Under Threat: Responses to and the Consequences of Threats to Individuals' Identities

Abstract

I review and reconceptualize identity threat, defining it as an experience appraised as indicating potential harm to the value, meanings, or enactment of an identity. I also develop a theoretical model and propositions that generate insights into how individuals respond to identity threats originating from a range of sources. I use this theory to explore individual and organizational consequences of different identity threat responses and their implications for research on identity dynamics within organizations.