This document outlines a proposed study to examine how people reconstruct their identities following the loss of an important collective identity referent like their work organization or occupation. The study would investigate what identity resources people draw upon, like identifying with a new referent, developing a new possible self, or finding redemptive meaning in their experience. It is hypothesized that these identity resources will relate to better psychological well-being and career success following the loss. The proposed study involves interviews to understand what resources are used, then a survey of people who lost specific jobs to test the hypotheses. The findings could provide insights into identity construction after loss and outcomes of unemployment.

1. Rowing without an Oar:
Identity Reconstruction Following
Organizational and Occupational Loss
g
Hamdan Said, PhD
(Student Development)
Higher Education Administration

2. “A Tale To Tell”
I have a little tale to tell
It’s called my working life
My skills I soon will have to sell
Shut up demanding wife!!!
The job I have has paid me well I don’t know how to sign on
g
I thought it was for good I’ve always earnt a crust
I don’t know what to do right now But moving on to pastures new
I ve
I’ve only 12 months left Certainly seems a must…
y
Painter, decorator You’ve heard my little tale
Candlestick maker Of my shortened working life
y g
Which one will suit me best? Well, so long Norsk Hydro
I thought it was for life.
– Beesley, Meltdown, 2004
Meltdown,
3/30/07 May Meaning Meeting 2

3. Job Loss as Identity Loss
Benefits of working (Jahoda, 1982)
Economic and psychological b
E i d h l i l benefits
fit
Among psychological benefits are individual
identity
identit and stat s
status
Work is a core domain of people’s lives
people s
(Casey, 1995; Wrzesniewski, McCauley, Rozin & Schwartz, 1997)
One way people define themselves is in
terms of their work (Ashforth & Mael, 1989; Pratt, 1998)
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4. Collective Identity at Work
Two primary collective identity referents, or
referents,
groups to which the individual may form a
self-
self-defining attachment:
Organizations (Ashforth & Mael, 1989)
g ( )
Occupations (Van Maanen & Barley, 1984)
What d we get f
Wh t do t from group id tifi ti ?
identification?
Meet needs for assimilation and differentiation
(Brewer,
(Brewer 1991)
Inform attitudes, values and behavior (Tajfel &
Turner, 1982)
Act i line ith
A t in li with organization’s i t
i ti ’ interest (Pratt, 1998)
t
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5. Loss of Collective Referents
Primary assumption of social identity theory
is that referents are stable and enduring (Glynn
(Glynn,
1998; Somers, 1994)
Changes t modern workplace question
Ch to d k l ti
these assumptions (Sennett, 1998, 2006; Friedman, 2005;
Ciulla, 2000)
, )
Short-
Short-term commitment by organizations
What h
Wh happens when an organization or
h i i
occupation goes away?
Organizational d th (Harris & Sutton, 1986; Sutton, 1987)
O i ti l death
3/30/07 May Meaning Meeting 5

6. Research Questions
When people have lost a collective social
identity referent what resources do they
referent,
draw upon to reconstruct their identities?
Specifically concerned with the loss of the
work organization or occupation
How do the resources utilized relate to
psychological health and success in the
domain of the lost referent?
Specifically well-being and career success
well-
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7. Identity Content
Resources – “forms of wealth…supplies
(e.g.,
(e g money or goods) or supports (e g (e.g.,
information, status, affiliation or love)
having economic social or emotional
economic,
value” (Rousseau & Ling, 2007: 374)
Recent interest in content as well as
process of identity construction (M Ad
(McAdams, 1985
1985;
Pratt, Kaufmann & Rockmann, 2006)
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8. Identity Construction
In developmental psychology:
Identity
Id tit construction is crucial i adolescence,
t ti i i l in d l
although a lifelong pursuit (Erikson, 1959; 1963)
In organizational behavior:
Professional identity construction (Ibarra 1999; Pratt
(Ibarra, 1999 Pratt,
Kaufmann & Rockmann, 2006)
Identity work (Sveningsson & Alvesson, 2003)
y
Although a burgeoning topic, identity
construction remains relatively unexplored
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9. Identity Reconstruction
In clinical psychology:
Loss of a relational identity referent (e.g., spouse, child,
y ( g p
parent) (Bagnoli, 2003; Riches & Dawson, 1996)
In social and personality psychology:
Construction of a life story creates continuity out of
instability (McAdams, 1985, 1996)
Contexts: divorce (King & Raspin, 2004), career and religion
change (Bauer & McAdams, 2004)
In sociology of health and illness:
Loss of a valued self (e.g., healthy person) (Yoshida,, 1993;;
( g, yp )(
Radley, 1989)
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10. Identity Resources
Death of significant other causes all other
relationships to be reexamined (Bagnoli, 2003)
p Bagnoli,
Having multiple identities to draw upon may
buffer th l
b ff the loss of any one (Sieber, 1974; Koch &
f Sieber,
Sheppard, 2004)
Identification with extant collective referents
will positively relate to SWB and career
success
Occupation if organization lost
Organization if occupation lost
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11. Identity Resources
People differ in their ability to balance “old”
and “new” views of the self following the loss
new
of a valued self (King & Raspin, 2004; Yoshida, 1993; Radley,
1989)
Possible selves are personalized
representations of goals; investment in a
future that is unlikely to happen is maladaptive
(King & Raspin, 2004; King & Smith, 2004)
Salience of new possible self will positively
relate to SWB and career success
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12. Identity Resources
People differ in their narration of turning
points as being redemptive versus
contaminative (McAdams et al., 1997; McAdams et al., 2001;
McAdams & Bowman, 2001)
Importance of finding positive meaning
despite adverse circumstances in rebuilding
identity following loss (Bagnoli, 2003; Yoshida, 1993;
Affleck & Tennen, 1996; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1995)
Redemptive turning points will positively
relate to SWB and career success
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13. Identity Resources
Two dominant themes tend to emerge in life
stories (McAdams, 1985, 1996):
Agency = highlight power of the individual relative to all
others
Communion = emphasize i ti
C i h i intimacy and connection
d ti
Emphasizing connection to other people is
positively related to well-being while agency is
well-being,
not related (Bauer & McAdams, 2004; McAdams et al., 2001;
Riches & Dawson, 1996)
Narratives of communion will positively relate to
SWB and career success
d
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14. Hypothesized Model
Investment in the Lost Referent _ Subjective
• Identification Well-Being
• Work Centrality
+
+
+
_
IDENTITY RESOURCES Career Success
• Identification w/ Extant Referent • Objective
+ • Subjective
• New Possible Self
• Redemptive Turning Point
• Communal Themes
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15. Proposed Approach
Study 1
Interviews with peop e who have lost their
e e s people o a e os e
organization or occupation (2 separate samples)
Purpose: g
p gain an understanding from
g
participants of what resources are used and in
what combination; inform Study 2 (Sieber, 1973)
Study 2
Survey of people who have lost the same
organization and occupation as in Study 1
Purpose: h
P hypothesis t ti
th i testing
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16. Sample
Former accountants for “Audit Corp”
Audit, tax and co su g firm
ud , a a d consulting
Ceased accounting operations in 2002
Audit Corp is gone, but accounting remains
gone
Former research scientists for “Tech Lab”
Industrial research laboratory
Strategic change in 2001
2/3 of research science group laid off
Research science is gone, but Tech Lab remains
g ,
3/30/07 May Meaning Meeting 16

