Research Interests

At the heart of my interests lies a genuine fascination with prosociality, morality, and culture. This has naturally led me to explore the role of leaders in cultivating a culture of cooperation and promoting ethical behaviors. My central research question revolves around how leaders can use their transformative power to make a positive impact on both their organizations and society at large.  

Leader’s forgiveness 

Do we trust leaders who forgive easily or those who stand firm with unyielding resolve? As a researcher, I dive into the challenges that leaders grapple with when dealing with organizational misconduct and facing the forgiveness decision. While we know forgiveness is important in modern leadership, its consequences have remained underexamined. In one of my research projects, I embarked on an investigation to explore the impact of leader's forgiveness on third-party trust. The findings unveiled an intriguing dual effect: while forgiveness appeared to diminish integrity-based trust, it left benevolence-based trust unaffected. But here's the twist: when leaders openly explained the moral principles behind their forgiveness, the negative effect on integrity-based trust faded away. Building on these insightful findings, my ongoing research examines the role of the leader's gender as a key moderator. This investigation seeks to shed light on the unique challenges that female leaders may encounter in forgiveness situations. 

Social Orientation and Sustainability 

In this line of my research, I focus on leadership's role in addressing society's concerns about social and environmental issues, particularly in fostering social well-being and sustainability. Challenges arise as leaders prioritize immediate organizational gains over these goals, and crowdfunding emerges as a potential solution to mitigate financial risks. I investigate the impact of entrepreneurs' expressed social and environmental concerns in crowdfunding project videos on attracting investors, revealing a positive link to funding success, particularly when moral and emotional language is used. Moreover, I aim to explore how leadership's moral circle expansion influences their cognition and behavior, broadening concerns beyond self and close others to include societal and environmental considerations. 

Culture, Prosociality, and Relationships

As a cultural psychologist, my research interest was deeply rooted in exploring the fascinating interplay between culture and prosociality. I was particularly intrigued by how cultural contexts shaped individuals' inclination towards altruistic behaviors and their willingness to prioritize the well-being of others. My focus was on understanding the ways in which cultural norms, values, and social structures influenced the expression of prosocial behaviors, such as forgiveness, adjustment, and sacrifice within relationships. Through my work, I examined the intricate relationship between culture and prosociality, aiming to shed light on the profound impact of cultural factors in shaping human connections and fostering more compassionate relationships and society.