2. Research

My research investigates how formal hierarchy interacts with psychological and interpersonal processes to influence leadership emergence and effectiveness. I explore questions such as:

1) What causes different types of leadership to emerge within groups and organizations?

2) What determines whether individuals who do not occupy formal leadership positions will proactively engage in informal leadership behavior?

3) How do different patterns of formal and informal leadership influence the performance and satisfaction of groups?

Using a variety of research methodologies, including meta-analysis, field surveys, controlled experiments, video ethnography, and social network analysis, I explain how formal hierarchical differentiation shapes the leadership activity that occurs in groups, but also how members of collectives can transcend hierarchical pressures to develop more fulfilling, innovative, and effective forms of leadership.

Publications (Published articles linked and/or available for download below)

 Refereed Journals

Wellman, N., Tröster, C., Grimes, M., Roberson, Q., Rink, F., & Gruber, M. (2023). Publishing multimethod research in AMJ: A review and best-practice recommendations. Academy of Management Journal 66(4) 1007-1015.

Bartels, A. L., & Wellman, N. (2023). Is it just me or am I the people's choice? The stress and performance implications of (in)congruence between self- and other- identification as a leader or follower. Journal of Applied Psychology, 108(10), 1680-1698.

Wellman, N., Ashford, S. J., Sanchez-Burks, J. & DeRue, D. S. (2022). Leading when the boss is present: How leadership structure schemas affect leadership behavior. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 29(3) 249-269.

Wald, D. M., Johnston, E. W., Wellman, N., & Harlow, J. (2021). How does personalization in news stories influence intentions to help with drought? Assessing the influence of state empathy and its antecedents. Frontiers in Communication, 5(111).

Baer, M. D., Frank, E. L., Matta., F. K., Luciano, M. M., & Wellman, N. (2021). Under trusted, over trusted, or "just right"? The fairness of (in)congruence between trust wanted and trust received. Academy of Management Journal 64(1), 180-206.

Cialdini, R., Li, Y. J., Samper, A., & Wellman, N. (2021). How bad apples promote bad barrels: Unethical leader behavior and the selective attrition effect. Journal of Business Ethics 168(4), 861-880.

Wellman, N., Applegate, J. M., Harlow, J., & Johnston, E. W. (2020). Beyond the pyramid: Alternative formal hierarchical structures and team performance. Academy of Management Journal 63(4), 997-1027.

Newton, D., Kim, J. K., LePine, J. A., Wellman, N., & Bush, J. T. (2020). Taking engagement to task: The nature and functioning of engagement across task transitions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 105, 1-18.

Wellman, N., Newton, D. W., Wang, D., Wei, W., Waldman, D. A., & LePine, J. A. (2019). Meeting the need or falling in line? The effect of laissez-faire formal leaders on informal leadership. Personnel Psychology, 72, 337-359.

Ashford, S. J., Wellman, N., Sully de Luque, M. De Stobbeleir, K. E., & Wollan, M. (2018). Two roads to effectiveness: CEO feedback seeking, vision articulation, and firm performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 39, 82-95.

Ong, M., Mayer, D. M., Tost, L. P., & Wellman, N. (2018). When corporate social responsibility motivates employee citizenship behavior: The sensitizing role of task significance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 144, 44-59.

Wellman, N. (2017). Authority or community? A group-level theory of leadership emergence. Academy of Management Review, 42(4), 596-617.

Huang, G.-h., Wellman, N., Ashford, S. J., Lee, C., & Wang, L. (2017). Deviance and exit: The organizational costs of job insecurity and moral disengagement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(1), 26-42.

Wellman, N., Mayer, D. M., Ong, M., & DeRue, D. S. (2016). When are do-gooders treated badly? Legitimate power, role expectations, and reactions to moral objection in organizations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(6), 793-814.

Wellman, N., & Spreitzer, G. M. (2011). Crafting scholarly life: Strategies for creating meaning in academic careers. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(6), 927-931.

DeRue, D. S., Nahrgang, J. D., Wellman, N., & Humphrey, S. E. (2011). Trait and behavioral theories of leadership: A meta-analytic test of their relative validity. Personnel Psychology, 64(1), 7-46.

DeRue, D. S., & Wellman, N. (2009). Developing leaders via experience: The role of developmental challenge, learning orientation, and feedback availability. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(4), 859-875.

 Book Chapters

Quinn, R. E., & Wellman, N. (2011). Seeing and acting differently: Positive change in organizations. In K. S. Cameron & G. M. Spreitzer (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship (pp. 751-762). New York: Oxford University Press.

Computational Models

Applegate, J. A., & Wellman, N. (2017). Empathy and power (Version 1.1.0). CoMSES Computational Model Library. Retrieved from https://www.comses.net/codebases/5863/releases/1.1.0/