Document Type
Honors Project
First Advisor
Dr. Harriet Hayes
Degree Award Date
Fall 2009
Keywords
structural symbolic interactionist framework, employment, lifeguarding, individual sense of identity
Disciplines
Sociology | Work, Economy and Organizations
Abstract
Paid employment plays such a significant role in our daily existence that we often define ourselves in terms of our jobs. Using a structural symbolic interactionist framework, this study examines the connection between the occupation of lifeguarding and one's sense of identity through character values that caused participants to define this job as a profession, the job's impact on emotional labor, and effects while on and off the lifeguard stand. Participants took part in in-depth interviews exploring personal views of lifeguarding and the influence the job has on them when they are at the workplace and when they are not.
Recommended Citation
Beatty, Sam, "Hi, My Name is Lifeguard: A Study on Identity in the Workplace" (2009). Honors Projects. 122.
https://digitalcommons.bridgewater.edu/honors_projects/122