Prominence

identity negotiation at a glance

1. Introduction
2. Identity Negotiation Theory (INT)
3. INTs relation to Social Identity Theory
4. Questions

Whether in business or in private life, human beings communicate using a complicated interaction involving exchanges of both verbal and nonverbal messages. This interaction will be examined here as to how it is used in business dealings between and among two or more communicating professionals.

1. Introduction

Communication involves a wide range of complex motivations, all related to specific communication goals. Behind these motivations lies the spectre of identity. This raises several key questions:

Who are you?

Who do you think you are?

Who do others think you are?

How does your perception of yourself – and the perception of you that others have – shape communication in business?

2. Identity Negotiation Theory (INT)

Identity is a state that may be classified and defined on the basis of many criteria and thus we have a variety of identities:

Regardless of how we view who we are, we all go through a social conditioning process which, combined with our own individual life experiences and repeated intergroup and interpersonal interaction experiences, form who we are, how we see ourselves, how we see others and shape our personalities for all interactions to come until we die.

Accent discrimination is standard in Britain. In a poll by ComRes and ITV in 2013, 28 per cent reported experiencing it. Recruiters favour the 3 per cent of Britons who speak “the Queen’s English”, says Lance Workman, psychologist at the University of South Wales. Many British class migrants eradicate their accents, or even their original selves. North-eastern accents are especially low status…
And so Britain wastes talent. The Sutton Trust reports that just 7 per cent of Britons are privately educated, but 39 per cent of those in leading professions are. Most are men. Yet even these lucky winners rarely maximise their talent. To borrow a line from US writer John Scalzi, being a privately educated British man is like playing the computer game of life with “the lowest difficulty setting there is”. Consequently, these men can suffer from high self-esteem or get lazy.

Opinion FT Magazine
‘Fiona Hill, Boris Johnson and the tyranny of the plummy British accent/Two very different accents illustrate the way the UK wastes talent’, Simon Kuper, 28 NOV 2019

Negotiation in INT is how we express our identities to and with others. Basically, negotiation here is the exchange of verbal and nonverbal messages to affect the minimum 6 (business) communication types introduced above vis-à-vis others.

3. INTs relation to Social Identity Theory

Social identity Theory (SIT) treats that part of the individual’s view of the self which is derived from belonging to a relevant social group and was used to explain intergroup behaviour. SIT is used to predict certain intergroup behaviours, based on perceived group status differences, perceived legitimacy and stability of those status differences and the perceived ability to move from one group to another.

As one might guess, intergroup behaviour can raise a host of related (ethical) issues, such as prejudice, discrimination, marginalisation, mobbing, isolation and exclusion, all or any of which can cause serious problems at a business organisation and/or with one or any number of e.g. its employers/employees and/or business partners.

In other words, a clear sense of identity can become muddled by belonging to a group, as even a business organisation promotes a sense of belonging to a company culture which lends one a new kind of identity.

Should an individual feel threatened in their identity and/or their position, or should an individual identify strongly with their company culture and seek to protect their organisation from perceived outsiders/threats, then we have the basis for conflict.

Where does conflict in business relationships come from?	Examples
Personalities or value systems that are incompatible	A strong versus a weak personality
Job boundaries that overlap or are unclearly defined	Where there is a project manager and neither the customer, nor the employees in those positions clearly understand the scope of their activities
Competition over resources which are limited	Money, a company car, a corner office
Department or group competition within a company	Procurement needs to consider lead times when placing orders for raw materials versus sales needing to promise potential customers faster delivery dates
Inadequate communication	When the wrong type of communication is chosen to explain a complicated problem
Organisational complexity	When a potential customer has no idea what your company departmental abbreviations mean and always turns to the wrong department
Unreasonable or unclear policies, standards or rules	When you demand 30-day payment due dates in order to sign the contract, when knowing the customer can only pay in 60 days
Collective decision-making	Whenever individuals representing various, somewhat diverging interests are forced to agree to something, in order to move the business forward
Unmet expectations	A product is not delivered on time
Unresolved or suppressed conflicts	When production engineers are fed up with being blamed for late orders

Social Identity Theory has its pros and its cons when studying how identity is affected by belonging to a group. One of its strengths is that SIT examines how conflict between groups is not even necessary to lead to discrimination against an outsider. Where SIT falls short is that it fails to explain why in-group favouritism may result in violent behaviour towards outsiders.

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As can be read from the preceding chapter with its many examples, identity is a key factor influencing communication, as well as interpretation of how one communicates and is communicated with. One must remain mindful of all the factors that can shape identity, both as an individual and as part of a group – especially in a business setting. Many elements influence groups and individuals in how they behave towards others, whether they are aware of their behaviour or not. While identity can be thrust upon us through the place of birth or ethnicity, identity can also be a choice, just like the way one expresses identity can be a choice. In business, one must attempt to reduce conflict through pre- and proactivity, while respecting oneself and others.

Identity Negotiation Theory	Social Identity Theory
Our identity is influenced by: • culture • ethnicity • gender • one’s personal image • religion • social class • sexual orientation • family role or status • profession	We have two main social identities: 1/ Primary identity: • cultural identity • ethnic identity • gender identity • personal identity 2/ Situational identity, influenced by: • role identities • relational identity, e.g. family role or social class • facework identity

Questions for discussion

1. How is one’s identity in a professional role communicated in a business context?
2. What are the differences between NIT and SIT perspectives?
3. What can conflict in business relationships stem from? Give some examples.
4. Give specific examples of a/ in-group favouritism b/stereotypes in a business context.
5. SIT suggests that an organisation can influence individuals in their behaviours, if the organisation is able to modify self-identity. Can you think of specific examples?

Questions for reflection

1. What is the rationale for taking into account group dynamics in the Social Identity Theory model in business?
2. How can issues such as prejudice, discrimination, marginalisation, mobbing, isolation and exclusion become serious problems in a business organisation? Think of possible ways to counteract such trends.
   Sample cases:
    Real Life Examples of Discrimination in the Workplace
    The Tiny Ways Prejudice Seeps into the Workplace
    Would You Recognize Workplace Discrimination? 9 Examples of What It Could Look Like
    Cultural Differences and Discrimination
    Examples of Prejudice
    5 Facts About Prejudice At Work
    Revealed: the stark evidence of everyday racial bias in Britain
3. Reaching a global audience, Hollywood has been immensely influential in fighting prejudice. Philadelphia (1993) was the first major movie to help combat sexual and AIDS discrimination at work. What issues at work do you believe need to be addressed today?

Quiz

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