About

Professor Emily Heaphy is a faculty member at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The available page text does not provide specific details about her research focus, background, or key contributions. It emphasizes the school's commitment to student success and mentorship but does not include personal or professional biographical information about Professor Heaphy.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Public relations
• Psychology
• Social psychology
• Computer Science
• Psychotherapist
• Medicine
• Clinical psychology
• Management
• Economics
• Business
• Law
• Epistemology
• Philosophy
• Engineering
• Mechanical engineering

Selected publications

• Extending the Turn to Work: New Directions in the Study of Social‐Symbolic Work in Organizational Life

  Journal of Management Studies · 2025-06-02 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Over the last two decades, a growing number of studies of novel forms of social‐symbolic work (e.g., identity work, boundary work, institutional work, values work, etc.) have appeared in the organization and management studies literature. This growing body of research – the ‘turn to work’ in organization theory – has provided important new insights into how actors purposefully participate in the social construction of organizations and their contexts. The aim of this special issue is to build on and extend these insights and in this introductory essay we begin by outlining a framework that provides a useful meta‐theory – the social‐symbolic work perspective – for integrating this stream of research. This perspective revolves around two key concepts: ‘social‐symbolic objects’ defined as meaningful patterns in a social system; and ‘social‐symbolic work’ defined as conscious, reflexive efforts to shape social‐symbolic objects. We then introduce the articles that appear in this special issue and identify important cross‐cutting themes. Drawing on these articles, we go on to identify potentially fruitful areas for future research on social‐symbolic work and end with a challenge to organizational scholars to build on this special issue to move our understanding of social‐symbolic work forward.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Loneliness at Work: How it Happens and How it Affects Stress, Resilience, Behavior, and Wellbeing

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2025-07-01

  article

  Loneliness has emerged as a critical issue for organizations with detrimental impacts on employee effectiveness, job attitudes, and wellbeing. With 80% of employees experiencing loneliness at work and a dearth of research on loneliness in work settings, organizational research on this topic is of critical importance to both managers and scholars. The extant literature suffers from several oversights, which this symposium addresses. First, this symposium responds to calls for research on the antecedents of loneliness at work (Firoz et al., 2021; Ozcelik & Barsade, 2018) by investigating employee perceptions, employee behaviors, and organizational factors. The papers specifically highlight the role of signals of dissimilarity, social structure, and identity. Second, the literature suffers from a lack of attention to specific psychological mechanisms explaining the relationship between loneliness on employee outcomes. The papers in this symposium show the role of stress and vulnerability. In doing so, the papers highlight that loneliness, while largely negative, may in certain contexts produce positive social outcomes. Finally, the literature has focused on loneliness only within the bounds work-related inputs and outputs. The papers in this symposium show how aspects of one’s family and community play a mitigating role in limiting the negative effects of loneliness on wellbeing and counterproductive behaviors such as withdrawal. Together, the five papers in this symposium investigate diverse groups of workers in various contexts to provide fresh and needed insights to understand how loneliness emerges in modern organizations and how it impacts stress, resilience, behavior, and overall experiences of wellbeing. Building from Belongingness: Signals, Structures, and Mechanisms Forming Loneliness in Organizations Author: Anthony Silard; Luiss Business School Author: Madison Suzanne LaBella; Marist College Author: Sarah Wright; University of Canterbury Author: Sawyer Wilkins; Virginia Commonwealth University Author: Chris Reina; Virginia Commonwealth University Disconnected and Distressed: Examining Anxiety and Loneliness at Work Author: Julie M. McCarthy; University of Toronto Author: ZhengPeng(Matt) Wang; Author: Talya N. Bauer; Portland State University Author: Berrin Erdogan; Portland State University Author: Emily D. Campion; University of Iowa Author: Selin Kudret; Henley Business School When Loneliness Can Lead to Resilience: An Evolutionary Theory of Loneliness Approach Author: Gihyun (G.) Kim; Bryant University Author: Emily Dunham Heaphy; University of Massachusetts Amherst When Leaders Feel Lonely: Withdrawal Behaviors and the Buffering Role of Family Identity Salience Author: Karolina Wenefrieda Nieberle; Durham University Author: Michelle Hammond; Oakland University Remote but Not Alone: Leveraging Community Embeddedness to Boost Well-Being Author: Nabi Ebrahimi; Author: Tamara Montag-Smit; University of Massachusetts Lowell Author: David Greenway; Author: Sarah Kostanski;

  PublisherDOI

• Positive psychology in a pandemic: buffering, bolstering, and building mental health

  UNC Libraries · 2025-05-24

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  As the COVID-19 global health disaster continues to unfold across the world, calls have been made to address the associated mental illness public crisis. The current paper seeks to broaden these calls by considering the role that positive psychology factors can play in buffering against mental illness, bolstering mental health during COVID-19 and building positive processes and capacities that may help to strengthen future mental health. The paper explores evidence and applications from nine topics in positive psychology that support people through a pandemic: meaning, coping, self-compassion, courage, gratitude, character strengths, positive emotions, positive interpersonal processes and high-quality connections. In times of intense crisis, such as COVID-19, it is understandable that research is heavily directed towards addressing the ways in which people are wounded and weakened. However, this need not come at the expense of also investigating the ways in which people are sustained and strengthened.

