Research Interests

My research program focuses on the link between respectful workplace climates and the psychological, physical, and occupational health and well-being of employees. I am especially interested in the degree to which workplace contexts are inclusive and respectful of individuals from low-status social groups (e.g., women, people of color, sexual minorities), and how working in such climates affects not only people who are members of these groups, but also employees who do not fall within these social categories. In all of my research, I integrate perspectives from organizational, social, and feminist psychology. I am currently working on a number of research projects in this area. For example, in one study, I am examining the role of injustice perceptions in the relationship between observing incivility toward women at work and observer well-being. I am also working on a project investigating the role of climate (along with several other variables) in the relationship between gender diversity and well-being outcomes in two samples of women (one white, one black).

In my future research, I am going to continue examining the relationship between workplace climates and the health and well-being of employees in those contexts. For example, I plan to test potential mediators (e.g., social identity/categorizations processes) and moderators (e.g., sensitivity to social inequity) of the relationship between vicarious exposure to the mistreatment of women and employee well-being. I am also going to examine whether my research on negative workplace climates for women extends to other low-status social groups (e.g., people of color, sexual minorities). I plan to conduct additional research on the individuals who are negatively affected by observing the mistreatment of others. Along with other researchers, I propose that some individuals are “watchdogs” (Petty, Fleming, & White, 1999) or “allies” (Bullard, 2004) for people in less-privileged social positions. I plan to conduct research examining who these watchdogs are, why they are empathetic to the needs of those with less social status and power, and the mechanisms they use to “keep watch” in organizational settings. I am also beginning a large project to examine workplace incivility cross-culturally and plan to add extensively to the research in this area.

Selected Publications

• Miner-Rubino, K., Jayarante, T., & Konik, J. (2006). Using survey research as a quantitative method for feminist social change. In S. N. Hesse-Biber (Ed.), The handbook of feminist research: Theory and praxis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Miner-Rubino, K., & Cortina, L. M. (2004). Working in a context of hostility toward women: Implications for employees’ well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 9,107-122.
• Dutton, J., Ashford, S., Lawrence, K., & Miner-Rubino, K. (2002). Red light, green light: Making sense of the organizational context for issue selling. Organization Science, 13, 355-369.
• Miner-Rubino, K., & Cortina, L. M. (in press). Beyond targets: Consequences of vicarious exposure to misogyny at work. Journal of Applied Psychology.

Courses Taught

• Introduction to Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Advanced Social Psychology
• Psychology of Women