My research is motivated by a passion for enhancing collective well-being in organizations. By examining how power and status shape workplace experiences, I aim to advance our understanding of these dynamics and identify avenues for fostering more positive organizational environments.
Specifically, my work involves three streams of research that each aims to:
Understand and promote the interpersonally constructive use of power
Identify and alleviate the negative consequences of low status for socially marginalized groups
Examine and foster positive interpersonal and intergroup behaviors
1. Promoting the Interpersonally Constructive Use of Power
Yoon, H. J. & Choi, I. Where did your power come from? Influence of power origin perception on
unethical behavior. Targeted for the Journal of Applied Psychology. 4 studies completed.
"It's not the reality that shapes us, but the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality." The same can be said for power. Power is in the eyes of the beholder. This project seeks to demonstrate this by identifying conditions under which it can lead powerful individuals to engage in unethical behavior by focusing on how individuals conceptualize their power.
Yoon, H. J. Narrating power: How organizations shape power holders’ perceptions and behaviors through promotion narratives. (Doctoral Dissertation). Study 2 completed, Study 3 Design in Progress
“Words are containers for power; you choose what kind of power they carry.” In this project, I propose that this quote is literally true: the stories organizations tell when granting power can amplify, constrain, or redirect how that power is exercised. Accordingly, in this project, I highlight the pivotal role organizations themselves can play in shaping leader behaviors by proposing how promotion narratives can shape promoted employees’ perceptions of their newly gained positional power.
Yoon, H. J., Birnbaum, H. & Dane, E. Peril of low power: Low power experience breeds exploitation in high power roles. 4 Studies completed.
In this project, I examine how power can be exercised more constructively from a dynamic, temporal perspective by considering not only the power one possesses at a given moment, but the level of power they have experienced previously. Specifically, I demonstrate how experiencing low power, which was less associated with negative interpersonal behavior in previous research, can unleash exploitative behaviors in individuals when they acquire power later on.
Yoon, H. J. Negotiating on behalf of the powerful: When low power makes you more unethical. Study 1 design finished.
While previous research has primarily focused on power relations between negotiating parties, this project examines how the low power experienced by the agent within a negotiation party influences ethical decision-making and strategic behavior in negotiations with the opposing party.
Yoon. H. J. & Quan, N. AI reinforcing status gaps: Creators’ status impacts their attitude toward
using AI for creative work. [Co-first authorship]. 3 Studies completed
A tool, no matter how powerful, is ineffective if it goes unused—and this is true for Artificial Intelligence as well. Despite AI’s potential to enhance creative performance, our project finds that low-status creative professionals are less likely to incorporate it into their work compared to their high-status counterparts due to concern for negative judgment. This suggests that technological advancements may inadvertently contribute to the marginalization of individuals with lower status, as AI disproportionately benefits the high-status creative professionals more.
Yoon. H. J Birnbaum, H., & Quan, N. Status licensing AI use: Professionals’ status influences people’s acceptance of their AI usage at work. [Co-first authorship]. Study 3 design in progress
Given the finding in the work above that low-status individuals are often worried about being negatively judged when they use AI in their work, in another study, I explore whether this concern is valid—that is, whether others actually judge low-status individuals more negatively when they disclose AI use. We find that indeed, customers judged professionals as less competent when they disclosed AI use in their profile, which was pronounced among low-status professionals.
Yoon H. J, Birnbaum, H., & Quan, N. Gender and AI use disclosure: The perils of status-inconsistent professional’s
AI use disclosure. [Co-first authorship]. Study 1 design finished
In this project, we investigate how status inconsistency—high professional status combined with a minority social identity (e.g. being female professionals in male dominated fields) interacts with AI acceptance. Specifically, we investigate how AI use is accepted when female professionals disclose AI use in male-dominated fields.
Dane, E., Yoon, H. J., & Baer, M. “Title Redacted for Review”. 3nd Round Review at Academy of Management Discoveries.
Among the various psychological processes that can promote prosocial behaviors, I find epiphanies to be among the most transformational. In this project, we examined how epiphanies—sudden realizations that shift how individuals see themselves and the world—can fundamentally transform people’s values, attitudes, and behaviors. We find that experiencing certain types of epiphanies—namely, epiphanies that help people attain self-transcendent values and appreciate the interconnectedness of society—increase people’s desire to serve others and promote collaboration transcending social boundaries.
Kim, D., Yoon, H. J., Lee, J. I., & Bottom, W. P. Group relational accounting: Impact on business, labor, and
social movements. Targeted for Administrative Science Quarterly. Qualitative Study Completed
In social exchange literature and relational accounting literature, the mechanisms of how individuals decide processes that underpin individuals’ decisions to initiate or reciprocate interpersonal behaviors have been explored abundantly. However, there is yet to be a comprehensive theory that explains the mechanism of intergroup reciprocity, particularly one that accounts for the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral dimensions of such interactions. Accordingly, in this project, we propose a theoretical model that explains the mental process individuals use when deciding to engage in intergroup exchanges. Using multi-case theory-building approach, we analyze multiple labor and societal conflict contexts.
Kim, D., Yoon, H. J., & Bottom, W. P. Group relational accounting: Group-based bookkeeping
shapes intergroup reciprocity. Targeted for Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 5 studies completed
In this project, we aim to experimentally test the hypotheses derived from the theory proposed in our paper above. Through five experimental studies, we demonstrate how manipulated social identities and intergroup exchange histories shape intergroup attitudes and behavior through group relational accounting.
Yoon, H. J., Kim, D. & Bottom, W. P. Leading through group relational accounting: How leaders can shape follower perceptions of intergroup reciprocity. [Co-first authorship]. Study 1 design in progress.
Given how group relational accounting shapes attitudes and behaviors toward outgroup members, in this project, we propose how leaders can use group relational accounting to elicit greater voluntary participation in helping and supporting others, even when such actions do not directly benefit the participants themselves. The goal of this project is to provide actionable insights for leaders on how to recruit and motivate followers for collective action aimed at benefiting seemingly unrelated outgroups—for example, mobilizing members of a majority group to support members of a minority group.