Work identity change and its relation with employee stress

“Work identity change

and its relation with

employee stress”

MSc Thesis

Student: Melanie van Bussel

Student number: 11383089

Thesis supervisors: Hannah Berkers & Dr. Stefan Mol

Thesis group: Work Identity

Master: MSc Business Administration; Leadership and Management

Date: 19

_{of June, 2017}

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Statement of Originality

This document is written by Melanie van Bussel, who declares to take full

responsibility for the content of this document.

I declare that the text and the work presented in this document is original and

that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have

been sued in creating it.

The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision

of completion of the work, not for the contents.

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Table of Contents

2.2 The negative consequence of work identity change ...13

2.3 The need for social validation ...16

2.4 Web 2.0 ...20 3. Method ...26 3.1 Research design ...26 3.2 Sample ...27 3.3 Demographic characteristics ...28 3.4 Measures ...29 3.5 Data analysis ...32 3.6 Outlier analysis ...32 4. Results ...33 4.1 Missing data ...33 4.2 Assessing normality ...33 4.3 Control variables...34 4.4 Descriptives statistics ...34 4.5 Hypothesis testing...35 5. Discussion ...38 5.1 Theoretical implications ...38 5.2 Practical implications ...42 5.3 Limitations ...43 5.4 Future research ...45 6. Conclusion ...47 References ...48 Appendix...57 A – Scenarios ...57 B – Items in Dutch ...59

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Index of Figures

Figure 2.1 – The ongoing process of work identity change

Figure 2.2 – Offline and online communication

Figure 2.3 – Conceptual model

Index of tables

Table 3.1 – Demographic characteristics per profession

Table 4.1 – Outcome Skewness & Kurtosis

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Abstract

At work, every employee has a specific identity which characterizes who they are at their job. Events or role transitions can create changes in this work identity. Especially this era is characterized by an increasing amount of changes due to the New World of Work and Web 2.0. The New World of Work consist of a flexible and spatial mobile workforce, and Web 2.0 is characterized as online communication and information. However, little is known about the negative consequences of work identity changes and how they could be prevented. The purpose of this research is therefore to examine whether work identity change has a negative impact on employees’ health. Furthermore, it is researched whether the need for social validation, due to the many changes, could explain this relationship. Also, Web 2.0 does not only increase work identity changes, but might influence whether an employee searches for social validation via online or offline communication as well. This is all researched by the purpose of decreasing job stress and burnout. Data (N = 253) is gathered consisting of Dutch teachers and accountants and tested with PROCESS analysis. Results suggest that work identity change leads to higher levels of job stress. In addition, it was found that there is a positive relationship between the need for social validation from the leader and job stress. No significant relations were found for the need for social validation as the mediator between work identity change and job stress. Furthermore, online and offline communication as moderators were not significant, in contrast to expectations. Both practical and theoretical contributions are discussed and directions for future research are given.

Keywords: work identity; identity change; job stress; need for social validation; New World

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1. Introduction

We live in a decade where work is changing more than ever before. “It’s more digital,

more global, diverse, automation-savvy, and social media-proficient” (Schwartz, Collins,

Stockton, Wagner & Walsh, 2017, p. 4). It has become the norm to demand flexible working arrangements and rotate jobs quickly, which creates a mobile working life (Deloitte, 2017; Ployhart, 2006). As a consequence, the workforce is changing and employees are working hard to catch up with the exponential increase in technology developments (Schwartz et al, 2017). This era is characterized by the New World of Work (NWW), an innovative way to deal with the changing business environment in the 21st _{century and aims to create tools to build a more}

competitive workforce (Saba, 2014). Flexible working arrangements, a (spatial) mobile workforce, and tools like online communication change job descriptions of many employees and require them to take on other roles.

An important consequence of the NWW is a changing job description or role of an employee, which affects one’s work identity (Kira & Balkin, 2014). Employees derive their dynamics and meanings of themselves from surroundings they spend a lot of time in (Walsh & Gordon, 2008). Since most people spend a huge part of their life at work, employees’ personal identities are heavily influenced by the organization, colleagues, and tasks (Miscenko & Day, 2016; Elsbach, 1999). The concept of ‘work identity’ arose, which contains a collection of meanings attached to the self by the employee based on roles, group membership and the character of the individual (Miscenko & Day, 2016). Individuals are strongly motivated to keep their work identity and determine it in their current state to achieve stability over time, as well as to conserve a high level of self-regard (Shamir, 1991). Employees need a stable situated identity at work to guide their tasks and actions. Without stability, employees need to act in unknown situations, which creates uncertainty. Due to the increasingly changing work environment in contemporary society, this study argues that work identity can change. Work

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identity change can be defined as a changeable event, process, situation or role transition that fundamentally changes the way individuals prefer to define themselves at work through dynamic responses (Miscenko & Day, 2015; Brown, 2015; Kira & Balkin, 2014; Ibarra, 1999). This change can be seen as an identity disruption and has severe negative consequences for an employee, like physical well-being (Brown & McGill, 1989).

More specifically, the current era is not only known for its dynamic work environme nt, but also for the increasing amount of people with job stress (Jones, Burke & Westman, 2013). In 1987, Brown formulated the identity disruption model, which explains via a two-step process that life events create alternations in identity and that identity disruption has a negative influence on someone’s health (Brown & McGill, 1989). Previous research found that change in a person’s identity creates uncertainty and anxiety because someone loses one’s sense of control over the environment, which creates stress (Rodin, 1986; Taylor, 1986; Brown & Siegel, 1988; Seligman, 1975; Frankenhaueseur, 1981). Stress at work is occupational disease number one and the main cause of a burn-out (TNO, 2015; Schaufeli, Wilmar, Bakker & van Rhenen, 2009; De Hoogh & Den Hartog, 2009). A burnout can be described as a state in which a person depletes oneself, exhausts physical and mental resources, and wears oneself out by striving to reach unrealistic expectations imposed by oneself or the values of society (Freudenberger, 1980). In recent years, there has been a significant increase in people with a burnout. In the Netherlands alone, 14% of employees have symptoms of a burnout, which is more than one million people (Rueb & Tuenter, 2016). Although a lot of research has been done about stress and what causes it, the number of people suffering from a burnout due to work is still increasing and has a severe negative impact on an individual’s health as well as the human resources and productivity of organizations (Fink, 2000). Hence, the research of job stress needs to be extended.

