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The purpose of this paper was to empirically integrate the structural and perceptual control programs in the identity theory. This integration involved examining how the structural concepts of prominence and salience moderate the impact that the perceptual control process of nonverification has role-specific self-esteem.

We use survey data from normative and counter-normative conditions in the parent and spouse identities to test a series of structural equation models. In each model, we test the direct impacts of prominence, salience, and nonverification on worth, efficacy, and authenticity. We also test interaction effects between prominence and nonverification as well as salience and nonverification on the three self-esteem outcomes.

Out of the 24 possible interaction effects, only three were significant. By contrast, the expected positive effects of prominence on worth were supported among all identities, while the expected positive effects of salience on self-esteem were supported only among normative identities. Also as expected, the negative effects of nonverification on self-esteem were supported, though most strongly among counter-normative identities.

Our findings indicate that the structural and perceptual control concepts have independent effects on self-esteem. Thus, future research should incorporate both programs when examining identity processes on self-esteem. However, depending on the normativity or counter-normativity of the identities of interest, research may find it useful to focus on concepts from one program over the other.

This paper is a test of integration of the two research paradigms in the identity theory, which addresses the micro–macro problem in a unique way.

In this chapter, we advance an understanding of identity theory (IT) as originally created by Sheldon Stryker and developed over the past 50 years. We address misunderstandings of IT concepts and connections. We provide definitions of key ideas in IT, propositions that identify important relationships, and scope conditions that outline the circumstances to which IT applies. Our goal is to provide scholars with an accurate view of IT so that it can continue to advance the science of human behavior in sociology and beyond.

Using identity theory, this paper aims to explore differences in socially responsible signaling behavior based on the salience of a personal or social identity.

Structural equation modeling was used to study the relationship among identity commitment, salience, and signaling behavior.

Findings revealed personal identity salience mediated the relationship between socially responsible commitment and socially responsible social-signaling consumption behavior.

The results of the study suggest that Millennials engage in socially responsible activities as a result of a salient personal identity. Millennials use socially responsible behavior to signal their benevolence to themselves and others.

This is the first research that has examined the relationship between Millennials’ socially responsible consumption behavior and a salient personal or social identity.

The purpose of this paper is to explore experiences relating to and the nature of the episodes that raise individuals’ salience of their intersecting gender, ethnic and senior organizational identities. This paper is based on a presentation given at a British Academy of Management Joint Gender in Management and Identity Special Interest Groups Research Seminar entitled “Exploring Intersectionality of Gender and Identity”.

Based on identity-heightening incidents elicited through diaries and interviews from minority ethnic women and men in middle- and senior-management positions, the paper adopts a multilevel, intersectional framework to present “sites” of intersectional identity salience. Identity-salient sites were analysed from accounts of episodes that raised the salience of gender, ethnic and senior identities for respondents. Researcher reflections on identity salience are also analysed.

This paper draws on subjective accounts of identity salience from researcher and respondent experiences on pre-defined identity dimensions.

This paper uses rich, in-depth accounts of everyday experiences to reveal the dynamics of intersectional identity salience. Gender, ethnic and senior identities infuse each other with significance and meaning simultaneously and consecutively in everyday experiences.

This paper’s originality is drawn from the advancement of intersectionality studies through empirical research based on collecting identity-heightening qualitative data.

The current study postulated that fans' social identities (derived from the team sport clubs of which they perceive themselves to be members) coexist with their personal identities (derived from views of themselves as unique, individual sport fans). The study examined the relationship between identity salience and both positive and negative aspects of fans' attitudes, emotions and behaviours.

Seven hundred and twelve (712) Israeli professional football fans participated in this study. The study employed a survey drawn from an Internet panel with more than fifty thousand members.

Utilizing structural equation modelling (SEM), the authors demonstrated that while social identity salience is related to positive aspects of being a sport fan (love of a favourite team and loyalty), it is also related to negative aspects of being a sport fan (hatred and perceptions of the appropriateness of fan aggression). Personal identity salience was found to be related to the decrease in negative outcomes of being a fan (hatred and perceptions of the appropriateness of fan aggression).

Marketers and sport organizations will benefit from stimulating sport fans' personal identity salience to mitigate possible negative consequences of team affiliation.

The current study expands upon past sport management studies by demonstrating the existence of relationships between sport fans' identity salience and their emotions, attitudes and behaviours. The identity salience of fans is relevant from both academic and applicative perspectives.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the role that collector identity salience and collecting behaviors have on life satisfaction. The authors also investigate the role that dispositional motivations play in strengthening an individual’s collector identity salience.

