Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2009
  • Chapter
  • Exploring Positive Identities and Organizations: Building a Theoretical and Research Foundation

Checking Your Identities at the Door? Positive Relationships Between Non-Work and Work Identities

By: Nancy Rothbard and Lakshmi Ramarajan
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

In this chapter we examine factors that enable individuals to experience compatibility between their work and non-work identities. Specifically, we suggest that identity compatibility is influenced by (a) the extent to which individuals can control the co-activation of identities, and (b) the routinization of identity co-activation. We argue that factors such as status and respect allow for greater control over whether and when identities are co-activated. We also argue that compatibility arises from cognitive routines which emerge from active and passive adaptation to situations in which co-activation of identities occurs frequently.

Keywords

Personal Development and Career; Identity; Adaptation

Citation

Rothbard, Nancy, and Lakshmi Ramarajan. "Checking Your Identities at the Door? Positive Relationships Between Non-Work and Work Identities." In Exploring Positive Identities and Organizations: Building a Theoretical and Research Foundation, edited by Laura M. Roberts and Jane E. Dutton. Psychology Press, 2009.
  • Read Now

About The Author

Lakshmi Ramarajan

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • June 2024
    • Administrative Science Quarterly

    Defining Who You Are by Whom You Serve? Strategies for Prosocial–Professional Identity Integration with Clients

    By: Lakshmi Ramarajan and Julie Yen
    • January 2024
    • Faculty Research

    Mariam Braimah: Designing a Career in Tech

    By: Lakshmi Ramarajan, Hannah Riley Bowles and Michael Norris
    • January 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Mellody Hobson at Ariel Investments

    By: Lakshmi Ramarajan and Francesca Gino
More from the Authors
  • Defining Who You Are by Whom You Serve? Strategies for Prosocial–Professional Identity Integration with Clients By: Lakshmi Ramarajan and Julie Yen
  • Mariam Braimah: Designing a Career in Tech By: Lakshmi Ramarajan, Hannah Riley Bowles and Michael Norris
  • Mellody Hobson at Ariel Investments By: Lakshmi Ramarajan and Francesca Gino
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.