[Networks, Signaling, Trust]
“Imagined And Overlooked Ties: Why the Ties in Our Mind Influence Who We Trust” - Forthcoming at Personnel Psychology (with Pri Shah, & Stephen Jones) 

Trust theory explains how social network ties influence trust, but well-publicized examples suggest that even imagined connections can affect it. As extant theory does not explain this phenomenon, we introduce a perceptual network mechanism that elucidates why the ties in our mind influence trustworthiness judgments. We then empirically isolate our novel perceptual mechanism from the known structural network mechanism and compare the two mechanisms’ effects. We do so by focusing on situations where individuals (egos) have incorrect perceptions of others’ (alters’) ties: when egos overlook alters’ existing ties, structural effects on trustworthiness judgments are exposed; when egos imagine alters’ ties, perceptual effects are revealed. In two field studies, we show that the perceptual effects of imagined advice-giving centrality can be greater than the structural effects of overlooked advice-giving centrality. But perceptual effects diminish when alters are more central in an actual network. Further, Study 2 reveals the consequences of imagining and overlooking ties. Employees are more willing to be vulnerable to and act as a broker for coworkers whom they imagine to be central than those who are central but whose ties they overlook.

• Winner, Best Graduate Student Paper (Dongil Jang), INGroup

[Careers, Trust, Turnover]
Dongil Jang & Joon Han, 2019, “Institutional Factors Affecting Turnover and Retention in Social Enterprises”, Social Economy & Policy Studies, 9(3), pp.25-58. (Korean)

Human resource literature often frames turnover as a mismatch between organizations and employees. However, little attention has been paid to how institutional factors shape turnover. This study examines the impact of generalized trust in social enterprises and broader social systems on turnover and retention, drawing on responses from 362 social enterprise workers in the 2018 Social Value Survey. The findings reveal that trust in both the social enterprise system and the broader social system reduces the intention to leave and increases the intention to stay. However, when employees perceive the government as highly effective—particularly in areas that overlap with social problem-solving—their intention to leave increases. This paper contributes to the literature by demonstrating that institution-level trust can lead social entrepreneurs not only to leave their organizations but also to exit the field of social entrepreneurship entirely.

• Research Fellowship (Dongil Jang), Center for Social value Enhancement Studies

[Careers, Signaling, Evaluations]
“The Cost of Specialist Signaling: Visibility and Opportunity of Online Professional Profiles” (with Alan Benson, & Ming Leung) - [Dissertation Essay 1]

• Wharton People and Organizations Conference (Wharton) (Philadelphia, 2025) 

• American Sociological Association Conference (ASA) (Chicago, 2025)

• Academy of Management Conference (AOM) (Chicago, 2025) 

• Strategic Management Society Conference (SMS) (Istanbul, 2024) 

• Transitions Research Group Workshop (TRG) (Virtual, 2024) 

• Organization Science Winter Conference (OSWC) (Swiss, 2024) 

[Gender, Signaling, Evaluations]
“Benevolent but Incongruent, Gendered Differences in the Content of Online Referrals” (with Alan Benson, & Pri Shah) - [Dissertation Essay 2]

[Careers, Training, Personality]
“Reskilling as Career Transition: Operationalization of Career Distance” (with John Kammeyer-Mueller) 

• Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference (SIOP) (Chicago, 2024)

[Careers, Stratification, Education]
“A Skill-Based Approach to the College Major-Occupation Mismatch” (with Hajoon Chung) 

• Wharton People and Organizations Conference (Wharton) (Philadelphia, 2025) 

• RC28 Social Stratification (ISA) (Los Angeles, 2025)

• American Sociological Association Conference (ASA) (Chicago, 2025) 

• Stratification Workshop (Princeton) (New Jersey, 2024)