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Research already supported the relationship between general identity disruptions and stress (Brown & McGill, 1989; Burke, 1991), however there still exists a black box between work identity change and job stress. This is due to a lack of research on work identity change because it is very hard to manipulate, and therefore its consequences are difficult to empirica l ly research. According to Burke (1991), future research should focus on finding ways to restore interruptions of work identity and facilitate work identity change in practice to reduce negative consequences like stress. Winkler (2016) already did an attempt to answer this by researching the relation between identity work and negative emotions. In addition, well-being as the explic it outcome of work identity change could be addressed more by the field of identity and work interactions (Kira and Balkin, 2014). Specifically, in an era with lots of changes in the work environment, and rising stress and burnout numbers, opening this black box is highly relevant for both theory and practice.

More insights into social validation are highly important as the need for social validat io n might fill the black box. During work identity change, employees might get stressed because they are uncertain about what to do and how to act. This increases their need for social validation, which is positive feedback that can give answers, guides what we should do (Brehm, Kassin & Fein, 1999) and can help people to get a sense of themselves and their identity (Smith, Amiot, Smith, Callan & Terry, 2013). People do not like change and are reluctant to adapt to something unfamiliar or unclear (Halvorson, 2012). In uncertain states like work identit y change, people start looking at others and come to see themselves re much as others see them (Ashforth & Schinoff, 2016). People have a strong sense of belonginess and need the confirmation of others to stay certain, especially when doing something for the first time (Hall, 2014). They need to get the perception of positive social feedback and the confirmation of others who affirm that their behaviour is considered appropriate, something which is indispensable in the journey of work identity change (Gioia & Chittipeddi, 1991). However,

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the search to respond to this social validation costs a lot of energy, which an individual could better retain in times of uncertainty. This decrease in energy might trigger physiological stress reactions (Hobfoll, 1989; Halbesleben & Bowler, 2007, Hobfoll, Johnson, Ennis & Jackson, 2003). Therefore, the need for social validation might explain the relationship between work identity change and job stress.

However, the way employees react on their need for social validation should be included to fill the black box. The NWW not only creates more work identity changes through spatial mobility and the revolution in communication and information sharing (Baane, Houtkamp & Knotter, 2010), but also influences social validation via Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is the most important foundation of the NWW. It can be defined as the developments in the field of information and communication technologies and all social media platforms (Baane et al, 2010). As a consequence, the search for social validation does not always happen offline anymore and is transitioned to online platforms. The developments in information and communica t io n technologies, and social media have been changing our personal lives already for years and will be common at work as well (Wong, Ou, Davison, Zhu & Zhang, 2016). As shown in research conducted by McKinsey & Company on the influence of Web 2.0 on companies, it seems that over half of the companies are planning to increase their investments in ICT (Bughin, C hui & Miller, 2009). Online communication will be the focus in the future and gets increasing attention from scholars and employers (Baane et al, 2010; Jian & Jeffres, 2006). It is however under investigated how Web 2.0 applications facilitate the organiza tional communica t io n process, which makes researching Web 2.0 theoretically relevant (Wong et al, 2016). In addition, according to Li (2010) it is not about the technology, but about the people who use evolving tools to interact. Web 2.0 can have an influence on how employees search for social validation, therefore more clearance on what effect Web 2.0 has on employees, makes this research practically important.

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The purpose of this study is to gain more insight in the effect of changes of employees ’ work identities and to fill the black box between work identity change and job stress with the need for social validation. This research has several contributions. First, it does an attempt to research the relationship between work identity change and stress, which is relevant and timely. Empirical supported ways to deal with work identity change are incomplete due to the under investigation of the impact of work identity change on employee’s well-being. Furthermore, stress is a major factor affecting people’s lives and stays increasing in this era (Hobfoll, 1989; Burke, 1991; Brown, 1987; Brown & McGill, 1989; Dohrenwend, 1974; Jamal, 1990; Beehr & Newman, 1978, Rueb & Tuenter, 2016). Second, this research contributes to the literature by trying to fill the black box between work identity change and job stress with the need for social validation. The sense of belonging and the need for confirmation might explain the relations hip and could be of help in decreasing job stress levels. Therefore, it is practically important. Third, NWW does not only create increasingly more identity changes, but it can also have an effect with Web 2.0 on employee stress. Literature is extended by researching the under investigated effect of Web 2.0 on communication processes at work. Last, this study extends current research by manipulating work identity change by means of an experimental vignette.

This paper proceeds as follows. First, the theoretical background is given and work identity, stress, need for social validation and Web 2.0 are explained more elaborately. From these variables, a conceptual model emerges and the hypotheses are developed and stated. Second, the experimental vignette research design is explained. Penultimate, the tested results of all hypotheses are analysed and explained. Finally, the practical implication and limitat io ns of the results are discussed and suggestions for future research and a conclusion are presented.

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2. Literature Review

In this section, all variables of the study are discussed. First, work identity and its negative consequences are discussed. Second, the need for social validation is explained, functioning as a mediator. Third, the influence of Web 2.0 is discussed. Last, the conceptual model is presented.

2.1 Work identity

Identity can be defined as “a set of meanings one attributes to oneself as an object in a

social situation or social role” (Burke & Tully, 1977, p. 833). Individuals can understand these

meanings by interacting with others and use the responses on their own behaviour to answer the question: “Who am I?” (Burke, 1991; Ashforth & Schinoff, 2016). The social identity theory claims that the social role an individual occupies and fulfils in a group, has a big influence on an individual’s identity (Miscenko & Day, 2016; Hogg & Ridgeway, 2003). Work identity differs from identity in that a person only occupies this role at work. As people spend a lot of time at work and in teams with their colleagues, it is expected that identity and work identit y are highly related and have the same effects. The social identity theory can thus also help to explain the social role individuals have at work (Walsh & Gordon, 2008; Miscenko & Day, 2016; Elsbach, 1999). A person’s characteristics, the relationships with colleagues and managers, the common identification with colleagues and cognitions about the self, together create a unique work identity (Brewer & Gardner, 1996; Miscenko & Day, 2016). By creating job descriptions, roles and teams, organizations have a crucial impact on the process of how an individual’s work identity is shaped (Miscenko & Day, 2016).