17. Measures: DVs
Subjective Well-Being
Well-
Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985)
Sense of Coherence Scale (Antonovsky, 1987)
Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) (CES-
Scale (Diener, Emmons Larsen & Griffin 1985)
(Diener Emmons, Griffin,
Subjective Career Success (Gunz & Heslin, 2005)
“What is
“Wh t i your d fi iti of career success?”
definition f ?”
“In general, how satisfied are you with your career thus far?”
Objective Career Success
Annual Income
Promotion Rate
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18. Measures: IVs
Identification with the Lost Referent
Organizational/Occupational Identification
Scale (Mael & Ashforth, 1992)
Overlapping Circles Identification Measure
(Bergami & Bagozzi, 2000)
Work Centrality Scale (Paullay, Alliger & Stone-Romero,
Stone-
1994)
3/30/07 May Meaning Meeting 18

19. Measures: Identity Resources
Identification with Extant Collective
Organizational/Occupational Identification
g p
Scale (Mael & Ashforth, 1992)
Overlapping Circles Identification Measure
(Bergami & B
(B i Bagozzi, 2000)
i
Salience of New Possible Self (King & Raspin,
( g p
2004)
Possible Self Narrative
How easy was it f you to imagine your lif i thi
H for t i i life in this
scenario?
How clear was the mental picture y imagined?
p you g
How often do you think about this possible future?
3/30/07 May Meaning Meeting 19

20. Measures: Identity Resources
Narrative of Loss of Organization/
Occupation (McAdams 1985; McAdams et al 2001; Bauer &
(McAdams, al.,
McAdams, 2004)
“I would like you to think back to the time in your life
when you stopped working at A dit C / a research
h t d ki t Audit Corp/as h
scientist. It is likely that this event marked the end of
one chapter in your life, and the beginning of another,
as is consistent with a “turning point.” In the space
below, please write a description of this time in as
much
m ch detail as you can incl ding what happened who
o can, including hat happened, ho
was involved, what you were thinking and feeling at the
time, and how (if at all) that experience changed y
( ) p g your
life?”
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21. Measures: Identity Resources
Redemptive Turning Points (McAdams & Bowman,
2001)
Negative situation turns positive or results in
a positive outcome
Examples: progress, growth, l
E l th learning,
i
recovery
Communal Themes (McAdams, 1985)
Episodes: communication, sharing, sympathy,
friendship, love, touch, physical closeness
Characters: mother, spouse, teacher, mentor
Ideologies: care, responsibility
Id l i ibili
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22. What Do I Expect to Find?
The resources people draw upon to rebuild
identity partially explain differential
outcomes following the loss of an
organization or occupation
Subjective well-being
well-
Subjective and objective career success
Although investment in the lost referent
hurts, identity resources can help!
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23. Theoretical Contributions
Identity Construction in the Domain of Work
Better understand the content of individual identities
at work
In turn, individual identities are resources to the
organization and occupation
Identity Construction Following Loss of a
Collective Referent
Can be applied more broadly (e.g., fall of nations,
ethnic groups, religions)
Unemployment and Job Loss
Additional lens to understand differential experience
and outcomes of job loss
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24. Limitations of Proposed Study
One-
One-time, cross-sectional design
cross-
Does not allow us t understand process
D t ll to d t d
Directionality unclear – do people choose
action that is in line with their self-narrati e or
ith self-narrative
do they construct a narrative post-hoc based
post-
on course of action?
Asking p p to recall an event that
g people
occurred several years prior
Susceptible to retrospective biases
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25. THANK YOU
AND HAPPY ROWING!
3/30/07 May Meaning Meeting 25