THE I/O PSYCHOLOGY AREA
MICRO CORPORATE SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY LAB
RESEARCH
Our lab explores corporate social and environmental responsibility (CSER) from a micro-organizational lens. We draw upon various theoretical and methodological approaches from I/O psychology, organizational behavior, organizational theory, environmental psychology and consumer behavior to investigate employees’ responses to CSER activity. To date, our research has explored how employees respond to expressions of environmental leadership, organizations’ boarder CSR policies and practices as well as varying forms of corporate environmental communication.
In a separate line of inquiry, we also investigate the prediction of both positive and negative types of leadership. More recently, we have begun to research the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employees, as well as work related to positive organizational scholarship. Moving forward, we are beginning to explore the effect of mindfulness meditations in the workplace.
Our research is largely funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and is published in both business and applied psychology journals.
CURRENT LAB MEMBERS
DR. JENNIFER ROBERTSON
Jennifer L. Robertson (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the DAN Department of Management and Organizational Studies and an Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Psychology at Western University. Jennifer's research focuses on psychological issues involved in organizational environmental sustainability and the nature and prediction of leadership. Professor Robertson's scholarship in this area has been internationally recognized through an Emerald Citations of Excellence Award and other award nominations. Her work on these topics has been presented at various international conferences and invited talks and published in top-tier journals, including The Journal of Organizational Behavior, The Leadership Quarterly and The Journal of Business Ethics. Together, with Dr. Julian Barling, she is the editor of the book "The Psychology of Green Organizations" published by Oxford University Press. Jennifer has been awarded separate Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Insight Development Grants to research the effects of corporate environmental communication on employees.
NOELLE BAIRD
Noelle (she/her) is currently pursuing her PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology with the joint supervision of Dr. Jennifer Robertson and Dr. Alex Benson. Noelle previously completed her MSc. at Western, where she examined the influence of hostile followership on leadership behaviour. Her research interests include leader-follower dynamics and status hierarchies in groups. Noelle is a recipient of the Douglas N. Jackson Memorial Award (2018) and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2021-2022). Her hobbies include asking people when their birthday is, watching Jeopardy, and trying to find some zen on her yoga mat.
TALIB KARAMALLY
Talib Karamally (he/him) is currently pursuing his MSc in Industrial/Organizational Psychology under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Robertson. His research focuses on mindfulness interventions in the workplace, nature relatedness, and leadership development. Prior to his studies at Western University, Talib worked in organizational development and has experience implementing positive psychology interventions in organizations. He has experience facilitating courses on mindfulness meditation, happiness, and resilience. Additionally, he has experience designing leadership development programs and facilitating team building sessions using assessment tools. During his spare time, Talib enjoys belly dancing, weightlifting, and practicing hot yoga. Talib is also a certified laughter instructor and enjoys teaching laughter yoga classes.
SASHA KOSIC
Sasha (He/Him) is currently pursuing a B.A in Psychology with a passion for research in the field of I-O psychology. Currently, Sasha is volunteering as a research assistant in the micro corporate social and environmental responsibility lab under the supervision of Dr. Robertson. Outside of his studies, Sasha has a weekly show on the radio station 94.9 FM. During his spare time, he also he likes to bike around London and attempting to finish an ever-growing list of books that he plans to read.
SAMPLE OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Cleveland, M., Robertson, J.L. & Volk, V (2020). Environmental locus of control, pro-environmental behaviors, and mediating enablers and constraints. Journal of Cleaner Production, 249, 119394.
Simpson, B., Robertson, J.L., & White, K. (2020). How co-creation increases employee corporate social responsibility and organizational engagement: The moderating role of self-construal. Journal of Business Ethics, 166, 331-350.
Tian, Q., & Robertson, J.L. (2019). How and when does perceived CSR affect employees’ engagement in voluntary pro-environmental behavior? Journal of Business Ethics, 155, 399-412.
Robertson, J.L. (2018). The nature, measurement and nomological network of environmentally specific transformational leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 151, 961-975.
Robertson, J.L., Dionisi, A.M., & Barling, J. (2018). Linking attachment theory to abusive supervision. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 33, 214-228. (Selected as a highly commendable paper in the 2019 Emerald Literati Awards).
Robertson, J.L., & Carleton, E. (2018). Uncovering how and when environmental leadership affects employees’ voluntary pro-environmental behavior. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 25, 197-210.
Robertson, J.L., & Barling, J. (2017). Toward a new measure of organizational environmental citizenship behavior. Journal of Business Research, 75, 57-66.
Robertson, J.L., & Barling, J. (2017). Contrasting the nature and effects of environmentally specific and general transformational leadership. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 38, 22-41.
RECENT CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Robertson, J.L., Keynote Speaker at the Norwegian Network for Environmental Psychology Conference for Environmental Psychology. Employees’ Response to Corporate Greenwashing. Lillehammer, Norway. November 2021
Robertson, J.L., Montgomery, A.W., & Lyon, T.P. Employees’ Response to Corporate Greenwashing. Paper presented The Academy of Management Virtual Conference. August 2021.
Robertson, J.L., Montgomery, A.W., & Lyon, T.P. Employees’ Response to Corporate Greenwashing. Paper presented The Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability Virtual Conference. June 2021.
Baird, N.A., Robertson, J.L., & McLarnon, M. Effects of the Reflected Best Self Exercise on Interview Self-Efficacy. Poster Presentation at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Virtual Conference. April 2021.
Robertson, J.L., Montgomery, A.W., & Lyon, T.P. The Deleterious Effects of Greenwashing on Employees. Poster Presentation at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Virtual Conference. April 2020.
Montgomery, A.W., Lyon, T. P. & Robertson, J.L. . Paper presented The Academy of Management Virtual Conference. August 2020.
Montgomery, A.W., Lyon, T. P. & Robertson, J.L. Paper presented The Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability Virtual Seminar Series. April 2020.
Baird, N. A., Benson, A. J., Robertson, J.L., & Moosavi, S. Leadership on the Ropes: How Hostile Followership Affects Leadership Behaviour. Poster presentation at the meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association, Halifax, Nova Scotia. June 2019.
Cleveland, M., & Robertson, J.L. Powerful Others and Chance or Fate: How Perceptions of Enablers and Constraints Mediate the External Environmental Locus-Of-Control and Proenvironmental Behavior Relationship. Paper presented and published in conference proceedings at the 22nd Academy of Marketing Science World Marketing Congress, Edinburgh, Scotland. June 2019.
Baird, N., Robertson, J.L., & Simpson, B. Co-creating Corporate Social Responsibility as a Means of Positively Impacting Employees. Poster Presentation at the International Congress of Applied Psychology Conference, Montreal, QC. June 2018.
Cleveland, M., Robertson, J.L., & Volk, V. Abetting or Thwarting: The Mediating Role of Subjective Enablers and Constraints in the Pro-environmental Attitude-Behavior Relationship. Paper presented at Symposium, “Green Marketing/Sustainability and Bottom-of-the-Pyramid Marketing,” at The 21st Academy of Marketing Science World Marketing Congress, Porto, Portugal. June 2018.
Robertson, J.L., Dionisi, A.M., & Barling, J. Linking Attachment Theory to Abusive Supervision. Poster Presentation at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Annual Conference, Chicago, IL. April 2018.