Individuals are highly motivated to maintain their identities, because they need a secure and stable understanding of themselves. Although identities adjust and evolve, they will always keep an equilibrium position (Ashforth & Kreiner, 1999; Kreiner, Ashforth & Sluss, 2006;

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Ibarra, 1999; Brown, 2015). Interestingly, there exists a dichotomy in empirical research about the stability of work identities. In comparison to an equilibrium position, another perspective claims that there is space for flexibility and work identity change is possible (Pratt, Rockmann & Kaufmann, 2006; Brown, 2015; Ashforth & Schinoff, 2016). Identities are dynamic constructions and can be lost, disrupted and modified (Markus & Nurius, 1986; Markus & Wurf, 1987; Brown, 2015; Thomas & Davies, 2005). Figure 2.1 visualizes the steps towards a changing work identity. A work identity change process starts when someone’s role needs to transition due to an event, process or situation (Kira & Balkin, 2014; Miscenko & Day, 2016). A new role requires new skills, attitudes and behaviours that produce fundamental changes in the way people define themselves at work (Becker & Carper, 1956; Hall, 1976; Schein, 1978; Hill, 1992). Employees aim to constantly shape their work identity in such a way that it fits their work situation (Ibarra, 1999; Ibarra & Barbulescu, 2010; Pratt et al, 2006). As the environment constantly changes, the process can be seen as ongoing (Ashforth & Schinoff, 2016; Alvesson, 2010).

Figure 2.1: The ongoing process of work identity change

When applying the dichotomy about the stability of identities in empirical research to this century, one could argue in favour of the last perspective that work identity can change.

Changing event, situation or process Needed role transition Fundamental change of self-definition Work identity change

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The dynamic 21st century has characteristics that ask for regular changes. High work rotation and a new generation of employees who prefer flexibility and autonomy over dependent and rigid tasks and environments are key (Baane et al, 2010). More and more employees work under flexible contracts, part-time, or at multiple organizations simultaneously and therefore change jobs more often. Furthermore, Web 2.0, which is associated with technological applications to communicate online (such as Facebook and Google), creates changes in different working processes. Online platforms develop rapidly and change the way people organize, collaborate, socialize, communicate, and perform tasks at work (Baane et al, 2010). Individuals’ roles are therefore changed by technological elements, and social influences on identities are accelerated by it (Taylor, 2011; Dukes, 2014). On top of that, Miscenko & Day (2016) recommend in their research on identification to move from a static to a more dynamic view in the future. It is therefore expected that the work identity of an individual can, and indeed must change.

2.2 The negative consequence of work identity change

As careers progress and trends like Web 2.0 develop, employee’s roles are transitio ni ng and disruptions of identity takes place. These disruptions of the identity can be seen as identit y changes which are changeable events, processes, situations or role transitions that fundamentally changes the way individuals define themselves at their job through responding to them (Miscenko & Day, 2015; Kira & Balkin, 2014, Ibarra, 1999). Employees engage in forming, repairing, maintaining, strengthening and revising their identities to fit their identit y to their role and the environment they are in (Sveningsson & Alvesson, 2003). Every individ ua l has an identity standard, which contains a set of meanings a person holds in a role and together form the person’s identity at work (Burke, 1991). The identity process is operating continuo usly and tries to modify the behaviour along with an identity change to match the person’s interna l standard. However, when the input (a change in someone’s work identity) does not match the internal identity meanings, incongruence exists and the identity is disrupted. This process is

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built on the ‘interruption theory’ and suggests that interruptions lead to an increased autonomic activity experienced as distress (Mandler, 1982; Burke, 1991). The ‘cognitive dissonance theory’ from Festinger (1957) is in line with the interruption theory and strengthens this argument. This theory holds that all individuals have an inner drive to avoid dissonance between cognitions (which are input and internal meanings) and aim to keep their attitudes at work in harmony (van Lange, Kruglanski & Higgins, 2011). As a result, a state of discomfort and uncertainty is created and individuals often respond by changing their attitudes or showing irrational or maladaptive behaviour (Shah & Gardner, 2008; McLeod, 2014). Individuals thus naturally search for harmony of their cognitions and when this does not happen, stress can occur.

Research of Burke (1991), Mandler (1982), Festinger (1957) and Brown and McG ill (1989) all help explain why work identity change, seen as identity disruptions, might lead to job stress. Stress can be defined by three different approaches (Richard & Krieshok, 1989). First, stress can be seen as an internal or external event that impinges on the person (Holmes & Masuda, 1974). Second, stress is a state manifested by changes within the physiological syste m of a person (Selye, 1956). Last, stress is the result of a transaction between an individual and the situation (Cox & McKay, 1981). When contextualizing this definition into the work environment, job stress can be defined as the reaction of individuals to work environme nt characteristics that appear as threatening (Jamal, 1990). It indicates a poor fit between the abilities and characteristics of a person and the work environment (Jamal, 1990). In a research done by NIOSH (Murphy & Schoenborn, 1993), it appeared that 40% reported that they had job stress of which 65% said it has caused difficulties at the work floor. The employees who called in sick due to stress tripled from 1996 to 2000, and still the levels of job stress are increasing (Murphy & Schoenborn, 1993; Rueb & Tuenter, 2016).

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The loss of control in the uncertain situation in which someone’s work identity is changing, is central in explaining the causational relationship between work identity change and job stress. When someone’s self-conception is disturbed, the ability to predict and control events in the future can decrease and a loss of control might be experienced (Brown & Mcgill, 1989). Research found that this loss of control creates feelings of anxiety and uncertainty and finally leads to stress. In an interrupted identity process, an individual also loses control over his environment, like colleagues and leaders. The environment might not recognize the efforts made by the individual to change or may not pay enough attention. This again leads to low self-efficacy or the loss of a sense of self, which is the source of distress (Stein, 1960). An employee might also perceive the meanings attached to the self (e.g. a new identity change) incorrectly, which can lead to feelings of being misunderstood (Burke, 1991). These negative consequences might happen especially in unfamiliar situations like new cultures, environments, colleagues, tasks or technologies. For example, the work of receptionists of the municipality in Amsterdam has been changed by helping inhabitants via WhatsApp or an online chat rather than via calls (Van Rijn, 2015). If a receptionist never used WhatsApp for work purposes before, unfamiliarity might enable misunderstanding, uncertainty and anxiety. Thus, the loss of control in someone’s work could therefore explain the positive relationship between work identity change and job stress.