An online panel management system was used to recruit and compensate a diverse sample of 215 US consumer collectors. The structural model was tested with partial least squares structural equation modeling.

A partial least squares structural equation model of data collected from a survey of US consumer collectors reveals that creative choice counter conformity and mortality legacy positively enhance collector identity salience, whereas materialism has no effect. Despite not affecting collector identity salience, materialism is found to negatively affect life satisfaction. Crucially, collector identity salience is found to positively affect collector engagement, which, in turn, enhances life satisfaction.

This research contributes to consumer behavior literature in three distinct ways. First, the authors build upon extant literature which has revealed creative choice counter conformity and mortality legacy as underlying dispositional motivations that contribute to collector identity salience. Second, while materialism has been tied to collecting behaviors via conceptual studies, the authors also examine the broader impact of materialism on an individual’s life satisfaction. Finally, the authors explore how collector identity salience and collector engagement contribute to satisfaction with life.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the crossover effects of one partner’s work-family conflict (WFC) on the other partner’s family satisfaction, physical well-being, and mental well-being. The study tests the moderating effect of the opposite partner’s family identity salience within the crossover process in a Chinese context.

A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect matched data from 212 Chinese dual-earner couples. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was employed to test the research hypotheses.

The results showed that there were significantly negative crossover effects of husbands’ WFC on their wives’ family satisfaction, physical well-being, and mental well-being, and vice versa. The authors found that the wives’ family identity salience mitigated the crossover effects of the husbands’ WFC, but the husbands’ family identity did not moderate the crossover effect of the wives’ WFC.

This is the first study to investigate the crossover effects of WFC among dual-earner couples in China. Further, the study integrated family identity salience into the WFC crossover process between couples from the receiver’s view and provided evidence that partners differed in the ways they dealt with each other’s stress. This research advances scholarly discussions of the psychological crossover process and fills a key gap of considering complex role variables as moderators within this crossover process.

The widespread use of communication technologies and social media platforms such as the #ME TOO movement has amplified the importance for business leaders to demonstrate high standards of ethical behavior for career success. Although the concept of ethical leadership has been widely investigated, a theoretical framework from a career perspective does not yet exist.

This study draws from sensemaking theory to argue that career identity salience shapes leaders' communication behavior to influence the extent to which they are perceived to be ethical by subordinates. We test our hypotheses using multisource data with a sample (n = 337) of business managers.

The results show that career identity salience has positive influence on communication competence, which positively influences ethical leadership. We further find that communication frequency positively moderates the relationship between communication competence and ethical leadership.

The theoretical and practical implications that, motivated by their career identity, career-ambitious leaders can manipulate subordinates' perceptions of their ethical behavior are discussed along with suggestions for future research.

To our knowledge, this is the first research to provide a career perspective on ethical leadership.

The purpose of this research is to investigate four factors (fan identity salience, satisfaction, attachment, and enduring involvement) to assess their ability to differentiate among three types of fans (frequent, moderately frequent, and infrequent attendees). A convenience sample of college fans of a university woman's basketball team is used. The results suggest both identity salience and enduring involvement may be useful as segmentation variables for sports marketers

Purpose – Stryker's identity theory has impacted sociological social psychology for a half century and still inspires an active research agenda. To date, however, its terms and arguments have not been analyzed closely. Our purpose with this project was to conduct such an analysis.

Design/Methodology/Approach – We provide a detailed rationale for our analytic method that entails an objective examination of a theory's clarity, parsimony, precision, and other essential scientific qualities. It is applied using procedures that, among other functions, check terms for clarity and consistency of usage, and ensure that key arguments are logically valid.

Findings – The analysis revealed significant gaps and ambiguities in the core theory. We offered a series of recommendations designed to supply missing logical elements, clarify definitions, and streamline the terminological system. We sought to remain true to the original theory's purposes while further strengthening its coherence, transparency, and overall utility.

Practical Implications – Kurt Lewin's famous maxim applies well here: “Nothing is so practical as a good theory.” To the extent that a body of research is claimed to be theory-driven, gaps and ambiguities throw into question the results of empirical tests and applications that ostensibly are backed by the theory. Without theoretical support, findings are neither meaningful nor generalizable.

Social Implications – A logically sound and semantically transparent identity theory will have the greatest chance for making real differences in society via practical applications.

Originality/Value of the Chapter – We offer a straightforward method to ensure meaningfulness and integrity in social science theories. Such analyses are rare, but we hope that their utility for theory-driven research programs such as identity theory's is evident.