“Service to others beyond self”: Calling, shocks, breaks, transitions and anchors in the authoring of authenticity through identity work

Julian Adrian Randall, Michelle O'Toole

Research output: Contribution to conferenceUnpublished paperpeer-review

Abstract

The question of the interaction between individual, occupational and organizational identities, and their interrelation with the human drive for authenticity is topical for contemporary organizations and organizing (Creed et al., 2010; Fraher and Gabriel, 2014; refs on authenticity). In this paper, drawing on 32 interviews with former Catholic priests (n=14) and seminarians (n=18) (FCPS), who received Holy Orders and subsequently left the priesthood, we explore the dynamics of the relationship between these distinct founts of identity by presenting our inductively generated Phased Transitions Model. Our model indicates six different phases of identity work - calling, contradiction, shock, break, evolution and anchoring and includes the challenge and reconciliation measures embedded in the phase. Our extreme case, involving former members of a total, greedy institution (Goffman, 1957; Kreiner et al., 2006) shows how individuals use identity work to create, sustain and when necessary, revise, their identities in search for authenticity (cf. Costas and Fleming, 2009). The importance of the model lies in the way it explains the identity work of FCPS and contributes new insight to our extant understanding of calling, anchoring and identity work in relation to the authoring of authenticity.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 2017
EventEGOS colloquium 2017: The Good Organization - Copenhagen, Denmark
Duration: 17 Jul 201721 Jul 2017

Conference

ConferenceEGOS colloquium 2017
Country/TerritoryDenmark
CityCopenhagen
Period17/07/1721/07/17

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of '“Service to others beyond self”: Calling, shocks, breaks, transitions and anchors in the authoring of authenticity through identity work'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this