Alternative pathways for independent workers’ success in the gig economy
Saied, Neveen
Saied, Neveen
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Publication Type
Dissertation - Collection of articles
Editor
Supervisor
De Stobbeleir, Katleen
Buyens, Dirk
Buyens, Dirk
Publication Year
2023
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Book
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Publication NUmber of pages
214
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Abstract
This dissertation takes an identity- and behavioral-based approaches to understanding the different ways through which individuals who work on task/project-basis outside the boundaries of organizations (i.e., independent workers) deal with the challenges of the gig economy. Prior research has shown that independent workers lack having a clear sense of self at work due to work precarity and transience, which has negative consequences on their wellbeing and overall thriving. It also suggests that workers may overcome such challenges by developing connections to people, places, purpose, and routines. While this research enriched our understanding of the phenomenon of independent work, we know little about the cognitive and behavioral resources that workers use to survive in the gig economy. To account for this gap in our knowledge, in this dissertation, I theorize about the different cognitive, emotional, and behavioral resources that independent workers utilize to survive and thrive in the gig economy. I took an identity-based approach to theorize that an individual’s not-me identity narrative (i.e., stories around who they are not) and possible feared selves (i.e., stories around who they dread becoming in the future) provide cognitive resources that contribute to shaping individuals’ work identities and their experiences of independent work. Additionally, I employed a behavioral-based approach to theorize how specific proactive behaviors, such as workers’ voice behaviors, may contribute to building a relationship with clients through enhancing their level of satisfaction and loyalty intentions. To this end, this dissertation employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. In Study 1, I took a narrative approach, and analyzed 59 accounts gathered in semi-structured interviews with independent workers to understand how they develop and utilize their not-me narratives in constructing their work identities. Findings from this study demonstrated that workers developed four not-me narratives; “I am not a victim;” “I am not an employee;” “I am not a pawn;” and “I am not a certain role”. Specifically, independent workers who developed such narratives enhanced their sense of identity clarity (i.e., their work beliefs and values are clearly and confidently defined). In Study 2, I build on the findings of study 1 that showed how workers use their current self (i.e., who they currently are or are not) as a cognitive resource, and I investigate the role of workers’ future possible selves, specifically, their feared selves as a cognitive resource in their work identity construction. Through semi-structured interviews with 80 independent workers, I show that workers developed four feared selves narratives; the idle narrative (the fear of becoming idle); the failed narrative (the fear of failing at work); the dependent narrative (the fear of having to go into full-time employment); and the unfulfilled narrative (the fear of being stuck doing work they do not find meaning at). Based on whether workers appraised their feared selves as an opportunity or a threat they developed narratives of identity security and resilience respectively. Employing a behavioral-based approach, in Study 3, I used structural equation analyses with a sample of 239 worker-client dyads to test whether holding multiple jobs would encourage workers to engage in voice behaviors at their client organizations and the extent to which clients would reward workers for such behaviors though increased levels of satisfaction and loyalty intentions. I found support for my hypotheses indicating that holding multiple jobs can in fact encourage workers to voice ideas (i.e., promotive voice) and concerns (i.e., prohibitive voice) and that clients are likely to reward voicing ideas with higher levels of satisfaction and voicing concerns with higher levels of loyalty intentions. Taken together, these three complementary studies demonstrated that even when there were no codified roles and preset resources provided to individuals, they managed to cultivate their own cognitive and behavioral resources to face work precarity and navigate the growing complexity of their world of work.
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Keywords
Independent Workers, Identity, Gig Economy, Proactive Behaviors, Gig Work, Independent Workers, Gig Economy, Identity, Proactive Voice Behaviors, Feared Selves