Overview
Background
Nik is Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Business and Organisational Psychology (CBOP) in UQ's School of Psychology. He lived, worked, and studied psychology in Germany and Spain and completed his PhD in the UK before working at The University of Queensland (Australia).
Nik conducts fundamental and applied research to uncover psychological drivers that make groups and organisations fairer, more motivating, more effective, and healthier. His expertise lies in social identity and team work processes in social and organisational contexts including leadership and followership, motivation and creativity, and health and well-being. He uses diverse methods to understand people and organisations including experimental and intervention studies, field and survey research, archival methods, psychometric scale development, and systematic reviews and meta-analysis.
His work has been supported by several bodies including the Australian Research Council (e.g., he was awarded an ARC DECRA fellowship in 2018), the Australian Government, and several industry research-partnerships (with public and private organisations). In 2017, he won the APS Workplace Excellence Award for Leadership Development (together with Alex Haslam and Kim Peters) for his work with industry partners on the 5R leadership development program that seeks to help leaders to develop their leadership ability and enhance team functioning and well-being (https://tinyurl.com/adfu7xbu). He consults to organisations around social and organisational challenges and he is an (IECL-certified) orgnisational coach.
Nik is a co-founding member of the Global Identity Leadership Development (GILD) network of global leadership scholars, and serves on the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Social Psychology, and the flagship journal for leadership research, The Leadership Quarterly. He is Editor (with Michelle Ryan and Floor Rink) of the 'Organisational Psychology: Revisiting the Classic studies' published in 2023 as part of SAGE's classic studies in psychology series (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/organisational-psychology/book269849).
Availability
- Associate Professor Nik Steffens is:
- Available for supervision
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of Exeter
Works
Search Professor Nik Steffens’s works on UQ eSpace
2018
Journal Article
Identity centrality moderates the relationship between acceptance of group-based stressors and well-being
Crane, Monique Frances, Louis, Winnifred R., Phillips, Jacqueline K., Amiot, Catherine E. and Steffens, Niklas K. (2018). Identity centrality moderates the relationship between acceptance of group-based stressors and well-being. European Journal of Social Psychology, 48 (6), 866-882. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2367
2018
Journal Article
Identity and stress: an application of the expanded model of organisational identification in predicting strain at work
Ciampa, Valeria, Steffens, Niklas K., Schuh, Sebastian C., Fraccaroli, Franco and van Dick, Rolf (2018). Identity and stress: an application of the expanded model of organisational identification in predicting strain at work. Work and Stress, 33 (4), 1-15. doi: 10.1080/02678373.2018.1521884
2018
Journal Article
Multiple social groups support adjustment to retirement across cultures
Lam, Ben C. P., Haslam, Catherine, Haslam, S. Alexander, Steffens, Niklas K., Cruwys, Tegan, Jetten, Jolanda and Yang, Jie (2018). Multiple social groups support adjustment to retirement across cultures. Social Science & Medicine, 208, 200-208. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.05.049
2018
Journal Article
How feedback about leadership potential impacts ambition, organizational commitment, and performance
Steffens, Niklas K., Fonseca, Miguel A., Ryan, Michelle K., Rink, Floor A., Stoker, Janka I. and Nederveen Pieterse, Anne (2018). How feedback about leadership potential impacts ambition, organizational commitment, and performance. The Leadership Quarterly, 29 (6), 637-647. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.06.001
2018
Journal Article
Leaders promote attendance in sport and exercise sessions by fostering social identity
Stevens, M., Rees, T., Coffee, P., Haslam, S.A., Steffens, N.K. and Polman, R. (2018). Leaders promote attendance in sport and exercise sessions by fostering social identity. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 28 (9), 2100-2108. doi: 10.1111/sms.13217
2018
Journal Article
Superstars are not necessarily role models: morality perceptions moderate the impact of competence perceptions on supervisor role modeling
Peters, Kim, Steffens, Niklas K. and Morgenroth, Thekla (2018). Superstars are not necessarily role models: morality perceptions moderate the impact of competence perceptions on supervisor role modeling. European Journal of Social Psychology, 48 (6), 725-746. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2372
2018
Journal Article
Prototypical supervisors shape lay-off victims' experiences of top management justice and organizational support
Lipponen, Jukka, Steffens, Niklas and Holtz, Brian (2018). Prototypical supervisors shape lay-off victims' experiences of top management justice and organizational support. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 91 (1), 158-180. doi: 10.1111/joop.12197
2018
Journal Article
Singing it for "us": Team passion displayed during national anthems is associated with subsequent success
Slater, Matthew J., Haslam, S. Alexander and Steffens, Niklas K. (2018). Singing it for "us": Team passion displayed during national anthems is associated with subsequent success. European Journal of Sport Science, 18 (4), 1-9. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2018.1431311
2018
Journal Article
Registered replication report: Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998)
O’Donnell, Michael, Nelson, Leif D., Ackermann, Evi, Aczel, Balazs, Akhtar, Athfah, Aldrovandi, Silvio, Alshaif, Nasseem, Andringa, Ronald, Aveyard, Mark, Babincak, Peter, Balatekin, Nursena, Baldwin, Scott A., Banik, Gabriel, Baskin, Ernest, Bell, Raoul, Białobrzeska, Olga, Birt, Angie R., Boot, Walter R., Braithwaite, Scott R., Briggs, Jessie C., Buchner, Axel, Budd, Desiree, Budzik, Kathryn, Bullens, Lottie, Bulley, Richard L., Cannon, Peter R., Cantarero, Katarzyna, Cesario, Joseph, Chambers, Stephanie ... Zrubka, Mark (2018). Registered replication report: Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998). Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13 (2), 268-294. doi: 10.1177/1745691618755704
2018
Journal Article
Social cure, what social cure? The propensity to underestimate the importance of social factors for health
Haslam, S. Alexander, McMahon, Charlotte, Cruwys, Tegan, Haslam, Catherine, Jetten, Jolanda and Steffens, Niklas K. (2018). Social cure, what social cure? The propensity to underestimate the importance of social factors for health. Social Science & Medicine, 198, 14-21. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.12.020
2018
Journal Article
Our followers are lions, theirs are sheep: how social identity shapes theories about followership and social influence.