In summary, research shows that a disruption or change in a person’s identity can lead to feelings of stress. However, quantitative empirical research and research in organizatio na l settings is lacking. This is due to the fact that work identity change is very hard to measure because it happens unconscious and over time. Notably, work identities change more often than before due the NWW and technological innovations like Web 2.0, while at the same time the percentage of inhabitants that deal with work stress and burnouts are increasing (TNO, 2015).

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To decrease this percentage in practice, this research aims to find a relation between work identity change and stress. Thus, it is hypothesized:

Hypothesis 1: Situations that require work identity change induce more stress than situations that require no work identity change.

2.3 The need for social validation

With a change in one’s work identity, it is possible that who one is does not match with what one does at work, as explained by the cognitive dissonance theory (Pratt et al, 2006; van Lange, Kurglanksi & Higgins, 2011). This theory explains a state in which a pair of cognit io ns are perceived as inconsistent. Who an employee is can thus be inconsistent with the role in which the employee is working in. If dissonance exists or a disruption occurs, people might feel misunderstood, confused, unpleasant or uncertain how to deal with the new work identit y (Burke, 1991; Brown & McGill, 1989; van Lange, 2011). Reduction is possible through changing cognitions or adding them, of which the need for social validation might be one of them. Humans are social animals and have the automatic tendency to look at others as a way of socially validating their behaviour and actions (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). “Social validation

provides concrete and immediate information about the accuracy of the appropriateness of particular behaviours with regard to specific group norms and group standards” (Smith,

Amiot, Callan, Terry & Smith, 2012, p.4). Employees rate the perceived meanings of who one is in a social setting as very important inputs (Burke, 1991).

People have a strong urge to belong to others and to get confirmation on whether they behave appropriately (Hall, 2014). Individuals tend to change their behaviours or ways of working according to group norms and standards (Brehm et al, 1999). This could be explained by the sense of belonging, identified as a basic human need by Maslov in 1954 (Hagerty, Lynch-Sauer, Patusky, Bouwsema & Collier, 1992). Belonging can be explained in two ways: first, by valued involvement, which is the experience of feeling valued, and second, by fit, which is the

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perception that characteristics or behaviour articulate with the environment (Hagerty et al, 1992). The latter is aligned with the cognitive dissonance theory which focuses on the fit with the environment or one’s role when searching for validation Validation is something everyone needs and can ensure that someone’s work identity is acknowledged and accepted (Hall & Cook, 2011). A change or disruption in one’s work identity, however, creates an uncertain situation in which one’s new identity is not yet accepted and the input and identity meanings are incongruent. When an employee experiences a lot of changes or changes that make a big impact on his or her work identity, feelings of losing one’s identity are increasing (Burke, 1991). In those situations, social validation is highly necessary for new identities to be stabilized (Ashforth, 2001; Ashforth, 2008).

Although one’s new identity can be validated by several persons, it is expected that employees will go to their leader in need of social validation. According to Ibarra (1999), people build attitudes, techniques, routines, and knowledge to adapt to their new role through observing others. In organizations, employees are especially observing their leaders, compared to colleagues, as their feedback is perceived differently (Smith et al, 2013; Ullrich et al, 2007). In addition, role models play a critical role in confirming one’s new work identity (Pratt et al, 2006). Role models help people to identify what behaviours and attitudes are appropriate and role models’ opinions are highly valued. Often, these role models are people higher in the hierarchy or one’s direct leader because they are mostly seen as an example or are more successful (Rich, 1997).

To conclude, in uncertain times when work identity changes, it is expected that employees have a high need to socially validate themselves with their leader. Several studies already suggested that social validation can help us belong to a group and to guide our actions (Bandura & Menlove, 1968; Asch, 1946; Fuller & Sheehy-Skeffington, 1974; Ashforth & Schinoff, 2016; Ashforth, 2001; Gioia & Chittipeddi, 1991; Smith et al, 2013). Smith et al

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(2012) found that social validation is an intragroup antecedent of identity formation. Thus, when an identity is changing, an individual often starts to search for social validation. In practice, this research could help to make leaders more aware that their employees search for validation from them specifically. Therefore, it is hypothesized that:

Hypothesis 2: There is a positive relationship between a changing work identity and the need for social validation from the leader.

In times of uncertainty, an individual is more anxious than normally, which could lead to stress at one’s job (Burke, 1991; Festinger, 1957; Brown and McGill, 1989; Petriglieri, 2011). When uncertain, people’s need for social validation increases and the eagerness for belonging to a group is triggered. According to Hall (2014), searching for social validation requires active effort, which could explain the relationship between ’work identity change’ and ‘job stress’. Searching for social validation from the leader itself costs time and energy and can boost physiological stress reactions even more. This can be explained by the ‘Conservation of Resources (COR) theory’. In 1989, Hobfoll created this integrated model of stress, which aims to bridge the gap between environmental and cognitive viewpoints (Hobfoll, 1989; Thompson, 2001). Employees strive to maintain, protect and build resources, including objects, personal characteristics, conditions or energies. Resources are valued by the individual in an instrume nta l way, but also have symbolic value because they define for people who they are (Brown & Andrews, 1986; Cooley, 1902, Erikson, 1968, James 1890). Personal resources refer to individual’s sense of their ability to control their environment successfully (Hobfoll et al, 2003). According to the COR model, there are three ways how employees can experience stress: first, the loss of resources, second the inadequate return on investments made to maximize resources and last, threat to current resources (Halbesleben & Bowler, 2007). In uncertain times of identity change, a loss of resources is occurring when the employee spends their time and energy on searching for validation from the leader. These personal resources could have been

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better maintained because a change in one’s work identity asks to re-control the environme nt and thus highly needs enough resources. Consequently, loss leads to anxiety, decreased self-esteem or stress.

It is important here to note the difference between ‘the need for social validation’ and ‘receiving social validation’ and their relations with employee stress. A variety of research already confirmed that receiving social validation leads to less stress. Ashforth and Schinoff (2016, p. 7.15) state that “social validation leads to greater internalization of the identit y”. Subsequently, this leads to an increasingly coherent sense of self and helps to decrease identit y conflict (Amiot, Terry, Wirawan & Grice, 2007; Benet-Martinez, Leu, Lee & Morris, 2002; Settles, 2004). When employees can verify themselves, no negative effects, such as emotiona l exhaustion, anxiety or feelings of distress happen (Haines & Saba, 2012; Miscenko & Day, 2016; Swann, Johnson & Bosson, 2009). However, chronologically, job stress can already be prevented in an earlier stage. Job stress can occur due to a loss of resources when energy and time is spent on searching for social validation from their leader in uncertain times (Hobfoll, 1989; Thompson, 2001; Hobfoll et al, 2003; Halbesleben & Bowler, 2007). This paper therefore focuses on the need for social validation due to its under investigated nature and the chance of preventing job stress in an earlier stage. It is hypothesized that:

Hypothesis 3: There is a positive relationship between the need for social validation from the leader and employee stress.

