Part-Time Faculty 2
Since experience and meaning are assumed to reside in communication, this research
focuses on communication as a means of explaining identity. Figure 1 shows three
interconnected areas with permeable borders representing the realms of self, work, and society.
Identity is located centrally within these blended borderlands as a positioning of self in relation
to society through work. The realm of “work” represents an organized set of practices or “a
procedural sense of everyday routines employed to accomplish some specific task” (Mokros,
2002, p. 14). Conceptualizations of self, work, and society are created and shaped within
communication and are represented in Figure 1 by the dotted lines outlining borders and labeled
in terms of the constitutive view of communication: reflection, interaction, and discourse.
Reflection is concerned with moments of understanding of one’s self, where a “taken for
granted” sense of being is placed into question. Interaction with others within an organization
shapes one’s meaning of work. Discourse among various cultures shapes the society in which
one lives. Identity is constituted through reflection, interaction, and discourse. Identity answers
the questions “Who am I,” “How do I work,” and “What kind of world do I live in?”
This model should not be seen as static. The opposing arrows indicate negotiated
movement “between autonomy and relatedness” (Mokros & Carr, 1994, p. 85). The dualism of
individual-collective is labeled as “Self-Presentations” and “Statements of Others” to indicate
their perpetual tension since symbolic interactions between self and others are commonplace.
The communicative activities of self-presentations and statements of others position identity and
reflect an orientation to social bonds or socialization. Hecht, Collier, and Ribeau (1993) along
with Jablin and Krone (1987) influenced this part of the model. Overall, this model proposes that
communication may offer an account of identity and the qualities of the constitution of
individuals, organizations, and society in general.
Convention