or their identity standards to reduce the error. ...
... Thus, participants sought validation and appreciation from their siblings, especially their older siblings. According to identity control theory, feedback from close and significant others is important to the identity verification process (Stets & Burke, 2005). Hence, we find that sibling reactions and appraisals of participants' musical identity are important. ...
... According to the identity control theory, individuals attempt to verify their identities by comparing their identity standards (meanings associated with the identity) to perceptions of situations relevant to the identity (Burke, 2007). Factors including direct criticism as well as lack of attention or appreciation cause perceptions that are against good/strong/ active identity standards (Stets & Burke, 2005). Hence, this created a discrepancy or error in the participants' musical identities. ...
A key characteristic and an important task of emerging adulthood is identity development. Music provides an important context for identity development, especially in emerging adults, and siblings in turn play an important role in the process of identity development. Using a qualitative narrative approach, this study aims to understand the role of siblings in the musical identity development of emerging adults. Five emerging adults between the age range of 18–25 years were recruited and interviewed individually. Thematic narrative analysis of the transcripts gave rise to 3 themes: Sibling Relationships, Early Identity and Discrepancy, and The Growth Journey. Overall, it was evident that siblings played a crucial role and had a large impact on the identity development process of the participants. This study provided support for Arnett's theory of emerging adulthood, with identity exploration being a defining feature of this developmental period. Further, the study also supported the notion of important others impacting the identity verification process according to identity control theory.
... provided respondents with a wide range of response options for detailed answers, evaluations, and their own opinions. The advantage of this Fig. 1 Illustration of the identity formation process based on McCall and Simmons (1978), Stets and Burke (2005), and Burke and Stets (2009) type of interview is to guide the interviewees thematically without restricting them in their answers. First, each interviewee was welcomed, the aim of the research was introduced, and ''small talk'' about life as a corporate nomad was held to build trust. ...
Working conditions of knowledge workers have been subject to rapid change recently. Digital nomadism is no longer a phenomenon that relates only to entrepreneurs, freelancers, and gig workers. Corporate employees, too, have begun to uncouple their work from stationary (home) offices and 9-to-5 schedules. However, pursuing a permanent job in a corporate environment is still subject to fundamentally different values than postulated by the original notion of digital nomadism. Therefore, this paper explores the work identity of what is referred to as ‘corporate nomads’. By drawing on identity theory and the results of semi-structured interviews, the paper proposes a conceptualization of the corporate nomad archetype and presents nine salient identity issues of corporate nomads (e.g., holding multiple contradictory identities, the flexibility paradox, or collaboration constraints). By introducing the ‘corporate nomad’ archetype to the Information Systems literature, this article helps to rethink established conceptions of “home office” and socio-spatial configurations of knowledge work.
... Therefore, building on identity theory and the founder social identity literature (Fauchart and Gruber 2011;Stets and Burke 2000;Stets et al. 2005), and considering the state of extant literature and knowledge, we follow a 'pragmatic empirical theorizing approach' (Shepherd and Suddaby 2017). This implies that we explore how the 2015 refugee event in Europe relates to the strength of local nascent entrepreneurs' founder social identities (i.e. ...
... An external event like the refugee challenge is likely to 'interrupt' individuals' familiar situations and thus their identity (Burke 1991). This is because individuals compare the new inputs in the changed environment with their initial self-definitions and adapt their social identities accordingly to reduce potential negative personal consequences (Burke and Ritzer 2007), such as the experience of negative emotions like anxiety, sadness, or anger (Stets et al. 2005). Importantly, these arguments not only apply to social identity in general but also to the specific identities individuals hold, including founder social identities. ...
... being a father or an entrepreneur); and personal identity relies on personal attributes (e.g. being honest or friendly) (Stets and Burke 2000;Stets et al. 2005). Compared to social identity theory, personal identity focuses on intrapersonal attributes and goals, while role identity is grounded in role-related views embedded in groups (Brewer and Gardner 1996). ...
How does the grand challenge of refugees influence nascent entrepreneurs in host countries? To explore this question, we build on social identity theory and analyse how the 2015 European refugee event is related to the strength of different founder social identities (i.e. Darwinian, Communitarian, and Missionary founder social identities) of nascent entrepreneurs in the countries accommodating the refugees. Using a dataset of 6,096 nascent entrepreneurs from 24 European countries, we reveal a positive relationship between the refugee event and the strength of the Communitarian founder social identity. This relationship is even stronger when the previous percentage of foreign migrants in a country is lower and is mediated by the human health and social work industry. Interestingly, we do not find significant relationships between the refugee event and the strengths of the Darwinian or Missionary founder social identity, respectively. Hence, refugees as a grand challenge are likely to have divergent influences on different types of entrepreneurship in society.
