Rellie Derfler-Rozin Directory Page
Rellie Derfler-Rozin
Professor
Academic Director, Master in Management Studies (MiM) and Online Master in Management Studies (OMiM)
Associate Editor, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
Ph.D., London Business School
Rellie Derfler-Rozin is a Professor of Management & Organization at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. She received her PhD in Organizational Behavior from London Business School.
She studies how the social context impacts employees' decision-making. She examines situations in which people in organizational settings behave in ways that end up counter to their own goal, because of innate social needs, such as the need to belong or the need for social status. As such, she applies psychological theories to critical organizational challenges (e.g., how organizations should design their selection practices or structure employees' jobs) to seek solutions that improve employees' lives in the workplace and organizations' success. She uses a multi-method approach, combining field surveys, field experiments, laboratory experiments and archival data analysis. Most of her research revolves around two specific areas: behavioral ethics and selection decisions and biases.
Primary Research Areas
- behavioral ethics
- selection decision and biases
- belongingness needs
- emotions
Selected Publications
Liu, X., Derfler-Rozin, R., Mao, J., Zhou, Q., & Schaubroeck, J. (2024) Unraveling Mentors’ Positive and Negative Reactions to Protégés’ Taking Charge. Journal of Management, 1-34.
Venkataramani, V., & Derfler-Rozin, R., Liu, X., & Mao, J. (2024) Keep off my turf! Low status managers’ territoriality as a response to employees’ novel ideas. Organization Science, 35(4), 1224-1250.
Wee, E. +, Derfler-Rozin, R., & Marr, J. (2023). Jolted: How Task-Based Jolts Disrupt Status Conferral by Impacting Higher- and Lower-Status Individuals’ Generosity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 108(5), 750-772.
Derfler-Rozin, R., Isaakyan, S, & Park, H+. (2022). Swiftly Judging Whom to Bring On Board: How Person Perception (Accurate or Not) Influences Selection of Prospective Team Members. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 173: 104206
Derfler-Rozin, R., Sherf, E. N., & Chen, G. (2021). To be or not to be consistent? The role of friendship and group-targeted perspective in managers' allocation decisions. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 42(6), 814-833.
Derfler-Rozin, R., & Pitesa, M. (2020) Motivation Purity Bias: Expression of Extrinsic Motivation Undermines Perceived Intrinsic Motivation and Engenders Bias in Selection Decisions. Academy of Management Journal, 63(6), 1840-1864.
Liu, X., Liao, H., Derfler-Rozin, R., Zhang, X., Qin, F., & Wee, E. (2020) In Line and Out of the Box: How Ethical Leaders Help Offset the Negative Effect of Morality on Creativity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 105(12), 1447-1465
He, T., Derfler-Rozin, R., & Pitesa, M. (2020) Financial Vulnerability and the Reproduction of Disadvantage in Economic Exchanges. Journal of Applied Psychology, 105(1), 80-96.
Baker, B., Derfler-Rozin, R., Pitesa, M., & Johnson, M. Economic Consequences of Unethical Behavior: Organization Science, 30(2), 235-445.
Derfler-Rozin, R., Baker, B., & Gino, F. (2018). Compromised Ethics in Hiring Processes? How Referrers’ Power Affects Employees’ Reactions to Referral Practices. Academy of Management Journal, 61(2), 615-636.
Derfler-Rozin, R., Moore, C., & Staats, B. (2016) Reducing Organizational Rule Breaking through Task Variety: How Task Design Supports Deliberative Thinking. Organization Science, 27(6), 1361-1379.
Thau, S., Derfler-Rozin, R., Pitesa, M., Mitchell, M., & Pillutla, M. (2015) Unethical for the sake of the group: Risk of exclusion and pro-group unethical behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(1), 98-113.
Rafaeli, A., Erez, A., Ravid, S., Derfler-Rozin, R., Efrat, D., & Rozilio, R. (2012). When customers exhibit verbal aggression employees pay the cognitive costs. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(5), 931-950
Derfler-Rozin, R., Pillutla, M., & Thau, S. (2010). Social reconnection revisited: The effects of social exclusion risk on reciprocity, trust, and general risk-taking. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 112(2), 140-150
Rafaeli, A., Sagy, Y., & Derfler-Rozin, R. (2008). Logos and initial compliance: A strong case of mindless trust. Organization Science, 19(6), 845-859
Media Contributions
TEDx – Correcting the misconception about job candidates' motivation.
WNYC (New York Public Radio) The Brian Lehrer Show – Feb. 24, 2022 - “Managers Are Less Likely to Hire People Who Ask About Salary. Will NYC’s New Wage Law Help?”
News
Research
Insights
Academic Publications
Should I Stand Up for My Mistreated Colleague? When and Why High-Status Team Members Stand Up for Their Coworkers
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, January 2026
Supervisory mistreatment has adverse consequences for its victims. Coworkers, as observers, can shape victims’ experiences by standing up for them. Yet doing so entails the risk of supervisory retaliation. High-status coworkers should be well-positioned to stand up for victims as they have greater social capital at work. However, such retaliation risks may loom large for them because they are highly motivated to protect what they have. Thus, prior research reports both positive and negative links between status markers and various forms of standing up. We suggest that these inconclusive findings stem from examining individuals’ status only within a single domain (e.g., work) while neglecting how their standing in other groups may shape their experiences in that focal domain. Building on status inconsistency theory (Lenski, 1954) and the concept of status portfolios (Fernandes et al., 2021), we argue that status variance (i.e., inconsistency of status across groups) shapes how high-status employees react to mistreatment. Specifically, we hypothesize that high-status employees with high (compared to low) status variance will experience greater fear of retaliation and reduced willingness to stand up. We argue that this occurs because they perceive their status portfolios as unstable and become more vigilant in protecting their elevated standing at work. Four complementary studies provided support for our hypotheses. We discuss implications for research on bystander intervention, supervisory mistreatment, and status.
Gencay, Oguz, PhD., Bilkent University., Derfler-Rozin, Rellie, PhD. University of Maryland, Arman, Gamze, UWE Bristol
The referral penalty: Decreased perceptions of merit undermine helping behavior towards referred employees
Journal of Applied Psychology
Employee referrals are commonly used by organizations due to their numerous benefits. However, it remains unclear how organizational incumbents, who are uninvolved in the hiring process, perceive and react to referral beneficiaries. Although traditional views suggest that the presence of a referral signals merit, incumbents’ perceptions may differ. We theorize that incumbents are more likely to perceive referral beneficiaries as less merited than non-referred employees, due to perceived legitimacy concerns stemming from a simplified view that reliance on network contacts de facto compensates for lower qualifications. Drawing on equity theory, we then theorize that low merit perceptions lead to less positive and more negative behaviors towards referral beneficiaries, as an attempt to restore the equilibrium between beneficiaries’ perceived inputs (e.g., driven by perceived lower merit) and outputs (e.g., being on payroll). Sampling employees from industries in which referrals are normative (Study 1a) and from a cultural context that is positively predisposed toward referrals (Study 1b) confirmed our theorizing. In a subsequent study, aiming to enhance the generalizability of our findings, we found supporting evidence for perceived equity violations, leading incumbents to engage in corrective behaviors toward referral beneficiaries (Study 2). Finally, testing our hypotheses more conservatively, we found that negative attributions toward referral beneficiaries persisted even when the referred employees had demonstrated high performance, thereby underscoring the robustness of our findings (Study 3). This paper elucidates important unintended consequences of one of the most popular hiring methods - employee referrals - and draws implications for both theory and practice.
Tomova Shakur, Teodora, Texas Christian University and Derfler-Rozin, Rellie, University of Maryland