When performance gets personal: Towards a theory of performance-based identity

Walker, Benjamin Webster; Caprar, Dan V.

doi:10.1177/0018726719851835

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…Jetten, Postmes, and McAuliffe (2002), for instance, found that the more North Americans identified with their (individualistic) culture, the more likely they were to endorse individualistic attitudes and preferences -a surprising finding in light of traditional social identity principles, which suggest that strong group identification is antithetical to individualism. Findings such as these support the notion that a single identity can simultaneously have both individualizing and socializing psychological consequences (Ashforth, 2007;Vignoles, 2019;Walker & Caprar, 2020), and problematize the notion that social and personal identity exist in an antagonistic relationship.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitations Of A Context-based Framing Of The Spidsupporting

confidence: 52%

“…Whilst acknowledging the risks of construct proliferation (e.g., Podsakoff, MacKenzie, & Podsakoff, 2016), this interpretive ambiguity supports the case for a semantic refresh: fresh terms allow for new, more precise meanings that are unmuddied by any earlier interpretations. Second, I assume that an identity is highly meaningful self-knowledge that is used for self-definitional purposes (e.g., Tajfel & Turner, 1979;Walker & Caprar, 2020). I further assume that each individual has myriad identities (Ramarajan, 2014), which move in and out of psychological awareness over time and across contexts (Oakes, 1987), and that each of these identities can vary along myriad dimensions -two of which are the social and personal dimensions.…”

Section: A Dynamic Two-dimensional Conceptualization Of the Social And Personal Dimensions Of Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the complexity of identity as a phenomenon, scholars must necessarily limit their focus to certain aspects or forms of identity in order to make research feasible. This selective focus on certain identities, however, can mean that we neglect other identities in our research, particularly newer ones that have emerged due to social and cultural changes (Walker & Caprar, 2020). A content-based framing of the SPID emphasizes that identities can be sourced from a diverse range of phenomena: some of which are seemingly external, "social" phenomena, such as social categories, groups, and networks, as well as seemingly more internal, "personal" sources, such as preferences, patterns of behavior, attitudes, and physical appearance.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitations Of A Contentbased Framing Of The Spidmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A dynamic reframing of the social/personal identity dichotomy

Walker

2021

Organizational Psychology Review

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For decades, scholars in organizational and social psychology have distinguished between two types of identity: social and personal. To what extent, though, is this dichotomy useful for understanding identities and their dynamics, and might a different approach facilitate deeper insight? Such are the guiding questions of this article. I begin by reviewing framings of the social/personal identity dichotomy in organizational psychology, and tracing its origins and evolution in social psychology. I then evaluate the strengths and limitations of this dichotomy as a tool for understanding identities. In an attempt to retain the dichotomy’s strengths and overcome its limitations, I present a modified conceptualization of the social and personal dimensions of identity, one that defines these dimensions based on psychological experience (not identity content), and treats them as two independent continua (not two levels of a dichotomy, or opposing ends of a continuum) that any given identity varies along across contexts. Plain language summary A single person can identify with lots of different aspects of their life: their family, community, job, and hobbies, to name but a few. In the same way it helps to group different items in a shop into sections, it can be helpful to group the different identities available to people into categories. And for a long time, this is what researchers have done: calling certain identities “social identities” if based on things like race and culture, and “personal identities” if based on things like traits and habits. In this paper, I explain that for various reasons, this might not be the most accurate way of mapping identities. Instead of categorizing them based on where they come from, I suggest it’s more helpful to focus on how identities actually make people feel, and how these feelings change from one moment to the next. I also point out that many identities can make someone feel like a unique person and part of a broader group at the same time. For this reason, it’s best to think of the “social” and “personal” parts of an identity not as opposites—but simply different aspects of the same thing.

