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Authors: S. Spataro and Lisa E. Cohen

Publication: Journal of Organizational Psychology, Volume 20, Issue 1, June 2020, Pages 82-103.

Abstract:

In this paper, we introduce the concept of Glossy Work, work that has a glamorous patina but that is mundane and unfulfilling in actuality. We studied people employed as magazine fact checkers, who exemplify Glossy Work, specifically examining how they balance these discrepant aspects of the job in presenting their work to others. We found that fact checkers use conditional presentation to modulate their portrayal of the work according to audience members’ knowledge of their job’s secret taint and the nature of presenter’s relationship to that audience. Presentations ranged from full disclosure of the positives and negatives to deliberate attempts to reframe the presentation around interpersonal characteristics rather than the job to unfettered job enhancement. We discuss implications for theory on job- and self-presentation and on identity congruence.