PhD position Vrije Universiteit - deadline June 10th

The Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, seeks a highly motivated candidate to fill a PhD position on the project “The affective mechanisms underlying the link between organizational citizenship behavior and counterproductive work behavior” (advisor: Prof. Dr. Joeri Hofmans).

Project: The aim of the project is to study the link between organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) (i.e., behavior that is discretionary and typically not recognized or rewarded but that nonetheless improves the functioning of the organization) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) (i.e., intentional employee behavior that is harmful to the legitimate interests of an organization). Because OCB benefits the organization and CWB harms it, it has often been assumed that OCB and CWB are at the extremes of the same behavioral continuum. Yet, recent within-person studies have shown that OCB and CWB do not necessarily oppose each other but that they can also co-exist. The aim of the present project is to demonstrate how and why the same person might engage in both forms of behavior. To this end, lab experiments, day reconstruction studies, and experience sampling research will be performed.

Environment: The PhD student will work in the Research Group of Work and Organizational Psychology (head: Prof. Dr. R. Pepermans) under the supervision of Joeri Hofmans. The group offers an international, productive, collaborative, and interactive environment with 3 full-time and 2 part-time professors and about 10 graduate and postgraduate students. See here for further information.

Profile: The applicant must have a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in psychology and excellent English communication and writing skills. Experience with research on emotions and/or organizational behavior is considered an asset, as well as good statistical skills. Because the position starts in October, students who are in their final year can also apply.

Terms of employment: We offer a competitive salary with various additional benefits (in terms of holidays, health insurance, transport costs), excellent research facilities, and a conference/travel budget. The position is for 4 years, and is expected to result in the completion of a PhD. The start date is October 1st 2013 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Application procedure: Interested candidates can contact Joeri Hofmans for more information. Applicants should send their motivation letter and full CV (including a detailed transcript of university study results) to joeri.hofmans@vub.ac.be at your earliest convenience and no later than June 10th.