Clearly, there still exists a gap in literature how to facilitate work identity changes to reduce stress. The need for social validation might explain this relationship by creating a loss of resources when searching for validation from one’s leader. A disruption in one’s work identity creates the need of belongingness and high feelings of uncertainty for employees (Hall, 2014; Baumeister & Bowler, 2007; Hagerty et al, 1992). People aim to receive social validat io n to get confirmation on their behaviour and to reduce the feelings of losing one’s identity (Burke,

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1991). However, this search costs the individual resources like time and energy. Consequently, employees might be stressed, as their resources are already used but still needed in uncertain times like work identity (Hobfoll 1989; Hobfoll et al, 2003; Halbesleben & Bowler, 2007). Due to this, this study expects social validation to be a phenomenon, which can explain the relation between work identity change and job stress.

Hypothesis 4: The need for social validation from the leader mediates the relationship between work identity change and job stress.

2.4 Web 2.0

While the job stress levels are rising, it is radical to know which role Web 2.0 plays in the search for social validation in this era. The NWW, being a cause of work identity change, is known for its dynamic character. A technological change that underlies the N WW is Web 2.0 (Baane et al, 2010). Web 2.0 can be defined as “a set of principles and practices that tie

together a veritable solar system of sites that demonstrate some or all of those principles, at a varying distance from that core” (O’reilly, 2005, p. 18-19). More concretely, virtua l

collaboration, communication, networking and knowledge sharing are all central in working with Web 2.0 (Baane et al, 2010). Twenty years ago, finding information consumed a lot of time. The Internet completely revolutionized this process by producing thousands of gigabytes of easily searchable information a minute (Bowler, MacMillan, Hicks & Graber, 2010). “The Web and its applications have rapidly and fundamentally altered our lives” (Maitland & Thomson, 2014, p. 2). With conversation, control, community, creativity and collaboration as its characteristics, Web 2.0 is allowing employees to participate in the cloud. The phenomeno n has changed the way people work and is a regular cause of changes in work identities. It created a new possibility to communicate and access information: online. For example, having online meetings, data that can be accessed via one’s own computer, electric blackboards at schools, or Big Data tools that replace people’s tasks (Bijl, 2007).

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The innovation of Web 2.0 changes how employees communicate (Wong et al, 2016), and how they react to their need for social validation. Due to the heavily increasing numbers of online communication at work (Wong et al, 2016), it is important to know whether it has a positive or negative indirect influence on job stress. Since recently, individuals can react to their need for social validation via two different ways. First, traditionally via offline communicat io n, which is a form of communication with mainly face-to-face interaction like conversatio ns, business meetings or drinks (Ramirez & Zhang, 2007). The ability to use nonverbal cues while being physically in the same room with someone is the biggest advantage of offline communication. Nonverbal and contextual available cues make people more aware, filter out perspectives and therefore prevent misinterpretation (Jablin, Putnam, Roberts & Porter, 1987; Ramirez & Zhang, 2007; Burgoon, Buller & Woodall, 1996). With uncertainty reduction and a higher predicted outcome value, the cues, as a source, influence processes like informa t io n exchange (Berger & Calabrese, 1975; Sunnafrank, 1986; Ramirez & Zhang, 2007). Furthermore, the social presence theory explains that offline interactions strengthen relations and increase the sense of belonging to a group (Lin, 2000; Short, Williams & Christie, 1976; Ramirez & Shang, 2007). If employees are closely collaborating with their leader, offline communication might be the easiest, fastest and most reliable way to search for social validation.

However, several disadvantages exist. Due to the globalisation and the NWW, employees are more often spatially separated from their boss (Baane et al, 2010; Favell & Guiraudon, 2011). This makes the search harder or even undoable. Furthermore, in large organizations it becomes more difficult for the average worker to come into contact with his or her leader due to a full agenda (Kulakofsky, 2016). Although it can cost time and the search may be difficult, the ability to use nonverbal cues outweighs these disadvantages. It is therefore hypothesized that:

22 Hypothesis 5a: Offline social validation moderates the relationship between the need of social validation from the leader and employee stress in such a way that it weakens the relationship.

The second way to answer to the need of social validation is via online communicat io n. This is a form of communication in which there is interaction via Internet or Instant Messaging (Valkenburg & Peter, 2007). The arrival of this innovation brings along several advantages in answering the need for social validation. First, face-to-face communication is not always necessary anymore because employees can easily access information at any time and at any place via the Internet. Facebook, e-mail, Skype, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media platforms are often used by employees to communicate with their leaders (Snow, 2015). In this dynamic and tech savvy era, online communication offers a solution for easy and fast contact , while spatially separated. Leaders can answer when it suits them and if unavailable, employees still have unlimited access to information via Google or online company-specific clouds and databases to validate themselves. Second, online communication creates an extra possibility on how individuals could react to the need for social validation, which makes the process more effective and easier. Last, it saves a relevant amount of time. In 2012, the average interactio n worker spent approximately 28% of their workweek on e-mailing and 20% on interna lly searching online for people and information that could help them (Chui, Manyika, Bughin, Dobbs, Roxburgh, Sarrazin, Sands & Westergren, 2012). Interestingly, when companies use social media platforms internally, the time used for searching people and information can be reduced by 35%. This means that faster internal communication and smoother collaboratio n can add value and raise the productivity of an organization. According to the COR theory, the time saving effect of searching for social validation online, saves energy and thus resources. In times of uncertainty, like coping with a changing work identity, these resources could be better contained and job stress might be prevented (Hobfoll, 1989).

