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Research interests

Research implies the systematic search for new knowledge: how can we explain, predict and improvement the wellbeing and performance of individuals at work?
Our department has particular interest in the following areas:		 Forschung Banner

Personnel Selection

 

    • Validity and impression management during personnel selection

      Different selection procedures (structured interviews, personality tests, assessment centers) have been developed to assess applicants’ typical behavioral patterns. Yet, applicants oftentimes try to manage the impressions they make upon recruiters. This research examines this issue by combining multiple research streams such as the candidate's ability to identify criteria and 'typical versus maximum' performance.
      Further information and previous work in this area.

 

    • Personality Dimensions in Personnel Selection

 

    • Science-Practitioner Gap in Personnel Selection

      Why do practitioners in personnel selection use different procedures than advised by science? Insights from organizational theory suggest that the reason for this is not plain ignorance, but that practitioners attempt to satisfy requirements issued by multiple stakeholders, many of whom have found insufficient consideration in the research literature on personnel selection.
      Further information and previous work in this area.

 

Career Development over a Life Span

 

    • Adapting to Economic Stressors and Career Transitions

      Careers are contantly changing -- there are fewer boundaries and more opportunies contrasted with various economic stressors resulting in job insecurity, job loss, under employement and unemployment. Individuals can be active agents, rather than the victim, by using a variety of approaches to proactively manage and adapt their careers.
      Further information and previous work in this area.

 

    • Career Identity

    • Job Search and (Re)employment among Older Workers

      In the European Union, older people are on average unemployed for much longer than middle-aged people and younger people. A similar pattern occurs for North America besides that people are overall shorter unemployed. Long duration of unemployment and the search for (re)employment are among the worst stressors that people have to deal with; whereas, organizations may suffer from difficulties in integrating older workers with longer unemployment durations into the workplace. Against this background, I have started to look into the issue of job search and (re)employment among older workers.

    • Late Career Development

      Vocational identity is to a large extent driven by individual career aspirations, which reflect individual career-related intentions, goals and motivational elements during late career development. The aim of this research project is to identify the factors that guarantee successful career transitions in later life. Based on quantitative research methods (e.g., experiments, vignette studies, questionnaires), I develop and test psychological theories in real world business settings to ensure its applicability and value for individuals, organisations, and the society. (Project funding from Central Research Fund: Research Excellence Award 2016, GBP 19,997.00)

 

Diversity in Organisations

 

    • Age Diversity and HR-Practice

      Extending working lives has become a major issue in dealing with global population aging over the past decade. Different equality laws have been introduced in order to protect the rights of older workers in the UK. Now, ten years after introducing the age-discrimination legislation in 2006, age-discrimination, even though illegal, is still a prevalent phenomenon, in particular in hiring. This leads to the question, what can be done (above legal adjustments) to prevent discriminative behaviour in HR-selection? Addressing this research question, I have developed an agenda of research on diversity in hiring. One of the key objectives of this research is to explore how people make decisions and to identify ways of improving decision-making in hiring. (Project funding from Central Research Fund: Competitive Funding Call 2015, GBP 13,347.50)

 

    • Intergenerational Knowledge Transfer

      The aging workforce will be one of the main challenges for organisations in the future. In this context, the retention of knowledge from retiring and highly-skilled older workers has been identified as key factor for organisational functioning. So far, research on intergenerational knowledge transfer in organisations is scarce. In cooperation with the University of Bern and Leuphana University of Lüneburg I have, therefore, initiated a new research project investigating the factors that influence successful intergenerational knowledge transfer in organisations.

 

Reactions to Typical vs. Maximum Performance Situation

    • According to this literature, workers perform at the best of their abilities in maximum performance situations (short, evaluative situations on the job in which workers know that they are supposed to do their very best), whereas typical performance is a function of both motivation and abilities. While empirical validation is still scarce, the distinction between typical and maximum performance is relevant for numerous areas of organizational behavior and human resource management.
      Further information and previous work in this area.

 

Projects granted by third-party donors

 

  • Predictors and Consequences of Faking in High-Fidelity Simulations in Personnel Selection: a Twin-Process Model of Faking (by DFG)
  • Stereotype Threat in Personnel Selection (by DFG)
  • ORA+: WORKOUT: Selfregulation during job search when out of work (by DFG)