Eller Faculty Research On Female Expression’s Of Anger Detailed In Inside Tucson Business

Management and Organizations Department Head Aleksander P.J. Ellis and Associate Professor of Management and Organizations Lehman Benson III were both recently featured in an April 23 Inside Tucson Business article, in which their recent co-authored research on the effects of different emotions in the workplace was summarized.

The article explains the challenges black women face in the workplace, referencing Ellis’ and Benson’s study “Race and Reactions to Women’s Expressions of Anger at Work: Examining the Effects of the ‘Angry Black Woman’ Stereotype,” co-authored by Daphna Motro of Hofstra University and Jonathan Evans of the University of British Columbia, forthcoming in the Journal of Applied Psychology.

“What’s interesting is that as a leader, expressing anger can actually help you at work. So, if you get angry at an employee who is doing something unethical, for example, other people actually see that in a positive light,” says Ellis in the article. “But what we’re suggesting here is that there may be bias against women, and, in particular, black women when they express anger at work.”

Ellis joined the Eller College of Management in 2003 and was appointed the Stephen P. Robbins Chair in Organizational Behavior in 2015. He earned his PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Michigan State University in 2003. His research focuses on the behavior of groups and teams in organizations, counterproductive behavior—specifically unethical and deviant behavior in the workplace—and human resource management issues, including turnover and performance appraisal.

Benson joined the Eller College of Management in 1994 after earning his PhD in Psychology at Lund University (Sweden). In addition, to studying in Sweden, Benson completed a Presidential Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of California Berkeley. He served as the executive director of Eller’s Sports Management Program from 2012-2020. His areas of expertise include risk management, sports management, conflict management, negotiation strategies, organizational justice and judgment and decision-making.