Organization and Strategy Seminar（2015-11）

Topic: The strength of social norms across cultures: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Speaker: Michele Gelfand, University of Maryland, College Park

Time: Monday, 14^thDecember, 11:00 – 12:00 am

Location: Room109, Guanghua Building 2

Organizer: Department ofOrganization and Strategic Management,Center for Research in Behavioral ScienceGuanghua School of Management

Abstract:

Humans are unique among all species in their ability to develop, maintain, and reinforce social norms. While the enforcement of social norms is universal, there is wide variation in the strength of social norms (or tightness-looseness) around the globe. In this talk, I will describe theory and research on tightness-looseness in traditional societies and in modern nations and states, discuss the evolutionary and neurological basis of such differences, and describe the implications of the strength of social norms for organizations and intercultural contact.

Bio:

Michele Gelfand is Professor of Psychology and affiliate of the RH Smith School of Business and is a Distinguished University Scholar Teacher at the University of Maryland, College Park. Gelfand's work focuses on cultural influences on conflict, negotiation, justice, and revenge; workplace diversity and discrimination; and theory and methods in cross-cultural management. Her work has been published in top outlets such asScience, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, PLOS 1, Psychological Science,theJournal of Personality and Social Psychology,Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Research in Organizational Behavior, Journal of Applied Psychology,Annual Review of Psychology, American Psychologist, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, among others. Her work has been cited over 10,000 times (google scholar).

Gelfand is the co-editor ofThe Handbook of Negotiation and Culture(with Jeanne Brett, Stanford University Press) andThe Psychology of Conflict and Conflict Management in Organizations(with Carsten De Dreu, Erlbaum) and is the founding co-editor of theAdvances in Culture and Psychology annual seriesandFrontiers of Culture and Psychologyseries (with CY Chiu and Ying-Yi Hong, Oxford University Press). She is the Past President of the International Association for Conflict Management, Past Division Chair of the Conflict Division of the Academy of Management, and Past Treasurer of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. She received the LL Cummings Career award from the Academy of Management and the Ernest J. McCormick Award for Early Career Contributions from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.She has won a number of other awards for her work, including the most recent AnnalieseResearch Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation which was given to 7 scientists worldwide for outstanding contributions in their fields. Her work that was published inSciencewas honored with theGordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues for the best paper published 2011.She recently received the 2016 Diener award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology which honors a mid-career scholar who has made major contributions to social psychology (//www.spsp.org/annualawards/diener-award-social-psychology).

Gelfandis an elected fellow of the Academy of Management, Association for Psychological Science, American Psychological Association, the Society for Organizational Behavior, the Society for Experimental Social Psychology, the Society of I/O Psychology, and is a member of the Cosmo’s Club in Washington D. C. She has received over 10 million dollars in funding to conduct research on culture and negotiation and conflict all over the globe, including a Multi-University Research Initiative on Conflict and Negotiation in the Middle East. She teaches courses and does consulting on negotiation and cross-cultural management.

Your participation is warmly welcomed!