Link Identity Threats with Opportunities: Managing Multiple Identities in Intrapersonal Identity Network

Zhenjing Han () and Pia Arenius ()
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Zhenjing Han: EM - EMLyon Business School
Pia Arenius: EM - EMLyon Business School

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Abstract: Existing research has explored how identity structure influences new identity adoption, but the underlying assumption is that individuals adopt a new identity with volition. We investigate how the new identity adoption affects an individual's existing identity structure when identity adoption may not be out of personal awareness and volition. Through the thematic analysis of 69 narrative interviews with 56 female successors and 10 of their parents in 50 family-owned firms, we find three distinct patterns through which individuals manage multiple identities in their identity structure following the adoption of a new identity: identity crystallization in hierarchy structure, identity focus rotation in web structure, and identity reorientation in integrative structure. This study broadens our understanding of managing multiple identities in different identity structures following the adoption of a new identity and contributes to the identity theory literature. The extended abstract is available from authors

Keywords: Identity; Family firms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-06-03
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Published in Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC) 46th, Jun 2026, Tuscaloosa, United States

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05690309

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