We investigate how frontline employees manage their emotional experiences of organizational event stigma as an implication of organizational wrongdoing. Our research is based on a longitudinal case study of Danske Bank, which was involved in a money laundering scandal of historical magnitude. We evoke Goffman’s epistemological understanding of stigma as arising in social interactions in all aspects of life. We analyse the emotionally straining spill-over effects of stigmatization at home, as event stigma blurs individuals’ work–home boundaries. Our study shows how frontline employees develop a ‘stigma shield’, that is, emotional detachment strategies used at work and at home to protect against the negative implications of event stigmatization and maintain their organizational pride and loyalty. Interestingly, we find that the stigma shield enables identity protection rather than identity restructuring in response to the identity threat posed by the scandal. We contribute to the literature on organizational event stigma and identity threat by offering a theoretical lens focusing on individual-level emotional responses to ‘felt’ stigmatization among frontline employees in an organization facing scandal.

中文翻译：

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污名化盾牌背后：一线员工对工作和家庭中组织事件污名化的情绪反应

我们调查一线员工如何管理他们对组织事件耻辱的情绪体验，作为组织不当行为的暗示。我们的研究基于丹麦银行的纵向案例研究，该银行卷入了历史规模的洗钱丑闻。我们唤起戈夫曼对生活各个方面的社会互动中产生的耻辱的认识论理解。我们分析了在家中污名化的情绪紧张溢出效应，因为事件污名模糊了个人的工作-家庭界限。我们的研究表明一线员工如何形成“污名化盾牌”，即在工作和家庭中使用的情感分离策略，以防止事件污名化的负面影响并保持他们的组织自豪感和忠诚度。有趣的是，我们发现，耻辱盾能够实现身份保护而不是身份重组，以应对丑闻带来的身份威胁。我们通过提供一个理论视角，重点关注面临丑闻的组织中一线员工对“感觉”污名化的个人层面情绪反应，从而为有关组织事件耻辱感和身份威胁的文献做出贡献。