Professional identity and aggressive workplace behaviors in skilled trade occupations

Abstract

Few researchers have been interested in the problem of aggressive workplace behaviors in skilled trade occupations, particularly in the construction and manufacturing sectors. An important limitation of current studies is the omission of professional identity as a factor in explaining aggressive behaviors. This paper aims to examine the role of professional identity on aggressive responses in skilled trade occupations. The aggressive responses include interpersonal deviance, hostile sexism, as well as feelings of anger and hostility. Data were collected in a questionnaire administered to 282 workers in skilled trade occupations. The results of multilevel regression models, addressing variations across 54 teams, suggest direct connections between higher professional identification and hostile sexism. The results also showed that one aspect of skilled trades culture—the integration of differences—is associated with interpersonal deviance. In addition, workplace demands and job insecurity are associated with feelings of anger and hostility, while low social support is associated with interpersonal deviance. Furthermore, the aspects of sex and gender enrich the interpretation of the results by highlighting the central role of masculinity. Identifications of masculinity are associated with interpersonal deviance, hostile sexism, as well as feelings of anger and hostility, while identifications of femininity are associated with low feelings of anger and hostility.