Revue Internationale de Psychosociologie et de Gestion des Comportements Organisationnels

Motivating people to protect themselves: The case of the first lockdown in France

Marie-Eve LAPORTE — 2024-04-26

This research mobilizes the terror management model in health care to study the scope and limitations of using threat-solution pairs in public communication in times of crisis and to identify levers that are likely to encourage appropriate behaviors by examining the extreme case of the first lockdown (March-May 2020) in France. A qualitative study was conducted during the first lockdown in France using an exploratory phase of observing online conversations, followed by 17 semistructured interviews with citizens. The results show that people were encouraged to comply with the lockdown by government communication based on a discourse classically used in public health that consists of agitating a threat and proposing a solution. However, the limits of this communication were demonstrated, leading some people to mobilize other resources: a community of destiny and a calmer relationship with death. This research challenges the staying power of an approach that relies solely on the activation of proximal defenses and shows the value of activating distal defenses in times of crisis. From a theoretical standpoint, this approach offers an in-depth understanding of how distal defenses function. From a managerial point of view, new avenues for action and public crisis communication are suggested. Specifically, following an immediate response, communication must help individuals regain control, be agile and differentiated according to individuals, and involve local authorities and, more broadly, local stakeholders.

Identity Threat and Strategic Responses in a Remote Work Environment

Kate Yue ZHANG — 2024-04-26

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.

The Illusion of Transparency: Examining Power Dynamics in AI Implementation Strategies

Raphael LISSILLOUR — 2024-04-26

Organisational transparency is often seen as synonymous with greater fairness and as a factor leading to better performance. At the same time, despite its low implementation success rate, the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) and its integration into management tools are seen as technological advances enabling greater transparency within companies. How is the notion of transparency implicated, or even instrumentalised, during the implementation of AI? To answer this research question, we draw on Bourdieu’s theory of practice to conceptualise transparency as a practice situated in fields of power characterised by an unequal distribution of different types of capital. In this study, we seek to reveal the practices associated with the implementation of AI in customer relations teams. Based on two case studies, we discuss the discrepancies between the initial rhetoric that supported the implementation of AI and its consequences on the ground. The analysis focuses on the stakes and transfers of power within the organisation and on the types of transparency promoted by AI. The results show that, while the implementation was justified by transparency based on greater visibility of processes and the revelation of new data – two dimensions that aim to support the work of users – it can ultimately be seen as a means of increasing the ability to control and monitor their work.