How feeling misidentified can drive negative attitudes yet increase performance: The role of appraisals

Abstract

Internal identity asymmetry is the uncomfortable experience of having one's identity mistaken—feeling being misidentified—by others at work. Through two longitudinal field studies of working individuals, we investigate the consequences of internal identity asymmetry on individuals' attitudes and work performance. Importantly, we incorporate the stress and coping literature to examine how the individual's cognitive appraisal of the asymmetry (of negative affect and coping resources), together moderate the experience. Furthermore, our results also show that appraisals of negative affect and coping resources moderate the relationship between internal identity asymmetry and performance, such that identity asymmetry may also motivate increased performance at work, depending on this appraisal. Our findings shed light on the importance of cognitive appraisal for identity incongruent experiences at work, and how they might be harnessed for positive outcomes depending on appraisal, which can be developed and strengthened over time.