Clemson University TigerPrints All Dissertations Dissertations August 2020 Sense of Self in the Context of Digitalization: Essays on Digital Self-Continuity Conceptualization and Empirical Investigations Wenxi Pu Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations Recommended Citation Pu, Wenxi, "Sense of Self in the Context of Digitalization: Essays on Digital Self-Continuity Conceptualization and Empirical Investigations" (2020). All Dissertations. 2658. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/2658 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SENSE OF SELF IN THE CONTEXT OF DIGITALIZATION: ESSAYS ON DIGITAL SELF-CONTINUITY CONCEPTUALIZATION AND EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATIONS A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Business Administration by Wenxi Pu August 2020 Accepted by: Philip Roth, Committee Chair Jason Bennett Thatcher, Committee Chair Michelle Carter Janis Miller i ABSTRACT Digital technologies have deeply weaved into the infrastructures of society and organizations, fundamentally transforming how individuals interact with each other and, consequently, transforming how individuals verify and express their sense of self. Rooted in this context, this dissertation explores two hitherto largely ignored areas in Information Systems (IS) research with two essays related to the theme of self and identity. The first essay investigates whether and how stigmatized self presented on social media (e.g., Facebook and LinkedIn) impacts a job applicant’s hireability ratings. Nowadays, more and more companies use social media to screen job applicants before contacting them for interviews. This process, termed social media (SM) assessments, is convenient in many aspects, however, it is potentially discriminatory. What is even worse, recruiters might not be fully aware of the discrimination during SM assessments given the lack of structure. We need to understand the mechanisms through which stigmatized self presented on social media impact hireability in order to mitigate potential discrimination. This essay uses a veteran with PTSD, the effect of which on hireability has not been looked at yet, as the proxy for stigmatized self. With a pair of experiments using Facebook and LinkedIn profiles that vary the presence of PTSD disclosure and of individuating information, this essay found that PTSD can lead to stigmatization of the job applicant. The stigmatization led to lower hireability ratings. We also found support for the mediating mechanisms of trust, which has not been extensively investigated in the literature on personnel selection. This essay contributes to the literature by exploring PTSD’s effect on hireability, investigating trust’s role in the process, and unpacking ii potential discrimination during SM assessments. The second essay theorizes how individuals, using digital technologies, verify their sense of self, and achieve self- continuity both actively and passively. IS researchers tend to focus on the active mechanisms, but these passive mechanisms through which individuals verify their sense of self are largely ignored. This essay contributes to the IS literature by juxtaposing the active and passive mechanisms through which individuals using digital technologies to achieve their sense of self-continuity (termed digital self-continuity). iii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to the memory of my mother. Her unconditional love and support made me brave enough to go down the path that I had chosen, but she couldn’t see my graduation. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My sincere appreciation goes to my dissertation committee for their steadfast support during the completion of this dissertation. I would like to thank Jason Bennett Thatcher for his inspiring and transformative guidance since day one of my Ph.D. journey. His positive attitude has shaped who I am both academically and personally. Thanks Philip Roth for his adept research advice. I would be lost without his clear vision and direction. Philip also gave me helpful advice on how to teach and interact with students. Thanks Michelle Carter for providing her deep knowledge in the area of self and identity. She offered significant and meticulous suggestions to improve the quality of the dissertation. Thanks for Janis Miller for her thoughtful support throughout my Ph.D. and in the dissertation. What’s more, she has been the best program coordinator! During my Ph.D., I have also received substantial mentoring from Varun Grover, Heshan Sun, Siyuan Li, Marten Risius, and Russell Purvis. My appreciation goes to them as well. I would also like to thank many faculty in the management department for their support in my data collection for this dissertation, to name a few: Christina Kyprianou, Hongki Kim, and Tina Robbins. My gratitude also goes to my Ph.D. cohorts, Daniel Pienta, Daniel Nielubowicz, and Xianyong Wang, who rendered the journey with less struggle and more fun. Thank Marie Esposito for proofreading my essays. I would like to express my special gratitude to my wife and my daughter, who brighten my life with their accompany. Thank my wife, Jo-Anne, for her understanding of the long hours and her sacrifice of her own time to support me. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE ....................................................................................................................................... I ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................ II DEDICATION .................................................................................................................................. IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................................ V TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................................................ VI LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................... IX LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................... X CHAPTER I. CHAPTER ONE — INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION REFERENCES .................................................................................. 7 II. CHAPTER TWO — POST-TTAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND HIRING: AM I TRAUMATIZED AND STIGMATIZED? ............................................ 9 PTSD ......................................................................................................................... 13 SOCIAL MEDIA ASSESSMENTS .............................................................................. 14 PTSD DISCLOSURE AND STIGMA ......................................................................... 16 STIGMA AND TRUST ................................................................................................ 18 TRUST TO EXPECTED TASK PERFORMANCE AND EXPECTED OCB................. 21 TRUST AND COUNTERPRODUCTIVE WORK BEHAVIORS ................................... 22 vi INDIVIDUATING INFORMATION ............................................................................. 23 PLATFORMS .............................................................................................................. 25 METHOD ................................................................................................................... 27 Participants ...................................................................................................... 27 Experimental Design ...................................................................................... 28 Experimental Procedure ................................................................................ 30 Measurement .................................................................................................... 31 RESULTS.................................................................................................................... 38 Measurement Analyses ................................................................................... 38 Hypothesis Testing .......................................................................................... 38 DISCUSSION .............................................................................................................. 52 Theoretical Contributions.............................................................................. 53 Practical Implications .................................................................................... 54 Limitations ........................................................................................................ 55 Future Research .............................................................................................. 56 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 59 REFERENCES............................................................................................................. 61 ESSAY 1 APPENDIX ................................................................................................