  PublisherDOI

• Disability and Relational Work

  2024-12-06 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Interpersonal relationships play many important roles for both individuals and organizations, yet we know relatively little about disabled peoples’ experiences of work relationships. In this chapter, we review the existing literature and identify a number of promising areas for future research. We begin by identifying why work may be a particularly potent, though flawed, social haven for people with disabilities. We then review the existing literature, organizing our review around the two most common theoretical models of disability adopted by scholars, the medical model and the social model, which provide distinct foundations for research on disabilities. The literature on work relationships that is based on the medical model of disability primarily draws on social exchange theory and focuses on relationships between disabled people and their non-disabled coworkers. In contrast, the research rooted in the social model of disability emphasizes how people with disabilities and their allies engage in relational work to transform the meanings of disability and conditions of work. We conclude the chapter with suggestions for future research. We hope that others will be inspired to build on our foundation and investigate a broader range of workplace relational experiences and a full array of approaches to disability.

  PublisherDOI

• The Implications of Increasingly Porous Boundaries for Workplace Relationships

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2024-07-09

  articleSenior author

  Workplace relationships promote productivity, growth, and well-being in organizations. However, as the work context changes, the nature of workplace relationships, the processes by which they are formed and maintained, and their functions may change as well. This symposium includes four studies that examine the ways in which workplace and societal shifts impact relational processes and outcomes. All four studies emphasize the increasingly porous boundary between work and life, considering the effects of alternative work arrangements and macrosocietal events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and global wars on workplace relationships and examining how nonwork relationships may fulfill work-related needs. The presentations and planned discussion will shed light on the ways in which relationships may be impacted by changes to work and worker concerns and the ways in which relationships may help employees navigate the changing world of work. Are All Relational Resources Equal? The Joint Effects of Work and Nonwork Relationships Author: Madison Mucci-Ferris; Tippie College of Business, U. of Iowa Author: Amy E. Colbert; U. of Iowa Homers, Officers, and Flexers: How Work Modalities Impact Workplace Relationships Author: Radostina Krassimirova Purvanova; Drake U. Author: Alanah Mitchell; Drake U. Coworkers’ Cross-Domain Conversations: Energizing and Preoccupying Effects of COVID-19 Author: Catherine Kleshinski; Indiana U., Bloomington Author: Kelly Schwind Wilson; Purdue U., West Lafayette Transformative Events: The Vicarious Effects of Distant War on Employee Prosocial Behavior Author: Liuba Belkin; Lehigh U. Author: Michele Williams; U. of Iowa Author: William J. Becker; Virginia Tech Author: Sarah Tuskey; Virginia Tech

  PublisherDOI

• CT renal volumetry: can it help predict a kidney donor’s renal function at one year?

  The Royal College of Radiologists Open · 2023-12-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Connection in Unexpected Places: How, Why, and With What Consequences Workers Connect with Clients

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2023-07-24

  article

  Research on connections in the workplace has investigated many different types of relationships. However, less attention has been paid to one type of relationship that is a vital component of many workplaces: the relationship between the worker and the people they provide goods or services to (e.g., clients, patients, or audience members). Importantly, insights from broader social science scholarship suggest that the process of forging connections with clients is likely different from forging relationships with coworkers or mentors. In an effort to gain greater insight into worker-client connections, we invited a set of scholars studying this phenomenon within organizations. We have deliberately assembled a collection of qualitative studies that draw on findings from interviews, participant observation, and ethnographic techniques to develop rich, deeply descriptive, and contextual insights from a variety of workplace contexts, investigating how, why, and with what consequences people work with the clients of their organizations. How and Why Social Workers Establish Relational Boundaries with their Clients Author: Solomiya Draga; U. of Toronto Author: Marlys K. Christianson; U. of Toronto Resolving Misfit through Embodiment Work in Specialized Job Coaching Author: Ann-Sophie Baeken; KU Leuven Author: Emily Dunham Heaphy; U. of Massachusetts, Amherst Author: Anneleen Forrier; KU Leuven Author: Nele De Cuyper; KU Leuven How Prosocial Professionals Approach Client Status and Expert Power Author: Lakshmi Ramarajan; Harvard U. Author: Julie Yen; Harvard Business School Simplicity on the Other Side of Historical Complexity Author: Jeff Thompson; Brigham Young U. Author: Lyndon Earl Garrett; Boston College Author: Mac Jeffrey Alexander Strachan; - Author: Stuart Bunderson; Wash U.

