Identity Threat and Strategic Responses in a Remote Work Environment

Abstract

Remote work has become a global phenomenon since the pandemic started and is likely to become a permanent fixture of industry practices. This study explores the impact of remote work on work-related identity and individuals’ strategic responses to the challenge. Based on the under-theorized nature of the topic and the opportunities for theory building, an inductive grounded theory approach is used. Specifically, fifty-one semi-structured interviews in three waves were conducted between 2020 and 2021 with informants based in France, the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. In addition, supplementary data was collected through team meetings for fifty-two hours on various platforms with meeting minutes and chat records. The findings suggest that remote work may trigger considerable identity threat and change an individual’s work-related identity. Three patterns of identity threat emerge, namely, limited identity enactment, identity blending, and meaning loss. As a result, individuals respond to identity threat by protecting or/and reconstructing their identities as strategic responses. In particular, when individuals experience meaning loss, which likely indicates a higher level of identity threat compared to limited identity enactment and identity blending, they are more likely to use identity construction as strategic responses. The findings of the present study advance our understanding of identity in a remote work environment and the relationship between identity and space. This study also sheds light on a dynamic identity network with changes in identity ties and identity hierarchy in a remote work context. Future research can investigate the causes of identity threat and explore how remote work might create identity opportunities.