Abstract:
In this study, we examined the relationship between diversity in positive state affect and the effectiveness of two-person flight crews. Using data collected from 93 flight simulations in two aviation courses, we found that diversity in positive state affect was positively related to crew effectiveness. Furthermore, we found that the agreeableness of crew members corresponded with susceptibility to emotional contagion, and therefore decreased the likelihood of them assuming diverse affective states during flight.

Abstract:
Building on over a decade of research on firefighters, I report findings from three studies (two qualitative, one quantitative) that illustrate: (a) the fundamental nature of assessing others’ “work orientations” (e.g., do you have a calling or are you here for the paycheck?); (b) how perceived work orientations are used for determining trust and predicting performance; and (c) how disparate cues are used in building an understanding of others’ work orientations. Firefighters provide an interesting case study for this research as the need for trust at a fire scene is very high; however, the number of fires that firefighters actually fight has gone down dramatically in recent years. Consequently, issues of trust often have to be made based on “small cues” that may have very little direct relevance to fighting fires. I draw upon multiple literatures, including meaning of work and trust, and provide implications for both theory and practice.

Abstract:
I present three studies from our research program on dynamic cognitive network activation (Smith, Menon,& Thompson, 2011; Menon &Smith, working paper). Networks are not simply social structures, they are also cognitive structures that can dynamically shift as a function of people’s emotions and identities. Our first two studies show that high and low socioeconomic status people spontaneously activate, or call to mind, different subsections of their networks when faced with job threat. Using a multi-method approach (General Social Survey data and a laboratory experiment), we find that, under conditions of job threat, people with low status exhibit a winnowing response (i.e., cognitively activating smaller and tighter subsections of their networks), whereas people with high status exhibit a widening response (i.e., activating larger and less dense subsections of their networks). A third study theoretically and empirically links identity and emotional state to network activation. We show that confirmed identities (both high status people whose high power was confirmed and low status people whose low power was confirmed) lead to widen their networks, as compared to conflicted identities (people facing a mismatch between their socioeconomic status and primed power). The emotional signature of having confirmed identities was comfort and control, which mediated respondents' network activation. One implication is that narrowing the network in response to threat might reduce low-status group members’ access to new information, harming their chances of finding subsequent employment and exacerbating social inequality. We also consider the psychological challenges that empowerment-based policies may present.

Abstract:
Multiple theoretical perspectives offer varied and often paradoxical accounts of women¹s incongruent status in male-dominated work groups. Integrating these varied perspectives, I tested distinct mechanisms by which women¹s incongruent status (i.e., situations where women have acquired high status) influences expertise identification and utilization in science and engineering research groups. Across three studies in this setting, applying hierarchical linear modeling techniques, I found that women were more likely than men to devalue the expertise of women in high status positions (Study 1). However, this in-group devaluation was mitigated by gender identification among women and exacerbated by perceived legitimacy of gender based status differences (Study 2). Further, perceived expertise predicted expertise utilization in groups and the demographic context of the group minimized the negative effects of incongruent status on women¹s expertise utilization. Women¹s expertise, in general, was more likely to be utilized in gender balanced groups and in academic units with a gender-balanced department faculty. At the group level, the presence of high status females in the group was associated with higher research productivity when groups were embedded in academic units with a gender-balanced faculty (Study 3). These findings provide compelling evidence that variations in the demographic context signal the legitimacy of individuals in incongruent status positions and shape both interpersonal attributions and information-processing in groups

Abstract:
Are employees that use flexible work arrangements (FWAs) good organizational citizens? Business and scholarly discourse suggest that flexible workers risk being labeled as bad organizational citizens: employees using FWAs are perceived as lacking dedication to their organization and as unavailable when their colleagues need help. However, research so far has not empirically examined the impacts of FWAs on citizenship behaviors. Our study develops and tests a theoretical model linking FWAs to employee contextual performance. Findings suggest that FWAs have positive effects on employee contextual performance by enhancing perceptions of autonomy.

Abstract:
Abstract: The current studies examine the effects of excuses on reactions to misbehavior. Results indicated that excuses reduce the likelihood that behavior is perceived as wrong and reported when the event clearly violates prescribed rules or norms but actually increases the likelihood that the behavior is perceived as wrong and reported when the situation is ambiguous

Abstract:
Professor Luis Martin, Associate Professor - McCombs School of Business will present a talk on ‘Bridging Difference and Distance in Global Virtual Work: The Role of Social Identification’ Abstract Global virtual work arrangements have been growing in prominence over the last three decades. Research and anecdotal findings suggest that such arrangements struggle for effectiveness against the forces of dispersion and demographic difference. However, the processes underlying those challenges are not well understood. To address the gap, this research uses social identity theory and the contact hypothesis to examine the role played by interpersonal identification in explaining the effects of nationality differences on performance in global virtual supervisor-subordinate dyads. It proposes that a difference in nationality between a supervisor and subordinate will have a negative effect on subordinate performance, which will be mediated by subordinate identification with the supervisor. Furthermore, based on the contact hypothesis, it proposes that the effects of nationality difference on identification will be moderated by the nature of contact between the subordinate and supervisor. It introduces the idea of “contact richness” as an important construct in virtual work, and proposes that it will explain additional variance over and above that explained by the primary dimensions of contact proposed by the contact hypothesis. Support for the research model was found in two field studies conducted using global virtual dyads in the software development industry. The findings suggest several implications for future theoretical development on the effects of demographic diversity in virtual settings, and provide actionable guidelines for managers engaged in global virtual work.

