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Desired and Feared Identities and Their Role in Occupational Identity Regulation

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Desired and Feared Identities and Their Role in Occupational Identity Regulation
Authors: Sarah Page‐Jones, Andrew D. Brown
Source: Page-Jones, S & Brown, A D 2025, 'Desired and Feared Identities and Their Role in Occupational Identity Regulation', Journal of Management Studies. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.13242
Publisher Information: Wiley, 2025.
Publication Year: 2025
Subject Terms: desired identity, resistance, normative control, name=Business and International Management, name=Management of Technology and Innovation, occupational identity, feared identity, name=Strategy and Management, identity regulation
Description: This paper extends theory by showing how occupational identity regulation operates jointly through both desired and feared identities which, in combination, enforce normative control. Taking a narrative identity perspective and drawing on an ethnographic and interview‐based study of veterinarians, we make three principal contributions to our understanding of identity regulation. First, we explain how, in high surveillance contexts, occupational members construct not just positively valenced desired identities but also negatively valenced feared identities, and how feared identities are antagonistic foils to desired ones that enhance their appeal. Second, we analyse how self‐discipline is exerted through dual processes of self‐examination: prideful talk that affirms desired identities and guilt‐ridden talk which casts doubt on their attainment and spurs auto‐correction. Third, we demonstrate how conformist identity work which (re)produces occupational identities through desire and fear reduces people's scope for resistance. This research highlights identity work that is non‐supportive of the (desired) self and how an appreciation of feared in addition to desired identities is vital to understand fully the tensional nature of occupational selves.
Document Type: Article
File Description: application/pdf
Language: English
ISSN: 1467-6486
0022-2380
DOI: 10.1111/joms.13242
Access URL: https://purehost.bath.ac.uk/ws/files/364981196/JMS_2025_Desired_and_Feared_Identities_and_Their_Role_in_Occupational_Identity_Regulation.pdf
Rights: CC BY
Accession Number: edsair.doi.dedup.....ae7bb57cfeac41f2f2f69f79f7941434
Database: OpenAIRE
Description
Abstract:This paper extends theory by showing how occupational identity regulation operates jointly through both desired and feared identities which, in combination, enforce normative control. Taking a narrative identity perspective and drawing on an ethnographic and interview‐based study of veterinarians, we make three principal contributions to our understanding of identity regulation. First, we explain how, in high surveillance contexts, occupational members construct not just positively valenced desired identities but also negatively valenced feared identities, and how feared identities are antagonistic foils to desired ones that enhance their appeal. Second, we analyse how self‐discipline is exerted through dual processes of self‐examination: prideful talk that affirms desired identities and guilt‐ridden talk which casts doubt on their attainment and spurs auto‐correction. Third, we demonstrate how conformist identity work which (re)produces occupational identities through desire and fear reduces people's scope for resistance. This research highlights identity work that is non‐supportive of the (desired) self and how an appreciation of feared in addition to desired identities is vital to understand fully the tensional nature of occupational selves.
ISSN:14676486
00222380
DOI:10.1111/joms.13242