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Section: Strengths and Limitations Of A Context-based Framing Of The Spidsupporting

confidence: 52%

Section: A Dynamic Two-dimensional Conceptualization Of the Social And Personal Dimensions Of Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Strengths and Limitations Of A Contentbased Framing Of The Spidmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A dynamic reframing of the social/personal identity dichotomy

Walker

2021

Organizational Psychology Review

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“…Conceptualised by Walker and Caprar (2020), the performance-based identity focuses not only on how individuals perceive their way into an identity but also on how well they act, behave, and perform their way into it. It is important to note that the term performance in the present study is not associated with productivity nor the effectiveness constructs as in management research.…”

Section: Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Performance-based identity in a BIM environment: an architect's perceptions and experiences

Shahruddin

Zairul

Haron

et al. 2022

OHI

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PurposeInterpreting the meaning structure of architects' actions, behaviours and performances enacted in a building information modelling (BIM) environment is implausible by returning to the classic and ideal imagery of an architect as a natural leader. Yet, little has been empirically explored on how architects perceive their identity and most critically, how they act, behave and perform their way into it in such an environment. Consequently, architects' failing to adapt their core identity to the varying circumstances may lead to their irrelevance and being side-lined merely as aesthetic building surgeons. The current study therefore seeks a better understanding of their perceptions and experiences in manifesting their identities in the phenomenon.Design/methodology/approachDrawing upon the interpretive phenomenological approach, ten architectural trained individuals were selected for in-depth, semi-structured interviews, and written accounts exercise to disclose their lived experience. The study was conducted in a Malaysian architectural consultancy practice (ACP) setting.FindingsThe data analysis resulted in the following five performance identity themes that revolve around the core identity of a successful designer: “performing as a design strategist”, “performing as a design translator”, “performing as a design facilitator”, “reinstating the identity of a design coordinator” and “performing as a design innovator”.Practical implicationsThe study serves as groundwork for professional institutional bodies to further reconstruct a career road map alongside the professional development framework towards elevating, developing and facilitating the hybridity of architects' performance identities in such environment.Social implicationsThe study serves as a groundwork for professional institutional bodies to reconstruct the existing continuing professional development (CPD) programmes, materials and framework so that they reflect the performances of future architects practicing in a BIM environment. The elicited experiences may also inform architectural curriculum designers of the appropriate approaches of teaching and learning in architecture that could promote the hybridity of architects' performance identities in such an environment.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the identity literature by yielding valuable new insights about the experiences and behaviour of architects practicing in a BIM environment. Understanding such complexity would not be possible merely based on the theoretical lenses of professional identity and organisational identification as adopted in previous studies.

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“…Keeping track of trackers and tracking poses organizational and individual challenges. Employees place great emphasis on performance and achievement data and how it shapes their identities and well-being (Walker and Caprar 2019). Human resource (HR) functions may lack the various capabilities needed to manage all data analytic interactions and interests between employers and employees (Angrave et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating Social Scientific Perspectives on the Quantified Employee Self

Calvard

2019

Social Sciences

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A key technological trend in big data science is that of the quantified self, whereby individuals can self-track their health and well-being using various sources of information. The aim of this article was to integrate multidimensional views on the positive and negative implications of the quantified self for employees and workplaces. Relevant human and social scientific literature on the quantified (employee) self and self-tracking were drawn upon and organized into three main influential perspectives. Specifically, the article identified (1) psychological perspectives on quantified attitudes and behaviors, (2) sociological perspectives on sociomaterial user construction, and (3) critical theoretical perspectives on digital power and control. This article suggests that the three perspectives are complementary and can be usefully integrated into an embodied sensemaking perspective. Embodied sensemaking views the employee as a self-conscious user of big data seeking to make sense of their embeddedness in wider digital and organizational environments. This article concludes with implications for protecting employee agency in tension with employers’ big data strategies for governing and managing the performance of quantified digital employee selves.

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When performance gets personal: Towards a theory of performance-based identity

Cited by 15 publications

References 100 publications

A dynamic reframing of the social/personal identity dichotomy

A dynamic reframing of the social/personal identity dichotomy

Performance-based identity in a BIM environment: an architect's perceptions and experiences

Integrating Social Scientific Perspectives on the Quantified Employee Self

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