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Behind the Stigma Shield: Frontline Employees’ Emotional Response to Organizational Event Stigma at Work and at Home

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  • Sanne Frandsen
  • Mette Morsing

Abstract

We investigate how frontline employees manage their emotional experiences of organizational event stigma as an implication of organizational wrongdoing. Our research is based on a longitudinal case study of Danske Bank, which was involved in a money laundering scandal of historical magnitude. We evoke Goffman’s epistemological understanding of stigma as arising in social interactions in all aspects of life. We analyse the emotionally straining spill‐over effects of stigmatization at home, as event stigma blurs individuals’ work–home boundaries. Our study shows how frontline employees develop a ‘stigma shield’, that is, emotional detachment strategies used at work and at home to protect against the negative implications of event stigmatization and maintain their organizational pride and loyalty. Interestingly, we find that the stigma shield enables identity protection rather than identity restructuring in response to the identity threat posed by the scandal. We contribute to the literature on organizational event stigma and identity threat by offering a theoretical lens focusing on individual‐level emotional responses to ‘felt’ stigmatization among frontline employees in an organization facing scandal.

Suggested Citation

  • Sanne Frandsen & Mette Morsing, 2022. "Behind the Stigma Shield: Frontline Employees’ Emotional Response to Organizational Event Stigma at Work and at Home," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(8), pages 1987-2023, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:59:y:2022:i:8:p:1987-2023
    DOI: 10.1111/joms.12749
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Bryant Ashley Hudson & Karen D. W. Patterson & Thomas J. Roulet & Wesley S. Helms & Kimberly Elsbach, 2022. "Organizational Stigma: Taking Stock and Opening New Areas for Research," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(8), pages 1899-1914, December.

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