A person‐centered view of impression management, inauthenticity, and employee behavior

Disability disclosure as an impression management technique used in the workplace: A grounded theory investigation

BACKGROUND

In order to overcome obstacles to entry and inclusion in the workplace, individuals with disabilities engage in various impression management strategies to present themselves as the socially acceptable 'ideal employee.'

OBJECTIVE

This study expands on previous disclosure research by asking individuals with disabilities to share their experiences of identity management and workplace challenges.

METHODS

We leveraged qualitative research techniques to explore the reciprocal impact of workplace treatment and disclosure.

RESULTS

Impression management emerged as an especially salient aspect of participants' disclosure decisions, and participants used an array of impression management tactics. Some employees with disabilities described positive experiences; however, we also learned that impression management can present unique challenges that may outweigh potential benefits.

CONCLUSION

Our findings affirm that managing the image we project can be remarkably complicated and effortful when having a disability. This paper concludes with implementation recommendations for vocational rehabilitation counselors and human resource practitioners.

Praising ‘me’ or ‘we’? Different types of self-promotion and career success

Self-promotion, widespread in the workplace, has received extensive attention from scholars. However, due to the narrow one-dimensional structure of traditional self-promotion and the limitations of theoretical thinking, its antecedents and consequences are still unclear. Therefore, we propose a new pair of self-promotion behaviors (sole self-promotion and joint self-promotion), and develop the measures based on a more grounded definition of self-promotion. In phase 1, we developed the scales of sole self-promotion and joint self-promotion (sample 1), and assessed their psychometric properties (i.e., content validity, factor structure, and reliability) by using two samples (samples 2 and 3). In phase 2, using three-wave data (sample 4) with two sources (employees and coworkers), we tested the overall model based on social comparison theory, examining the antecedents and consequences of sole and joint self-promotion, and exploring the different effects of these two behaviors on career success. Overall, our research offers new insight into self-promotion research and provides a useful tool to evaluate employee self-promotion. Implications for theory and practice, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

A glimpse into prosociality at work

Prosociality is an important part of the work context. Employees, leaders, and organizations show various forms of prosocial behavior such as supporting colleagues suffering from heavy workload, voluntarily organizing social events fostering a good organizational climate, or providing goods and services that benefit society at large. From the plethora of constructs related to prosociality at work, I herein provide a brief introduction to the currently most prominent ones with regard to organizational members in general (organizational citizenship behavior) and leaders (servant leadership), respectively. Moreover, I briefly sketch how research on prosociality at work would likely profit from a stronger integration of research from related fields, within and beyond the organizational literature.