Research

"What makes work worthwhile?" This is the overarching question that motivates my research. To shed light on this inquiry, I focus on exploring two types of relationships that exist in the workplace: one’s relationship with other people, and one’s relationship with the work itself (i.e., motivation and orientation toward work).

Below is a summary of my recent research papers and works in progress for each stream.

1. Interpersonal relationships at work

• "Stuck in the middle? Social comparison processes in response to raising minimum pay" with Amy Wrzesniewski and Jim Baron (Reject & Resubmit at Organization Science)

• "Intrinsic motivation and partners in entrepreneurship" with Jihae Shin  

• "Finding a home: Exposure to potential paths and specialty choice of medical students" with Amy Wrzesniewski

• "Workplace relationship and career outcomes" with Rodrigo Canales

• "Working with robots in the recycling sorting industry" with Amy Wrzesniewski 

2. Individuals' relationships with their work 

• "How work orientation impacts objective career outcomes via managerial (mis)perceptions" with Winnie Jiang* (Published in Academy of Management Journal)  Link 

• "Something new out of nothing new: When and why boredom boosts creativity in multiple-task environments" with Jihae Shin and Nancy Rothbard (Under review)

• "Foothold or springboard? The complexity of extrinsic motivation" with Amy Wrzesniewski 

• "Boomerang employment for layoff victims" with Rebecca Paluch*

• "In times of crisis: How crises affect attitudes toward work" with Winnie Jiang*  

• "Job crafting" with Amy Wrzesniewski (in Oxford Bibliographies in Management. New York: Oxford University Press)  Link

*denotes equal authorship