  PublisherDOI

• Hiding in Plain Sight: Co-Enacting the Sustainable Worker Schema in a Consulting Firm

  Organization Science · 2023-11-22 · 8 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  This inductive study of 44 consultants in a prominent consulting firm examines how consultants set work-life boundaries without getting stigmatized and how they develop their workplace relationships into sources of help for this process. Within this organization, dominated by the ideal worker norm, we found a hidden, self-sustaining network of consultants who delivered excellent work while violating the ideal worker norm without stigmatization. Their way of working was based on a coherent set of beliefs about work and the work-life interface we named the sustainable worker schema, which contrasted with the ideal worker schema in all ways except in the ultimate goals: high performance and excellent work. Essential to this way of working was not only effective management of boundaries between work and life outside of work (work-life boundaries) but also effective management of boundaries around each work task or project (work boundaries). Consultants who embraced the sustainable worker schema worked fewer hours and achieved higher satisfaction with work-life balance than their counterparts. Together, these findings highlight the importance of embracing the centrality of work in work-life research; underscore the power of invisibility when challenging the ideal worker norm; and paint a rich picture of boundary work as a network-level phenomenon. Funding: This work was supported by Simmons University [Diane K. Trust Chair in Leadership Development, President’s Fund for Faculty Excellence] and University of Massachusetts Amherst [John F. Kennedy Faculty Fellowship].

  PublisherDOI

• Revaluing Ordinary Moments: Disrupting Gendered Positive Self-Concepts through a Narrative Feedback Intervention

  Academy of Management Discoveries · 2023-05-19 · 4 citations

  article

  How do people craft a positive self-concept? How does the content of positive self-concepts change in response to feedback? Our research seeks to answer these questions by analyzing data gathered from two different samples before and after a positive feedback intervention. Collectively, our findings identify three narrative themes that people use to articulate how they add value to their workplace and communities: Mobilizing, Connecting, and Task Engaging. Further, we found that while our participants’ initial positive self-concepts showed gendered patterns, these patterns were largely diminished after the positive feedback intervention. Also, after the intervention, the content of participants’ positive self-concepts were broadened and enriched. In post-hoc analyses we explored possible mechanisms underlying these patterns of change. We then theorize that non-comparative, positive narrative feedback from significant others across multiple domains provides people with the opportunity to re-value ordinary actions and build a more integrated understanding of their value. We discuss the implications of these findings on strength-based research, positive identities, and gender identity construction.

  PublisherDOI

• Putting Worker Identity Front and Center: Identity Construction Beyond the Organizational Scaffold

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2023-07-24

  article

  Organizations provide guidelines, or a scaffold, for constructing work identities through audience feedback and cultural norms. This symposium examines contexts in which workers either use feedback from their interactions with proximal others to navigate restrictions imposed by the organizational scaffold (as in the case of stigmatized or low-status identities), and/or exercise agency and use unconventional interactional cues to construct their identities in the complete absence of the organizational scaffold (as in the case of independent workers and brewery founders). Putting the worker front and center, we aim to explore the ways in which individual workers craft work identities both within as well as beyond organizational scaffolds. Our discussant, Michael Pratt, a leading scholar in identity construction processes at work, will integrate insights from the presentations, and facilitate the concluding discussion about future directions for this field of research. Out Enough: Disclosure processes of individuals with concealable stigmatized identities Author: Katie Winkelman; U. of Massachusetts, Amherst Author: Emily Dunham Heaphy; U. of Massachusetts, Amherst Metrics as identity baits: Hope labor sustained Author: Farnaz Ghaedipour; Stanford U. Follow me on Instagram? Image discrepancy and identity work among online independent workers Author: Rashi Sonal; The London School of Economics and Political Science Author: Niranjan Srinivasan Janardhanan; London School of Economics Author: Elaine Cahalan Hollensbe; U. of Cincinnati Crafting a second career: Role of previous identity in establishing identities in craft breweries Author: Alexandra Rheinhardt; U. of Connecticut Author: Jinyuan Song; George Mason U. Author: Elizabeth Embry; U. of Kansas Author: Heather Ciara Vough; George Mason U. Status compensation dynamics between women in cross-occupational collaboration Author: Michelle Checketts; U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Author: Teresa Cardador; U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Discussion Author: Michael G. Pratt; Boston College

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Jane E. Dutton

  18 shared

• Gretchen M. Spreitzer

  12 shared

• Laura Morgan Roberts

  University of Virginia

  9 shared

• Elise Bair Jones

  United States Coast Guard Academy

  8 shared

• R. Mark Greenwood

  7 shared

• Roy Suddaby

  Washington State University

  7 shared

• David A. Thomas

  6 shared

• John Paul Stephens

  Case Western Reserve University

  6 shared

Awards & honors

• Research Excellence Award, Isenberg School of Management, 20…
• Outstanding Reviewer Award, Academy of Management Discoverie…
• Isenberg College Outstanding Teacher Award, 2021
• Outstanding Reviewer Award, Organization Science, 2019
• Chancellor's Leadership Fellow (2023-2024)