I am a second year PhD student in Organisational Behaviour at London Business School (LBS). My research focuses on how informal social hierarchies, formal organizational hierarchies, and morality affect how we think, behave, and interact with others.
Prior to starting my PhD, I received my MSc in Behavioural Science from Durham University, having previously completed an MSc in Education Research and a dual BA in Economics and English. I have previously worked with Dr. Jared Curhan as a research assistant in the MIT Behavioral Research Lab at the MIT Sloan School of Management, as the Research Technician in the Ross Behavioral Lab at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and with Dr. Erika Kirgios as a research assistant at Chicago Booth.
Research Interests
Social Hierarchies, Organizational Stuctures, & Morality
My research interests lie at the intersection of social/organizational psychology, organizational behavior and management, and, recently, organizational design. I am broadly interested in examining the social and organizational consequences of hierarchies and morality on how we perceive ourselves and evaluate the individuals and groups around us.
To understand how an individual’s position in power and status hierarchies affects their social cognition, emotions, behaviors, and perceptions of others, my research draws on social psychological and evolutionary theories. I am also interested in the intersection of power, status, and leadership, particularly how these three concepts emerge at the micro-level across different hierarchical contexts and how the psychological experience of these concepts differs.
Recently, I have begun to explore these questions from an organizational design perspective, considering the impact of organizational structures on employee perceptions and behaviors. In particular, I am interested in the interplay between informal hierarchies based on rank and formal hierarchies based on authority, and how employee perspectives can help us design organizations that optimize both organizational effectiveness and employee outcomes.
In the moral domain, I am interested in how we respond to positive and negative deviant behaviors, the factors that motivate norm deviance and adherence, and the role of morality in impression formation and updating processes, as well as in shaping our categorizations and judgments of others.
If you are interested in working together (or simply chatting), please feel free to get in touch.
Education
- PhD in Organisational Behaviour
London Business School
Dissertation supervisor: Dr. Randall Peterson
First-year supervisor: Dr. Selin Kesebir - MSc in Behavioural Science
Durham University
Dissertation supervisor: Dr. Mario Weick - MSc in Education Research
The University of Edinburgh
Dissertation supervisor: Dr. Gitit Kadar-Satat - BA in Economics and English Literature
The University of Connecticut
Fourth year exchange at the University of Edinburgh (Autumn Semester) and El Universidad de Belgrano (Spring Semester)
Personal
I grew up in Franklin, Massachusetts, home of America’s first public library, one of the oldest active one-room schools in the United States, a commuter train that runs to Boston, and not much else.
After graduating from high school, I was fortunate enough to leave my small town and headed off to study at the University of Connecticut. Upon arrival, I realized I had accidentally moved to an even smaller, more rural town—complete with cows and sheep to boot!
Since then, I’ve spent time learning Portuguese while living in Brazil, picking up Spanish in Argentina, and mastering the art of not blocking the telly in the pub when football is on while living in the UK—all while completing two postgraduate programs and starting a third.
In my free time, you’ll probably find me at the cinema, sipping espresso at a coffee house, or dodging tourists while running through the streets of London.