Role distance as one dimension of authenticity: a continuum from complete role embracement to complete role alienation¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The paper proposes linking Goffman's concept of role distance to Halpin and Croft's concept of authenticity, treating authenticity as a "derived concept" positioned on a role distance continuum. The continuum ranges "from behavior perceived as expressing complete embracement of a particular role through behavior perceived as expressing complete alienation from a particular role" (Figure 1). The author argues this substitution circumvents complications of the concept of self implicit in the authenticity term, while cautioning that role distance is not the absolute equivalent of authenticity.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Acceptance of communality of referent between role distance and authenticity at the level of prose definition, as the author documents by comparing Goffman's and Halpin and Croft's definitions

Constraints¶

• The author states role distance is not the absolute equivalent of authenticity and warns of pitfalls in equating concepts from distinctive nomological networks; the proposal is explicitly a preliminary effort delineating one facet of a multidimensional construct

Target Learners¶

• School administrators and teachers in organizational climate research

Target Learning Objectives¶

• Conceptual clarification and empirical measurement of authenticity in school organizational climates

Claims¶

Related Theories¶

• Goffman's role distance concept: behaviors perceived as expressing detachment, disaffection, or resistance against a situated role

Examples¶

• Make ambiguous behavioral-science constructs empirically tractable by linking them to better-behaved concepts from related nomological networks

Key Sources¶

• Brumbaugh, Robert B. (1968). Authenticity, Role Distance, and Organizational Climate: Toward a Conceptual Clarification. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED026738