- Ingroup-decorated spaces promoted productivity over the lean space, which can be partially attributed to increased team identification
- Workspaces decorated with the rival team's colors also improved productivity when compared with the lean space (but, researchers did NOT find a significant mediating effect with the outgroup condition)

Results Summary (Identity Signaling & Workplace Productivity)

- Small sample size
- Participants were undergrad students, not actual workplace employees. Calls external validity into question
- Uncertain as to what mechanisms mediate the effect of space design on performance. Findings are inconclusive here
- Ad hoc teams: could the results of this study be stronger if teams with preexisting meaning were used? 

Limitations (Identity Signaling & Workplace Productivity)

- Findings suggest that the physical work environment is a factor that should be considered when looking at performance
- Lean spaces could possibly be harmful in work/office environments
- People seem to perform better when the space represents the ingroup identity
- Outgroup identity spaces can also improve performance (but since the mediating effects here are not known, this is not as strong of a factor  as the ingroup space)

Implications (Identity Signaling & Workplace Productivity)

- Results Summary
- Limitations
- Implications

Wake Forest University

A paper designed to explore the effects of identity signaling on both individual and group productivity. This experimental approach sorted participants into teams to examine the role ingroup versus outgroup spaces played on the completion of simple, team-oriented tasks. 

Spaces that Signal Identity Improve Workplace Productivity

Greenaway K.A., Thai A.H., Haslam S.A., Murphy S.C. (2016). Spaces that signal identity improve workplace productivity. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 15(1), 35–43. https://doi.org/10.1027/1866-5888/a000148

- Previous research on the workplace has focused on the effects of physical aspects of the space, such as layout
- However, spaces can also be psychologically impactful due to the ways in which they support (or discourage) group identity
- This support of identity has been shown to affect performance in other settings (Example: "home court advantage")

Introduction (Identity Signaling & Workplace Productivity)

- Main Idea: to examine the effect of being in a space with identity cues as opposed to a "lean space" without any identity signaling
- 3 settings for completing exercises: lean space, ingroup decoration, and outgroup decoration

The Research Study (Identity Signaling & Workplace Productivity)

Discussion (Identity Signaling & Workplace Productivity)

Physical spaces are important for psychological functioning. Spaces are meaningful in the way it supports, communicates and channels group identity. People generally experience positive outcomes in spaces that support important identities and negative outcomes in spaces that threaten important identities.

Physical Spaces and Psychological Functioning

The social identity approach asserts that "individuals internalize group memberships as part of their self-concept in a way that fundamentally shapes their perceptions, thoughts, and behavior." Essentially, people are motivated to achieve or maintain positive social identities. When workplace identities are respected, job satisfaction, well-being, and productivity are improved and people are more willing to work toward organizational goals.

Social Identity Approach

Workplace territoriality can be viewed as the ability to monitor and to regulate the use of space in the workplace. This also refers to feelings of psychological ownership associated with organizational spaces. It is common for one to use spatial boundaries to define their territory and as a result people respond negatively when their spaces are encroached upon.

Workplace Territoriality

Both identity in-groups and out-groups increased work performance and productivity. However, out-group performance was motivated out of rivalry and competition. Therefore, researchers suggest that in-group spaces will be more beneficial in the long-term, as there are benefits to adding enrichment and meaning to office spaces for organizational performance. 

Learn Before

Related

Learn After