Am I Next? Mega-Threats, Identity Labor, and the Buffering Effect of Close Work Relationships
Public Deposited- Creator
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Leigh, Angelica E
- Affiliation: Kenan-Flagler Business School
- Abstract
- In this dissertation, I explore the influence of mega-threats – large scale, negative, identity relevant occurrences that receive significant media attention – on individuals at work. Mega-threats are frequent occurrences in our society today, yet the influence of these events on individuals remains unclear. I explicate the psychological consequences of these events – namely anticipatory threat – for event observers that share identity group membership with individual(s) that are attacked, threatened, or harmed in these events. I further propose that this experience of threat spills over into the workplace, but in general organizational norms dictate its suppression, leading individuals to engage in a process of emotional and cognitive suppression that I characterize as identity labor. I then argue that identity labor leads to lower levels of task and social engagement, but that close work relationships are an important buffer to this effect. Employing a variety of methodologies, I empirically examine this theoretical model across four studies with diverse samples. Across two experimental studies, I investigated the interactive effect of mega-threats and shared group membership on experiences of anticipatory threat and identity labor. In Study 1, I found that women experienced higher levels of anticipatory threat after reading about a mega-threat involving a female victim. In Study 2, I found that Black employees experienced higher levels of anticipatory threat after reading about a mega-threat involving a Black victim, and that they anticipated that this threat would lead them to engage in higher levels of identity labor at work. In Study 3, I conducted an online field study in the aftermath of a mega-threat, and in Study 4 I conducted a longitudinal study that examined the effects of several mega-threats on individuals at work. Results from both studies suggest that in the aftermath of a mega-threat, individuals that share identity group membership with victims of the event experience higher levels of anticipatory threat that spills over into the workplace leading to higher levels of identity labor and lower levels of task and social engagement. Taken together this work yields important theoretical and practical implications about the significant influence that societal events have on employees at work.
- Date of publication
- 2020
- Keyword
- DOI
- Resource type
- Advisor
- Melwani, Shimul
- Christian, Michael
- Pearsall, Matthew
- Hofmann, David
- Shelby Rosette, Ashleigh
- Degree
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Degree granting institution
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School
- Graduation year
- 2020
- Language
Relations
- Parents:
This work has no parents.
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