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Jim Westaby, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Psychology and Education

(212) 678-3791

226A Thompson

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Dr. Westaby is an Associate Professor in the Program in Social-Organizational Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University. He received his BA in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and his PhD in Social and Organizational Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Professor Westaby was also a Postdoctoral Scholar at Penn State University's Center for Applied Behavioral Science and was a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at New York University. Professor Westaby's current research integrates the science of social networks and human goal pursuit to explain goal achievement and performance at multiple levels of analysis. This work has culminated in the development of dynamic network theory, which he has applied to conflict and other complex social phenomena.  He has also created behavioral reasoning theory (BRT) to explain behavior at the psychological level; BRT has been applied to various domains, such as volunteerism, turnover, and peacebuilding. His scholarly work has been published in a number of professional outlets, such as the Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Leadership Quarterly, and the American Journal of Public Health. Dr. Westaby has worked with various organizations, including the United Nations, the Boeing Corporation, the New York Department of Labor, Goldman Sachs, and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. He has also been involved in various professional associations, such as the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the American Psychological Association, and the Academy of Management.

Research

Dr. Westaby's research interests include dynamic network theory: how social networks influence goal pursuit and performance; combining social network analysis and goal theories; social interaction analysis of dyads, groups, and organizations; behavioral reasoning theory and the prediction of individual behavior; computational models of complex social, organization, and leadership systems.

Courses

ORLJ 5115: Social Networks and Performance

Links

Teachers College Faculty Profile
Social Psychology Network Profile
Dynamic Network Theory - APA Page

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