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Psychological Sciences
College of Health and Human Sciences
 

Psychological Sciences Faculty

Deborah RuppDeborah E. Rupp

Associate Professor and William C. Byham Chair in Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Mailing Address:
Department of Psychological Sciences
Purdue University
703 Third Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2081 USA

Campus Address:
Psychological Sciences, Room 2114

E-mail: ruppd@purdue.edu

Telephone: (765) 494-6075

Degree: Ph.D. Colorado State University, 2002

Elected/Appointed Positions:

  • Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Management
  • SIOP Representative to the United Nations
  • Fellow, Association for Psychological Science
  • Fellow, American Psychological Association
  • Fellow, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
  • Member, Society for Organizational Behavior
  • Member, Personnel/Human Resources Research Group

Areas of Expertise: A major component of my professional portfolio surrounds research and practice in the areas of employee justice, behavioral ethics, emotional labor, and corporate social responsibility. This is focused on isolating the motivations behind individuals’ justice concerns (Cropanzano & Rupp, 2003), and the extent to which the experience of fair treatment at work influences the development of strong, lasting, socio-emotional ties between employees and employers (Rupp & Cropanzano, 2002). Following on the work of psychologist/behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman, I argue that behavior at work is driven not by self-interest alone, but also by moral reasoning and a universal concern that justice is a fundamental human right (Rupp & Bell, 2010). I have tested these notions both in the lab (Rupp & Spencer, 2006; Skarlicki & Rupp, 2010) as well as in the field (i.e., among bankers in Germany; Rupp et al., 2008; among professionals in South Korea; Kwon & Rupp, 2011; in military contexts; Rupp, Ng, Liao, & Drasgow, 2011; among unionized steel workers, Rupp & M. Thornton, 2011; among those who care for the developmentally disabled; Liao & Rupp, 2005; and via a meta analytic exploration of field data from 32 nations, Shao, Rupp, Skarlicki, & Jones, in press). I have further extended this work to consider how justice in the workplace influences the creation of climates within workgroups (Rupp & Paddock, 2010; Kwon, Rupp, & Young, 2011), as well as how organizations’ socially responsible and irresponsible behaviors impact employee functioning (Rupp & Williams, 2011).

The second major component of my professional portfolio--behavioral assessment and development (i.e., assessment centers)--is very much aligned with my interests in justice and social responsibility. This work involves research on methods for developing and validating developmental assessment centers. This was a focus of the Thornton and Rupp (2005) text (which was cited in the Supreme Court proceedings for Ricci v. DeStefano et al.) and was a component of the revised Guidelines and Ethical Considerations for Assessment Center Operations (2009). In these endeavors, I have worked with the South Korean government, SK, Doosan, Beijing University, IACBE, and both the International Congress on Assessment Center Methods, and the National AC Congresses of South Africa and Indonesia. Recently, my graduate students and I have conducted assessment audits at the United Nations and the Emirates Group. Finally, George Thornton and I have just begun a project that seeks to trace how the use of assessment centers has had an impact on positive social change, worldwide.

Research Interests:

  • Workplace Bias and Employment-Related Legal Issues
  • Organizational Justice, Behavioral Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Humanitarian Work Psychology
  • Emotions in the Workplace
  • The Assessment Center Method, Technology in Assessment
  • Cross-Cultural Issues Related to Workplace Justice and Assessment

Sample of Recent Publications:

Rupp, D. E., Shao, R., Thornton, M. A., Skarlicki, D. (in press). Applicants’ and employees reactions to corporate social responsibility: The moderating effects of first-party justice perceptions and moral identity. Personnel Psychology.

Kwon, K. W., Rupp, D. E., (in press). High-performer turnover and firm performance: The moderating role of human capital investment and firm reputation. Journal of Organizational Behavior.

Shao, R., Rupp, D. E., Skarlicki, D. P., Jones, K. S. (2013). Managing justice across cultures: A meta-analytic review, a management framework, and a cross-cultural research agenda. Journal of Management.

Grandey, A. Dieffendorf, J., Rupp, D. E. (2013). Emotional labor in the 21st century: Diverse perspectives on emotion regulation at work (Eds.). New York, New York: Psychology Press/Routledge.

Rupp, D. E. (2011). An employee-centered model of organizational justice and social responsibility. Organizational Psychology Review, 1, 72-94.

Rupp, D. E. (2011). Research and publishing ethics: editor and reviewer responsibilities. Management and Organization Review, 7, 481-493.

Rupp, D. R., & Williams, C. A. (2011). The efficacy of regulation as a function of psychological fit: A re-evaluation of hard and soft law in the age of new governance. Theoretical Inquires in Law, 12(2), 581-602.

Weiss, H. & Rupp, D. E. (2011). Experiencing work: An essay on a person-centric work psychology. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 4, 83-97; 138-143.

Rupp, D. E., Bell, C. M. (2010). Extending the deontic model of justice: Moral self-regulation in third-party responses to injustice. Business Ethics Quarterly, 20, 89-106.

Skarlicki, D., & Rupp, D. E. (2010). Dual processing and organizational justice: The role of rational versus experiential processing in third party reactions to workplace mistreatment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95, 944-952.

Brummel, B., Rupp, D. E., Spain, S. (2009). Constructing parallel simulation exercises for assessment centers and other forms of behavioral assessment. Personnel Psychology, 62. 135-170.

Carmeli, A., Ben-Hador, B., Waldman, D. & Rupp, D. E. (2009). How leaders cultivate social capital and nurture employee vigor: Implications for job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 1553-1561.

Gibbons, A. M. & Rupp, D. E. (2009). Dimension consistency as an individual difference: A new (old) perspective on the assessment center construct validity debate. Journal of Management, 35, 1154-1180.

International Task Force on Assessment Center Guidelines (2009). Guidelines and ethical considerations for assessment center operations. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 17, 243-254. (corresponding author and taskforce co-chair)

Rupp, D. E., & †Aquino, K. (2009). Nothing so practical as a good justice theory. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2, 205-210.

Spencer, S., & Rupp, D. E. (2009). Angry, guilty, and conflicted: Injustice toward coworkers heightens emotional labor through cognitive and emotional mechanisms. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 429-444.

Relevant Links:

Reprints of articles

Curriculum Vitae (pdf)

Our Graduate Program in Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Krannert School of Management, OBHR Area

Journal of Management

Recent Press Coverage

Editor Ethics

Editor Ethics Press Release

Editor Ethics Featured in Inside Higher Ed

Google Scholar Page


Current Students:

  • Meghan Thornton
  • Brett Guidry
  • Drew Mallory
  • William Brice
  • Dasol Kim

Former Students: