1617: Leadership Starts from Within: The Role of Identity Threat and Impostorism for Leader Identity (16297)

Organizer(s)

• TH

  Timothy Holmes

  Durham U. Business School, United Kingdom

Participant(s)

• MH

  Michelle Hammond

  Oakland U., United States

Presenter(s)

• MS

  Mattias Sjoberg

  Durham U. Business School, United Kingdom

Participant(s)

• RK

  Ronit Kark

  Bar Ilan U., Israel
• EW

  Emilia Wojanek

  Durham U. Business School

Presenter(s)

• AB

  Aldijana Bunjak

  U. of Stavanger, Norway

Organizer(s)

• SB

  Susanne Braun

  Durham U., United Kingdom

Discussant(s)

• JL

  Julia Lee Cunningham

  U. of Michigan, United States

Presenter(s)

• OE

  Olga Epitropaki

  Durham U., United Kingdom

Participant(s)

• PG

  Paola Gatti

  U. of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
• YZ

  Yuyan Zheng

  Surrey Business School, United Kingdom

Presenter(s)

• KN

  Karolina Nieberle

  Durham U., United Kingdom
• CD

  Caitlin Demsky

  Oakland U., United States

Participant(s)

• GT

  Greg Thrasher

  Oakland U., United States

Identity is crucial for our understanding of how and why individuals categorize themselves as leaders. Leader identities are dynamic, and they can shift momentarily due to internal and external influences. Theoretical and empirical evidence to explain how and why identity influences the leadership process is currently limited. Accordingly, there is a need for further theorizing and investigation into the antecedents, situational triggers, boundary conditions and outcomes of leader identity dynamics. As well as further validation and precision of measurement tools. We aim to fill these gaps in the literature by integrating the conceptual spaces of identity threat and impostorism as complementary perspectives to explain how and why leader identities change. Through a combination of five theoretical and empirical papers, this symposium contributes to the field by examining the influence of identity conflict and enhancement on meaningful work, unearthing the triggers of identity threat, testing the effects of leader identity and impostorism on wellbeing, enhancing the measurement of leader impostorism and offering new directions for authentic leadership theory. To conclude, an expert in the psychology of identities in organizations will synthesize and critically review the insights from the five presentations to kick off a fruitful discussion with the audience.

Presentations:

• 15:00 – 16:30 CT (GMT-5/UTC-5)

  1617: Professional-Leader Identity Conflict and Enhancement and Meaningful Work (16297)
  

  Author: Olga Epitropaki – Durham U.

  Author: Paola Gatti – U. of Milano-Bicocca

  Author: Yuyan Zheng – Surrey Business School
• 15:00 – 16:30 CT (GMT-5/UTC-5)

  1617: Under Threat: Leader Identity Threat Triggers in Work and Non-Work Domains (16297)
  

  Author: Karolina Wenefrieda Nieberle – Durham U.

  Author: Olga Epitropaki – Durham U.

  Author: Yuyan Zheng – Surrey Business School
• 15:00 – 16:30 CT (GMT-5/UTC-5)

  1617: The Daily Doubt: The Toll of Impostorism and Identity-Activation on Well-being (16297)
  

  Author: Caitlin Demsky – Oakland U.

  Author: Greg Thrasher – Oakland U.

  Author: Michelle Hammond – Oakland U.
• 15:00 – 16:30 CT (GMT-5/UTC-5)

  1617: Measuring Leader Impostorism in Context (16297)
  

  Author: Mattias Sjoberg – Durham U. Business School

  Author: Timothy George Holmes – Durham U. Business School

  Author: Ronit Kark – Bar Ilan U.

  Author: Emilia Wojanek – Durham U. Business School

  Author: Susanne Helena Braun – Durham U.
• 15:00 – 16:30 CT (GMT-5/UTC-5)

  1617: Dynamic Identity in Authentic Leadership: A Fresh Perspective on Self-Regulation (16297)
  

  Author: Aldijana Bunjak – U. of Stavanger