A MODEL OF INDIVIDUAL COPING WITH INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES TO IDENTITY

BY:
HAMID NACH
ALBERT LEJEUNE

UNIVERSITY OF QUEBEC AT MONTREAL

CANADA

AMCIS 2009
SAN FRANCISCO
 Introduction
2

 IT exposes individuals to new ways of interacting and doing work

(Walsham, 1998)

 It may redefine people’s roles and challenge their identities (Walsham,

2000),

 IT may bring new meanings, replacing or discarding others that are

central to people’s positive view of themselves.
 Tensions between old and news skills call for answers to the
questions “Who am I, what do I stand for and how should I act?”
(Sveningsson and Larsson 2006).

 Such situations may lead to feelings of frustration which eventually

prompt individuals to employ efforts to deal with the identity-
threatening situation
 Identity in Organization sciences
3

 In IS, there is a substantive and rich body of research that examines the
impact of IT on individuals, groups and organizations (e.g. Beaudry and Pinsonneault,
2005,)

 However, the theoretical accounts developed so far have largely ignored

identity as an analytical category.
 This is somewhat surprising given the importance of the concept in
other disciplines
 Identity has been employed to explain a range of organizational
behaviors: cooperation (Dutton et al. 1994), commitment (Sass and Canary 1991),

motivation (Knippenberg 2000), communication patterns (Korver and van Ruler 2003),

resistance (Sveningsson and Larsson 2006), organizational change (McInnes et al. 2006),

Leadership (Alvesson and Willmott 2002) , etc …

 IT and identity?
4

 In IS however, our knowledge of the linkage between IT and

identity remains, thus far, limited
 Much remains to be explored (Nach and Lejeune, 2009).

 There is room for IT investigators to expand and enrich the identity

literature from an IS perspective

 It is not clear how individuals adapt to IT challenges to their identity

.

 how they strive to define or redefine themselves in response to

substantive shifts induced by IT?
 Objective of the research
5

“ ”
“
”
 So what is identity?
6

 Identities are lenses through which people make sense of the

world (Weick 1995).
 They are the answers to the question “Who am I?”

 Identities are the set of meanings that define who an individual

is as a person (e.g. friendly), as a group member (Canadian),
or a role occupant (Project manager) (Burke 1999)
 Identities involve not only who or what people believe
themselves to be but also how they should respond to social
experiences and be regarded by others (Lutgen-Sandvik 2008).
 Identities are stronger sources of meaning than roles.
roles
 Identity control theory (Burke 1994)
7

Identity
Standard
Identities are the set of meanings that
define who an individual is as a person, The process is a feedback loop
as a group member
Meanings in the or a role occupant
situation
Reflected self- relevant meanings which
usually come from others’ feedback

Comparator
compares the perceived meanings with
the meanings held in the identity
standard
Emotion
Error signal When identity is not confirmed, people will experience a
The comparator emits an error signal if a
negative emotions: stress, depression, frustration and
discrepancy is registered. discomfort

If identity is verified,
Socialindividuals
behaviorwill experience positive
affectthat
behaviors such as to
aim self-esteem,
change theself efficacy,
situation andexcitement,
reduce thejoy
and a sense of mastery
discrepancy
 Limitations of ICT
8

 The theory remains somewhat silent when it comes to specify the

types and outcomes of the efforts people deploy when their identity
is disrupted.

 Consideration of coping theory (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984)

 Coping theory focuses on the cognitive and behavioral efforts that

people perform in response to disruptive events

 Coping theory: a three step process.

Coping Theory
9
The proposed model
10

Situation-focused

Emotion-focused
Four strategies of coping with IT challenges to identity
11

Situation- Adjust the self Act on situation

focused

Emotion-
Distancing Catharsis practices
focused

Cognitive Behavioral
response response
 Proposition 1
12

“
When individuals are exposed to new IT and perceive their
reflected identity meanings to be congruent with the meanings
held in their identity standard, they are likely to experience
positive emotions and perceive their identity to be reinforced”

”
 Proposition 2
13

“ When individuals are exposed to new IT and perceive their reflected

identity meanings to be highly discrepant with the meanings held
in their identity standard, they are likely to experience negative
emotions…

Consequently, If they believe that they have control over their work
environment and their selves, they will typically engage efforts to
reduce the discrepancy by acting on the situation and/or adjusting
their selves to the IT demanding situation which may lead either
to a redefined identity, an ambivalent identity or an anti-identity.

”
 Proposition 3
14

“ When individuals are exposed to new IT and perceive their reflected

identity meanings to be highly discrepant with the meanings held
in their identity standard, they are likely to experience negative
emotions.

Consequently, if they believe that they have limited control over

their work environment and their selves, they will typically engage
efforts to regulate their negative emotion by using some form of
cathartic practices and/or by cognitively distancing themselves
from the IT threat

to the extent the situation is problematic, people remain either

ambivalently attached to their new work environment (ambivalent
identity) or continue to reject the new IT-based role (anti-
identity)
 Proposition 4
15

“
The adaptational process is continuously operating as a feedback
loop: individuals continually appraise the outcome of their
coping efforts, in the course of interaction with technology and
engage in new coping cycles in light of new circumstances.

