Personality at Work
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One of my primary interests is the effect of personality on happiness, performance, and our relationships with others. My research focuses on the recruitment, assessment, selection, and placement of workers based on their personality characteristics. My current research on personality at work focuses on recruiting job applicants who are most likely to thrive during high stress environments. In addition, I have developed employment interview assessments to identify job applicants higher in narcissism and likely to have conflicts with coworkers.
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Performance at Work
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Job performance involves an array of behaviors beyond completing tasks outlined in a job description. My research on performance examines how working conditions and worker personality affect creativity, mistreatment of others, theft, and altruism in the workplace. Here is a recent interview about how "tough love" may lead workers to respond with rule breaking behavior.
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Relationships at Work
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Relationships matter! I seek to understand how employee perceptions of coworkers, the organization, and the environment influence employee behaviors. My current research on relationships at work focuses on leadership behaviors that promote peak experiences for their workers. I also examine how relationships are affected by the perceived intentions of support and abuse. The beliefs of why an event or intervention occurred is likely to influence workers’ reactions.
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Play at Work
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Who we are outside of work matters! One of my primary interests is the spillover between work and non-work life—from playing at work (music, breaks, lunch) to playing outside of work (relaxation, self-exploration, skill acquisition). A better understanding of how behaviors in all domains of life influence employee well-being and performance is essential for maximizing employee potential. Recent projects on this topic examine how creative activities outside of work influence changes in energy at work and job performance. Here is an NPR review of this research.
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