Abstract:
Team formation is investigated in two studies that use sport-related archival data culled from the Internet. Unlike team formation in organizational decision-making situations, when individuals form teams they tend to use their relational ties as a heuristic even when the decision-making is unconstrained. Thus there appears to be a relational bias in team formation decision making that is more generic than is suggested by sociology and entrepreneurship research. In line with the leadership literature this relational bias is more pronounced when the decision maker is also the team leader. Further, the leader’s role interdependence impacts the extent to which there is a relational bias, both to the team as a whole, and to the sub-unit that “backs up” the leader’s role.

Abstract:
People often find it difficult to forgive others after a transgression. We examined the consequences of not forgiving other. In four studies, we investigated whether not forgiving is an embodied concept and whether this impacts human’s visual perception of the physical world. Specifically, in experiment 1 we found that unforgiving individuals literally feel contracted compared to individuals who forgive. Experiment 2 revealed that unforgiving individuals literally feel heavy and jump lower due to heaviness feeling. In experiment 3, unforgiving individuals perceive a virtual hill in the picture as being steeper. In experiment 4, unforgiving individuals perceive a real hill on the campus as being steeper. These studies point to the benefits of forgiveness in making the world less daunting and thereby contributing to greater well-being.

Abstract:
Career adaptability denotes an individual's readiness and resources for handling current and anticipated tasks, transitions, and traumas in their occupational roles that, to some degree large or small, alter their social integration. Extending Super’s career development model, we describe an adaptive individual as (a) becoming concerned about the vocational future, (b) taking control of trying to prepare for one's vocational future, (c) displaying curiosity by exploring possible selves and future scenarios, and (d) strengthening the confidence to pursue one’s aspirations. We develop a measure to capture career adaptability across multiple countries. We present the initial phase of the project focused on US high school students, with a brief discussion about extending and replicating the study with university students and working adults.

Abstract:
Modelling and analyzing the antecedents of a labor intensive service delivery and its impact on shaping the business outcomes like service efficiency and quality is an important topic for practice and research. Researchers have recently begun to examine the antecedents of service quality from this context. This paper extends the literature on service quality by proposing a multi-level model of individual and team level variables to study the impact on service outcomes at two levels - individual and team performance. We focus on big five type personality and approach-avoidance at an individual level, and supervision (perceived supervisor support and abusive supervision) at team level to explain the differences in service outcomes.

Abstract:
This paper presents a Dual System Model (DSM) of decision making under risk and uncertainty where the value of a gamble is a combination of the values assigned to it independently by the affective and deliberative systems. Motivated by research on dual process theories and empirical research in Hsee and Rottenstreich (2004) and Rottenstreich and Hsee (2001) among others, DSM incorporates 1) individual differences in disposition to rational versus emotional decision making; 2) affective nature of outcomes; and 3) different task construals within its framework. The model has good descriptive validity and accounts for (a) violation of non-transparent stochastic dominance; (b) four-fold pattern of risk attitudes; (c) ambiguity aversion; (d) common consequence effect; (e) common ratio effect; (f) isolation effect; and (g) coalescing and event-splitting effects. DSM is also used to make several novel predictions of conditions under which specific behavior patterns may or may not occur.

Abstract:
In this dissertation, I compare and contrast the extrinsic and the intrinsic processes of whistle-blowing. Specifically, I investigate if observers of wrongdoing blow the whistle because they expect positive external outcomes for their potential act of whistle-blowing, or because they are morally outraged upon witnessing the wrongdoing. I also consider three antecedents of whistle-blowing, namely, wrongdoing intensity, moral identity of the observer of wrongdoing and ethical leadership at the subunit level. I test my proposed framework using two methodologies: (a) Through surveys, followed by, (b) semi-structured interviews with some of the survey respondents. Data is currently being collected at a large cement manufacturing firm in India.

Abstract:
As organizational researchers it is essential to not only understand the antecedents and consequences of injustices, interpersonal conflicts and offenses at the workplace, but also the mechanisms and dynamics through which damaged relationships can be restored to positive relationships at work. In this talk I will present findings from an empirical study that examines the dispositional and situational predictors of forgiveness and behavioral revenge. I will also briefly discuss my program of research in terms of my current and future research projects.