“That is Not What I Live For”: How Lower-Level Green Employees Cope with Identity Tensions at Work
1
Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences, Chair for Sustainable Organization and Work Design, 53347 Alfter, Germany
2
Institute for International Research on Sustainable Management and Renewable Energy, Nuertingen Geislingen University, 72622 Nürtingen, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2020, 12(14), 5778; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145778
Received: 16 June 2020 / Revised: 11 July 2020 / Accepted: 12 July 2020 / Published: 17 July 2020
(This article belongs to the Section Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development)
Research on green identity work has so far concentrated on sustainability managers and/or top-management actors. How lower-level green employees cope with identity tensions at work is, as yet, under-researched. The paper uses an identity work perspective and a qualitative empirical study to identify four strategies that lower-level employees use in negotiating and enacting their green identities at work. Contrary to expectations, lower-level green employees engage substantially in job crafting as a form of identity work despite their limited discretion. In addition, the study demonstrates that lower-level green employees make use of identity work strategies that uphold rather than diminish perceived misalignment between their green identities and their job context.
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Keywords:
identity work; job crafting; corporate sustainability; green employees; lower-level employees
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MDPI and ACS Style
Blazejewski, S.; Dittmer, F.; Buhl, A.; Barth, A.S.; Herbes, C. “That is Not What I Live For”: How Lower-Level Green Employees Cope with Identity Tensions at Work. Sustainability 2020, 12, 5778. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145778
AMA Style
Blazejewski S, Dittmer F, Buhl A, Barth AS, Herbes C. “That is Not What I Live For”: How Lower-Level Green Employees Cope with Identity Tensions at Work. Sustainability. 2020; 12(14):5778. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145778
Chicago/Turabian StyleBlazejewski, Susanne, Franziska Dittmer, Anke Buhl, Andrea S. Barth, and Carsten Herbes. 2020. "“That is Not What I Live For”: How Lower-Level Green Employees Cope with Identity Tensions at Work" Sustainability 12, no. 14: 5778. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145778
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