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Disadvantages of finding social validation via online communication are the lack of nonverbal physical cues (Smith et al, 2013), the opportunity to present yourself different ly (which creates fake communication), and the higher possibility of wrong interpretation if a message is send online (Guadagno, Muscanell, Rice and Roberts, 2013; Kollock & Smith, 1999). However, new technologies like Skype and Facetime partly solve these issues and it is expected that the advantages of fast and easy communication outweigh these disadvanta ges. That is why it is hypothesized that:

Hypothesis 5b: Online social validation moderates the relationship between the need of social validation from the leader and employee stress in such a way that it weakens the relationship.

Comparing the two different reactions towards the need for social validation in this specific era, it is expected that online communication has a stronger influence on the relationship between the need for social validation and job stress. The argument against online communication of the absence of non-verbal cues is decreasing in value because there exists an increasing amount of technologies like Skype, Snapchat and Facetime. Also, the Internet has learned to use emoticons to assist communication which leads to quasi-nonverbal cues (Lo, 2008). In addition, both the velocity and convenience of using online applications to communicate is expected to continuously grow. Currently, there is a high need to evolve from a physical to an online work environment (Bijl, 2009). Online communication is the future and the Web 2.0 trend is projected to continue (Peters, Bruijn & Heijden, 2011). Virtual collaboration, communication, networking, and knowledge sharing with leaders and peers will be the focus in the upcoming era characterized as the NWW (Baane et al, 2010). It is therefore expected that the weakening of the non-verbal cues argument and the clearly growing convenience and velocity of online communication outweigh the use of offline communicat io n. Figure 2.2 shows the graphical design of the expectation of both offline and online communication within the relationship between the need for social validation and stress.

24 Figure 2.2 – Offline and Online communication

If the need for social validation is high and offline communication resources are used, the stress will increase relatively more than if individuals use online communication as a reaction on their need. From this, the following hypothesis arises:

Hypothesis 5c: The effect of online social validation is stronger than the effect of offline social validation in weakening the relationship of the need of social validation from the leader on employee stress.

In conclusion, work identity change, job stress, the need for social validation and both offline and online communication were discussed as variables. To get an overview of all hypotheses, a graphical presentation of the research model is illustrated in Figure 2.3. The hypotheses are illustrated in the research model in Figure 2:

25 Figure 2.3 – The conceptual model: Work Identity Change (X) is the independent variable, the Need for Social Validation from the Leader (M) is the mediating variable, Job Stress (Y) is the independent variable. Offline Social Validation (V) and Online Social Validation (Q) are the moderators and H5c indicates that Q will be stronger than V.

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3. Method

In this section on the methodology, the research methods which were used are discussed. The sample, design and the measurements are presented and the data analysis is explained.

3.1 Research design

A quantitative research was conducted by means of an experimental vignette in combination with a cross-sectional survey design. This combination combines the advantages of both methods. First, the traditional survey has a low internal validity caused by the multicollinearity of measured variables and it is a non-active way of measuring whereby the variables are passively observed. Vignettes are solving this by increasing the internal valid it y through controlled manipulation. Second, classical experimental designs have a low external validity due to the oversimplified setting and non-representativeness (Atzmüller & Steiner, 2010). Multivariate measurements of the variables in the experimental vignette solve this limitation (Aguinis & Bradley, 2014; Atzmüller & Steiner, 2010). The experimental vignette facilitates the manipulation of independent variables to understand the direction and nature of causal relationships (Aguinis & Bradley, 2014). In this design, the variable ‘work identit y change’ was manipulated by a vignette that presents a short, carefully constructed description of a situation in the form of a scenario (Atzmüller & Steiner, 2010). The survey thus consisted of a traditional survey and an experimental vignette and was collected via the online tool “Qualtrics”.

The scenarios were designed to manipulate whether there is change (identity related, identity related or no change) and the way the change is framed (threatening or non-threatening). In this research, only the identity related change condition was used and the threat and non-threat was left out. This is because the focus was on what impact an identity change has, and not how this change was interpreted. To maximize internal validity of the study, two

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pilot studies were held. First, the scenarios were presented to accountants and teachers for content and phrasing monitoring as the used scenarios were not used in a previous research. This was done to ease the process of imagining for participants by making the scenarios a representation of real-life situations. Second, a pilot study (N=80) was conducted among students of the University of Amsterdam to test five scenarios (3x2), and to see whether they were understandable and varied maximally. However, there appeared not enough differe nce between the ‘no change’ and ‘non-identity related change’ conditions. The ‘no change’ condition was therefore removed and this research finally is conducted with a 2x2 between-subject design. Participants were randomly assigned (via a tool in Qualtrics) to one of the scenarios to control for individual differences. Appendix A shows the final used scenarios and the items in the experimental survey.

The sample exists out of two different professions, elaborated on below. To make the experimental vignette as strong as possible by making easy to imagine scenarios, two differe nt surveys were used for the different professions. Respondents were first asked about their profession, tenure, their current work identity and their current emotions. This was followed by a scenario in which participants were asked to imagine themselves being in the described situation. They filled out the rest of the survey on how they would feel or what they would do in that situation. Finally, the questionnaire collected information about socio-demograp hic characteristics from all respondents such as age, gender and tenure.

3.2 Sample

In this research, the population has been aligned with the focus of the research: work identity. A non-probability sampling method is used, which implies that the findings are limite d to the sample and may not be generalizable to the population as a whole (Veal, 2006). This research focussed on Dutch speaking teachers and accountants because of the following reasons. Both professions mostly have a strong work identity and have intense positive feelings

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towards their work (Warren & Parker, 2009; Beijaard, Meijer & Verloop, 2004). In addition, people are more committed than in other professions, because very specific education is required in an earlier stage. Further, teachers and accountants in the Netherlands face increasing work pressure and burnout among them appears to be increasing (Meindertsma & van de Parre, 2017; Van Bergen, 2013). Finally, both professions are confronted with different changes due to Web 2.0, which is expected to impact identities and roles.

To gather the data, a non-probability convenient snow-ball sampling approach was employed to find teachers and accountants within the network of seven Master students and a PhD candidate. Tools such as LinkedIn, e-mail, Facebook, and WhatsApp were used to acquire data. A coupon of 100 euros of Bol.com was raffled among the participants as an extra encouragement.

