Academy of Management Discoveries: March 2024, Vol. 10, No. 1
Read the article: https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/...

Revaluing Ordinary Moments: Disrupting Gendered Positive Self-Concepts through a Narrative Feedback Intervention
By Brianna Barker Caza, Emily D. Heaphy, Laura Morgan Roberts and Gretchen Spreitzer

How do people craft a positive self-concept? How does the content of positive self-concepts change in response to feedback? Our research seeks to answer these questions by analyzing data gathered from two different samples before and after a positive-feedback intervention. Collectively, our findings identify three narrative themes that people use to articulate how they add value to their workplace and communities: Mobilizing, Connecting, and Task Engaging. Further, we found that while our participants’ initial positive self-concepts showed gendered patterns, these patterns were largely diminished after the positive-feedback intervention. In addition, after the intervention, the content of participants’ positive self-concepts were broadened and enriched. In post hoc analyses we explored possible mechanisms underlying these patterns of change. We then theorize that noncomparative, positive narrative feedback from significant others across multiple domains provides people with the opportunity to revalue ordinary actions and build a more integrated understanding of their value. We discuss the implications of these findings on strength-based research, positive identities, and gender identity construction.