Sean Martin

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at University of Virginia

This study draws on social identity theories of behavioral contagion and research concerning narratives in organizations to present and test a framework for understanding how narratives embed values in organizational newcomers' actions. Employing a field experiment using 632 newly-hired employees in a large IT firm that prioritizes self-transcenden...

In two studies, we develop and test theory about the relationship between speaking up, one type of organizational citizenship behavior, and unit performance by accounting for where employee voice is flowing. Results from a qualitative study of managers and professionals across a variety of industries suggest that voice to targets at different forma...

This review integrates research regarding organizations’ ethical infrastructure and moral disengagement to illustrate the complicated relationship between these constructs. We argue that employee perceptions of strong ethical infrastructures may reduce individuals’ tendencies to rationalize and engage in clearly self-interested unethical behaviors,...

Self-interest has long been recognized as a powerful human motive. Yet, much remains to be understood about the thinking behind self-interested pursuits. Drawing from multiple literatures, we propose that situations high in opportunity for self-interested gain trigger a type of moral cognition called moral disengagement that allows the individual t...

This paper explores the linguistic cues that distinguish conversations about work topics from conversations about non-work topics and how those differences affect conversation partners. Using an exploratory analysis of a field experiment in a large U.S. technology firm, we generate hypotheses that when the conversations topic is work, people use mo...

Prior research has demonstrated a strong relationship between team performance and team members’ team efficacy beliefs and perceptions of social integration. Performing well increases the feelings of collective ability that comprise team efficacy and the feelings of psychological connectedness that make up social integration, while performing poorl...

We argue that social psychological theories of social class should move toward a more dynamic view that considers class change experiences to supplement more static perspectives focused on backgrounds or current positions. Indeed, social class is a unique demographic form of hierarchy because of its dynamism: social class is relatively malleable co...

As rates of intergenerational social mobility decline, it is increasingly important to understand the psychological consequences of entrenched socioeconomic privilege. Here, we explore whether current and childhood socioeconomic status (SES) are interactively related to entitlement, such that among currently high SES individuals, those from affluen...

Phishing is a message-based computer attack sent to deceive and exploit recipients via email. Phishing is a problem for organizations because getting “hooked,” or tricked into acting on behalf of the sender, can put sensitive personal and organizational data at risk. In this research, we draw from several theoretical perspectives concerning social...

This paper explores the impact of two types of voice and gender on peer-rated social status and subsequent leader emergence. Across two studies—a three-wave field study and an experiment—we find that speaking up promotively, but not prohibitively, is positively and indirectly related to leader emergence via status, and that this relationship is con...

We investigate how parental income during one's upbringing relates to his or her effectiveness as a leader after entering an organization. Drawing on research on the psychological effects of income, social learning theory, and the integrative trait-behavioral model of leadership effectiveness, we propose a negative, serially mediated association be...