3.3 Demographic characteristics

The non-probability convenient and snow-ball sample comprised a total of 253 participants, of which 89 were accountants and 164 were teachers. The answered surveys provided sufficient participants to draw empirically conclusions due to a low margin of error (Creative Research Systems, 2012). The substantial difference can be explained by the accountants who have their working peak during the months in which the data was gathered, and due to the convenience sampling method. The two experimental groups were equally divided with 126 participants who read an identity related change scenario and 127 who read a non-identity related change scenario. The sample further existed out of 113 males, 131 females and 9 participants who chose “other”. The youngest person was 21 and the oldest 67 with M = 40.21 and SD = 13.57. Employees worked between 5 and 60 hours per week (M = 33.05; SD = 10.04) and had worked for their current employer between 1 and 46 years (M = 14,96; SD = 11,97). In Table 3.1 a distinction of demographics has been made between the professions accountants and teachers.

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Table 3.1 – Demographic characteristics per profession

Accountants (N= 89) Teachers (N= 164)

Male (%) 49.84 34.76

Age [mean (SD)] 34.22 (11.93) 43.45 (13.33) Tenure [mean (SD)] 11.19 (9.75) 17.27 (12.99) Hours per week [mean (SD)] 39.33 (5.50) 29.99 (10.34)

Scenario condition (%)

ID 36.49 51.83

Non- ID 63.51 41.17

3.4 Measures

In order to define the conceptual model, the variables ‘work change’, ‘employee stress’, ‘the need for social validation from the leader’, ‘online social validation’ and ‘offline social validation’ were measured. Throughout the survey, open-ended and multiple choice questions were used. Additionally, most items were scored on a 5-point Likert scale. All items that were based on items of previous research were carefully translated to Dutch via the back-forward method. In this method, items were translated from English to Dutch by one person and translated back into English by another person. This resulted in two different English versions. The comparison between them lead to the most valid translation of the items in Dutch. (Maneesriwongul & Dixon, 2004). The final items are presented in Appendix B.

Work identity change

Work identity change is the independent variable of the research and aims to define the level of work identity change after the read scenario. The associated hypothesis assumes that an identity-related change has influence on the need for social validation and job stress. The variable was tested via four different vignettes, different for each profession. The teachers got a scenario in which the ministry would like to facilitate and stimulate the use of technology and new software in education. For the non-identity change, the participants had to execute their regular tasks with the new software, and for the identity change, the participants got

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fundamentally new work in which they had to work on the new software in collaboration with the IT company. The accountants got a scenario in which the use of Big data tools to make evidence based and data-driven decisions, is increasing. The participants who got the non-identity change had to execute their regular tasks with the new tools, and the participants with the identity change got a fundamentally new role in which they had to work on the software of the new tools in collaboration with the IT company.

Job stress

This variable is the dependent variable of the research and aims to define the level of stress employees would have if they were in the situation of the scenario. The variable is based on the 5-item work stress measure used by Bolino and Turnley (2005). The items had a Cronbach’s alpha of α = 0.87. Participants had to imagine themselves to be in the presented scenario. Therefore, the way of questioning in comparison to the original items was changed to what participants would do in the perspective of the scenario. The items were scored on a 5- point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). One item was deleted, because it did not fit with the line of questioning. The other three items were translated to Dutch and adapted to the scenario. This means that “would” was added in the items. The three items had a Cronbach’s alpha of α = 0.801, therefore they could be validly used. The final questions that were included were: “My job would be extremely stressful”, “I would feel a great deal of stress because of my job”, and “I would almost never feel stressed because of my job”.

Need for social validation from the leader

This variable is the mediating variable of this model and aims to define the level of need for social validation from the leader. The items are based on Smith et al. (2013) and this model uses five of the six items, scored on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5

31 (strongly agree). The six items had a Cronbach’s alpha of α = 0.97. The item about a longer

working way was not applicable for teachers and therefore deleted. Moreover, the other five items were slightly adapted to fit the vignette study and were translated to Dutch. The five items had a Cronbach’s alpha of α = 0.886. Questions included “I would check with my leader whether I am doing my job right”, “I would check with my leader whether my beliefs about my work are justified”, “I would check with my leader whether I conduct myself appropriately at work”, “I would check with my leader whether my views on how to do my job in this scenario are right”, and “I would like to know whether my opinions about my work are shared by my leader”.

Way of searching for social validation online

This variable is one of the moderating variables of the research and aims to test if people search for social validation via online communication tools. The item is not based on earlier research and thus not empirically validated yet. The question asked was: “How big is the chance you would search for confirmation from your leader about your role via online communication?”. It was measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Very unlikely) to 5 (Very likely).

Way of searching for social validation offline

This variable is the second moderating variable of the research and aims to test whether people search for social validation via offline communication. Also, this item is not empirica l ly tested yet. The question asked was: “How big is the chance you would search for confirma t io n from your leader about your role via offline communication?”. Measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Very unlikely) to 5 (Very likely).

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3.5 Data analysis

The first hypothesis was tested through correlation analysis. All other analyses were conducted using PROCESS Macro in SPSS. PROCESS is a tool that uses ordinary least squares and logistic regression-based path analytic frameworks for estimating moderated mediatio n models with multiple mediators and moderators (Hayes, 2013). The procedure measures both direct and indirect effects and all indirect effects were subjected to follow-up bootstrap analyses (Hayes & Matthes, 2009). For this research, model 16 is used which yields the follow ing formula for the conditional indirect effect of X on Y through M:

Mi = ai (b1i + b4iV + b5iQ)

And a direct effect:

X on Y = c’

3.6 Outlier analysis

Before the data is tested the variables were recoded, data was cleaned and the data was checked on linearity, homoscedasticity, and normality, as shown in Appendix C. Furthermore, it is relevant to check for outliers (Pallant, 2010). Outliers are cases that have extremely low or extremely high values in one variable (Federici, 2017). The scores of all variables were standardized. No outliers were detected as the score was under Z = 3, which means there were no scores further than 3 standard deviations from the mean (Shiffler, 2012). Based on these findings, no changes within the dataset were needed.

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4. Results

The data was analysed with version 21 of the statistical program SPSS. This section will discuss the findings and how the data was treated.

4.1 Missing data

For the variables ‘need for social validation’, ‘online social validation’ and ‘offline social validation’, data was missing (N=6). This was solved by the employment of mean imputation where the six missing values were replaced with the mean across the remaining items. This created the opportunity to still use the whole data set (Federici, 2017).

