Running with Scissors:A Study on the Dynamic Evolu-tionary Process of Ambivalent Occupational Identifica-tion of Non-decent Workers
Occupations are a product of the social division of labor,and there should be no distinction between high and low occupations that are beneficial to human society.However,some occupations have been questioned because they run counter to society's standards of cleanliness.Despite the important social value of such occupations,the tarnished image in the eyes of the public poses a serious identity threat to workers.They commonly face the questioning of"how can you do this kind of job"from the dominant values of society,which not only affects their physical and mental health,but also contributes to the inefficient functioning of organizations.Therefore,it is of great academic value and practical significance to explore in depth the is-sue of the identity of non-decent workers and to help and guide them to build a dignified occupational identity.The long-standing academic controversy over the study of occupa-tional identification and disidentification among non-decent work-ers,implying that their occupational identity states can be extreme-ly complex,and that it is difficult to be at either end of a conscious choice of identification or disidentification.Non-decent workers are more or less ambivalent about their occupations,and this state of identification with both identification and disidentification is known as ambivalent occupational identification.However,most of the current research on the ambivalent occupational identification of non-decent workers stops at revealing the phenomenon and does not examine in depth the dynamic evolution process of the ambiv-alent occupational identification of non-decent workers,and it is not yet clear about the characteristics of the stage of the non-decent workers'ambivalent occupational identification,their coping strate-gies,the inherent tensions,and the dynamics of the evolution of the non-decent workers'ambivalent occupational identification.This study takes hospital caregivers as the research object,based on the perspective of ambivalent occupational identification,in order to reveal the complex occupational identity status of non-decent work-ers.We conduct multiple cross-regional field follow-up interviews with 50 caregivers and 14 related managers and,based on grounded theory,revealed that:(1)Caregivers will go through the three stages regarding of their occupational identification:"passive ambivalent occupational identification","ambivalent occupational identifica-tion shock"and"active ambivalent occupational identification",and finally achieve an occupational cognition state of harmonious coexistence with contradictions;(2)In the passive stage,they will adopt the maladaptive strategy and show the tendency to escape and resist stigma,accept reluctantly and turnover;in the shock stage,they will take adaptive strategies(such as meaning construction,self-improvement and psychological resource construction)and maladaptive strategies(such as separation and being illegal)at the same time;and in the active stage,caregivers will conduct adaptive strategies such as acceptance,environment construction and role ex-tension;(3)The main contradiction tension is from individual,orga-nization and occupation,the latter two of which is hard to eliminate but could be moderated by resources they obtain form work such as job autonomy,respect from others and job meaning;(4)Hospitals,hometown circles and caregivers'personality traits are important sources of motivation for the evolution of ambivalent occupational identification stages.The humane management of the hospital and the support of the hometown circle facilitates a better adaptation of the caregiver to the job,while personality traits such as optimism and empathy help to reshape the understanding of the occupation.Our research reveals the dynamic evolution of caregivers'ambiv-alent occupation identification and provide implications for im-proving the management for the base labor groups.Theoretically,revealing the formation of ambivalent occupational identification of non-decent workers and their dynamic evolution process based on the paradoxical perspective can help to resolve the divergence of existing studies.Practically,it can provide inspiration for managers to improve the management of the underclass workgroups,so that the organizations can be more clear about what kind of institutional design can guide practitioners to construct a dignified occupational identity.
万方数据
维普