”
 Research design
16

Secondary data analysis

 Narrative synthesis
 Find relevant evidence from extant IS literature to provide a
preliminary support to the proposed model
 Text search included: ‘technology’, ‘identity’, ‘role’, ‘individual’,
‘identity’, ‘qualitative method’, ‘adaptation strategy’, and
‘response strategy’
 Case studies, field study and ethnography
 Titles, abstracts and articles were screened.
(Alvarez, 2008); (Schultze and Boland, 2000); (Walsham, 1998). (Gal et al.,
2008); (Cunha and Orlikowski, 2008); (Beaudry and Pinsonneault, 2005);
(Agnew et al., 1997); (Liu, 2006); (Doolin , 2004); (Brocklehurst, 2001) and
(Wilson (2002)
 Acting on the situation
17

 Alvarez’s case study (2008) documented how an ES seriously

challenged the identity of scheduling representatives (SR) in a
public university.
 The role of SRs went from ‘academic advisors’ to ‘traffic cops’ who
merely route requests through strict adherence to policy and rules.
 Some representatives were frustrated and distressed

 They responded by a combination of resistance acts such as creative

workarounds, misuse, and partial use of the system in an attempt to
re-establish their sense of self.
 Adjusting the self
18

 Gal et al. (2008) documented the case of construction engineers

whose identity was affected by the integration of a 3D technology in
their construction practice.
 The engineers were reluctant as they perceived the system to be
complex.
 However, they made major adjustments to their work.

 They learned how to use the software and integrate it into their
practices.
 As a result, the ‘engineers’ became, metaphorically, ‘air traffic
controllers’ whose major activity was to sit in front of a computer
supplying information and guiding subcontractors.
 Cathartic practices
19

 Cunha and Orlikowski (2008) examined how employees at a

petroleum company, used an online discussion forum to help them
deal with IT changes that they perceived as threatening to their
identity.
 Because they felt powerless to divert the change process, employees
coped with the ongoing attacks to their identity and vent their anger
through the use of online forums.
 Distancing
20

 Beaudry and Pinsonneault (2005) documented how a bank account

manager perceived a financial DSS system to be dismissive to his
identity
 Bill's adaptation efforts were oriented toward restoring his
emotional stability as he felt he could not change the situation
 He tried to vent his anger by…

 Voicing his frustration

 Stepping back
 Acting as if the system had not been implemented.
 Refusing to believe that change was actually happening.
 Illustrations of the strategies outcomes
21

Act on
situation
Redefined
identity
Adjust the self

 Agnew et al., (1997), documented how a Manufacturing technology

redefined the identity of the “shopfloor supervisors” into ‘team
leaders”

 ‘There is a higher level of responsibility in this job now than before ... there
is more to the job. I have had to learn how to make decisions and how to
handle people ... skills I did not have before.’ (Agnew et al., 1997, p. 322)
 Ambivalence
22

Act on
situation
Ambivalent
identity
Adjust the self

 Liu (2006 ) documented how a the computerization of a newsroom

turned “journalists” into “typists”
 I felt like I was typing all the time … I just ‘copied’ press releases rather than ‘reporting,’ because I
had no time to cover events themselves’ (Liu, 2006, p. 707)

Positive impact: Negative impact.

Speed of replication of stories Pressure on reporters and their workload
Speed of communication Conflict with a journalist identity who is supposed to
provide analysis rather than copy and paste press
releases
 Anti identity
23

Act on
situation
Anti-identity
Adjust the
self

 Doolin (2004) reported a case of implementation a Resource Management

System in a hospital to monitor clinical activities of physicians
 Physicians were supposed to change their clinical behavior to become more
efficient
 The system was perceived as a threat and a intrusion in the medical activity

 Doctors rejected categorically to use the system

‘I think the doctors don’t really want to be managed by somebody who isn’t a doctor and I
don’t think that’s ever going to change’ (Doolin, 2004, p. 353).
 Ambivalence (emotion-focused)
24

Cathartic
practices
Ambivalent
identity
Distancing

 Brocklehurst (2001) reports how a group of ‘professional trainers” turned into

IT-based ‘homeworkers’
 The move towards telecommuting was irrevocable,

 One employee felt particularly helpless and tried to cope with his anxiety by
thinking of himself as ‘self-employed entrepreneur’ and his employer as a
‘client’.
 He reported being caught between conflicting demands within his role
 Anti identity (emotion-focused)
25

Cathartic
practices
Anti-identity
Distancing

 The homeworker took the approach of not identifying with

homeworking at all; later, he quit his job.
 ‘This is not about being home-based, nor am I a homeworker. It is about being flexible and I am a flexible worker. As a
salesman and a sales trainer that is what I have always been’ (Brocklehurst, 2001, p. 458).
 Discussion
26

 We defined four types of strategies (acting on situation, adjusting

the self, catharsis and distancing) through which users cope with IT
challenges to their identities.
 We suggested that these strategies may lead to four individual-level
outcomes: reinforced identity, redefined identity, ambivalent
identity and anti-identity.
anti-identity
 Hence, identity is never fixed;

 People will keep on moving in and out of the role-performance

arena to fit in their environment.
 Discussion
27

 The model helps explain a myriad of behavioral patterns such as

resistance, technology acceptance and rejection, self-adjustment,
self preservation, etc.
 Individuals may reject a technology because of what the technology
makes them feel about themselves.
 The technology may not convey who the person thinks he is in the
view of himself and others.
 Importance of emotion in the study of IS phenomena

 How IT and identity intertwine where frustration, distress, anger,

excitement, pride, relief, or joy may be experienced in the course if
interaction with technology.
 Conclusion
28

 Identity is an emerging analytical category in IS discipline

 Our knowledge of the linkage IT and identity remains, thus far,

limited

 The concept offers an important perspective to examine social

impact of IT that need further examination

 Call for IS theorists to bring the identity frame into the mainstream
of IS discipline
Thank you
29