4.2 Assessing normality

Ideally, all data should be normally distributed, which means the variables are distributed symmetrically around the centre of all scores. First, the data was checked for the level of asymmetry with Skewness and for the shape of distribution with Kurtosis, as presented in Table 4.1. If 0 is between the lower and upper boundary of the 95% Confidence Interval, the variable is considered to be normally distributed (Federici, 2017). This is only the case for job stress (Skewness and Kurtosis) and offline communication (Kurtosis). Values between -1 and 1 are considered as small deviations from the normal distribution and acceptable. This was not the case for online communication (Kurtosis) and offline communication (Skewness). Both the Q-Q Plots and Histograms confirmed this small level of non-normality. However, small violations of this kind are not a problem and the regression analysis stays fairly robust (Schmider, Ziegler, Danav, Beyer & Bühner, 2010).

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Table 4.1 - Outcome Skewness & Kurtosis (N= 253)

Skewness (SE) Kurtosis (SE)

Job Stress 0.53 (0.15) 0.01 (0.31)

Need for social validation -0.58 (0.16) -0.11 (0.31) Way of searching for social validation

offline -0.98 (0.16) 0.30 (0.31)

Way of searching for social validation

online 0.48 (0.16) -0.89 (0.31)

4.3 Control variables

The inclusion of multiple control variables gives the research a statistically conservative approach and is important due to practical difficulties in the implementation of experimenta l designs (Carlson & Wu, 2012; Spector & Brannick, 2011; Bernerth & Aguinis, 2016). The following two control variables are used in this research because they are suspected to be related to the variables used in this study (Bernerth & Aguinis, 2016). First, it is expected that gender impacts the model because it has been found that women experience more job strain and stress due to e.g. gender bias and a stronger social pressure (de Smet et al, 2005; Bhatnagar, 1988; Geller & Hobfoll, 1994). Second, tenure is used, as it is expected that people with a low tenure are in more need of social validation due to their lack in knowledge and resources than people who already work for a long time at the organization (Smith et al, 2013).

4.4 Descriptives statistics

Table 4.2 presents the descriptive statistics, the correlations and the Cronbach alpha scores. In this analysis, correlation strength levels were taken from Cohen’s Set Correlation and Contingency Tables (Cohen, 1988). Correlations are considered to be strong if the coeffic ie nt is above 0.5, moderate if the coefficient is between 0.3 and 0.5, and weak if the coefficient is below 0.3. The correlations of ‘work identity change’ with ‘need for social validation’ (r = 0.03, p = 0.68), ‘searching social validation online’ (r = 0.07, p = 0.29), ‘searching social validation offline’ (r = 0.02, p = 0.81) was insignificant (p < 0.05). Furthermore, ‘offline social

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validation’ did not significantly correlate with the independent variable ‘job stress’ (r = 0.06, p

= 0.37). In contrast, the correlation between ‘work identity change’ and ‘job stress’ (r = 0.15, p = 0.02), between ‘’job stress’ with ‘need for social validation’ (r = 0.16, p = 0.01), with

‘online social validation (r = 0.13, p = 0.05), and with ‘gender’ (r = 0.25, p = 0.00), between ‘need for social validation’ with ‘online social validation’ (r = 0.22, p = 0.00), with ‘offline social validation (r = 0.53, p = 0.00), and with ‘tenure’ (r = -0.16, p = 0.01), between ‘online social validation’ with ‘offline social validation’ (r = 0.28, p = 0.00), with ‘gender’ (r = 0.14,

p = 0.03), and with ‘tenure’ (r = -0.21, p = 0.00) was significant. Therefore, we can confir m

the expectation of control variable ‘gender’ to significantly correlate with job stress, and ‘tenure’ to significantly correlate with the need for social validation.

Table 4.2 - Descriptives

Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1. Work Identity Change 0.50 0.50 (.)

2. Job Stress 2.63 0.84 0.15** (.80)

3. Need for Social

Validation 3.08 0.87 0.03 0.16** (.89)

4. Online social validation 2.25 1.10 0.07 0.13* _0.22**

5. Offline social validation 3.63 1.07 0.02 0.06 0.53** 0.28**

6. Gender 1.55 0.52 0.06 0.25** 0.05 0.14* 0.06

7. Tenure 15.14 12.28 0.04 0.07 -0.16** -0.21** -0.12 _0.08

N= 253

**Correlation significant at the 0.01 level *Correlation significant at the 0.05 level

Number between brack ets is the Cronbach’s alpha

4.5 Hypothesis testing

The first hypothesis was “Situations that require work identity change induce more stress than situations that require no work identity change”. This hypothesis simply could be supported by the Pearson correlation between “Work Identity Change” and “Job Stress” of 0.15 (p = 0.02) Therefore, hypothesis 1, with a weak correlation (<.3), is supported.

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The need for Social validation from the leader was examined as the mediator (M) of the link between work identity change (X) and job stress (Y). Online social validation was entered as the first moderator (Q) and offline social validation as the second moderator (V) on the relationship between M and Y. The effect of the overall model was significant (r₂ = 0.13, df = 8, 238, F = 4,35, p = 0 .00).

The second hypothesis was explained by “There is a positive relationship between a changing work identity and the need for social validation from the leader”. Unfortunate ly, hypothesis 2 could not be supported, as the relationship between ‘work identity change’ and ‘the need for social validation’ was not significant (R2 = 0.03, df = 3, 243, F = 2,58, b = 0,03, t = 0.32, p = 0.75).

The third hypothesis which was tested was “There is a positive relationship between the need for social validation from the leader and employee stress”. Hypothesis 3 was significa nt (R₂ = 0.13, df = 8, 238, F = 4,35, b = 0.48, t = 2,51, p = 0.01) and thus supported.

Hypothesis 4 was testing the mediating effect: “The need for social validation from the leader mediates the relationship between work identity change and job stress”. This effect was very small (b = 0.01). In addition, the Bootstrapping analysis with a 95% Confidence Interval ranges from -0.0274 to 0.0578. It includes the zero, so no significant mediating effect of the need for Social Validation can be found (Hayes, 2013). This means the indirect effect is very small and the relationship between ‘Work identity change” and ‘Job Stress’ could be mainly explained via the direct effect (b = 0.20, t = 1,97, p = 0.05). Hypothesis 4 is therefore not supported.

‘Online social validation’ (Q) and ‘Offline social validation’ (V) were tested as moderators on the relationship between ‘the need for social validation’ (M) and ‘job stress’ (Y). Hypothesis 5a “Offline social validation moderates the relationship between the need of social