Steffens, N. K., Haslam, S. A., Jetten, J. and Mols, F. (2018). Our followers are lions, theirs are sheep: how social identity shapes theories about followership and social influence.. Political Psychology, 39 (1), 23-42. doi: 10.1111/pops.12387
2018
Journal Article
Identity leadership going global: validation of the Identity Leadership Inventory across 20 countries
van Dick, Rolf, Lemoine, Jérémy E., Steffens, Niklas K., Kerschreiter, Rudolf, Akfirat, Serap Arslan, Avanzi, Lorenzo, Dumont, Kitty, Epitropaki, Olga, Fransen, Katrien, Giessner, Steffen, González, Roberto, Kark, Ronit, Lipponen, Jukka, Markovits, Yannis, Monzani, Lucas, Orosz, Gábor, Pandey, Diwakar, Roland-Lévy, Christine, Schuh, Sebastian, Sekiguchi, Tomoki, Song, Lynda Jiwen, Stouten, Jeroen, Tatachari, Srinivasan, Valdenegro, Daniel, van Bunderen, Lisanne, Vörös, Viktor, Wong, Sut I., Zhang, Xin-an and Haslam, Alexander (2018). Identity leadership going global: validation of the Identity Leadership Inventory across 20 countries. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 91 (4), 697-728. doi: 10.1111/joop.12223
2017
Journal Article
A protective function of IL-22BP in ischemia reperfusion and acetaminophen-induced liver injury
Kleinschmidt, Dorte, Giannou, Anastasios D., McGee, Heather M., Kempski, Jan, Steglich, Babett, Huber, Francis Jessica, Ernst, Thomas Michael, Shiri, Ahmad Mustafa, Wegscheid, Claudia, Tasika, Elena, Hubener, Peter, Huber, Philipp, Bedke, Tanja, Steffens, Niklas, Agalioti, Theodora, Fuchs, Tobias, Noll, Jill, Lotter, Hannelore, Tiegs, Gisa, Lohse, Ansgar W., Axelrod, Jonathan H., Galun, Eithan, Flavell, Richard A., Gagliani, Nicola and Huber, Samuel (2017). A protective function of IL-22BP in ischemia reperfusion and acetaminophen-induced liver injury. Journal of Immunology, 199 (12), 4078-4090. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1700587
2017
Journal Article
Advancing the social identity approach to health and well-being: progressing the social cure research agenda
Jetten, Jolanda, Haslam, S. Alexander, Cruwys, Tegan, Greenaway, Katharine H., Haslam, Catherine and Steffens, Niklas K. (2017). Advancing the social identity approach to health and well-being: progressing the social cure research agenda. European Journal of Social Psychology, 47 (7), 789-802. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2333
2017
Conference Publication
Understanding when leaders grant voice: effects of follower group orientation and prototypicality
Schuh, Sebastian, Steffens, Niklas K. and Xin, Katherine (2017). Understanding when leaders grant voice: effects of follower group orientation and prototypicality. Academy of Management Proceedings, Vancouver, BC, Canada, January 2015. Briarcliff Manor, NY, United States: Academy of Management. doi: 10.5465/ambpp.2015.15803abstract
2017
Journal Article
The Unfolding Impact of Leader Identity Entrepreneurship on Burnout, Work Engagement, and Turnover Intentions
Steffens, Niklas K, Yang, Jie, Jetten, Jolanda, Haslam, S Alexander and Lipponen, Jukka (2017). The Unfolding Impact of Leader Identity Entrepreneurship on Burnout, Work Engagement, and Turnover Intentions. Journal of occupational health psychology, 23 (3), 373-387. doi: 10.1037/ocp0000090
2017
Journal Article
A social identity approach to leadership development: the 5R program
Haslam, S. Alexander, Steffens, Niklas K., Peters, Kim, Boyce, Rosalie A., Mallett, Clifford J. and Fransen, Katrien (2017). A social identity approach to leadership development: the 5R program. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 16 (3), 113-124. doi: 10.1027/1866-5888/a000176
2017
Book Chapter
Building team and organisational identification to promote leadership, citizenship and resilience
Steffens, Niklas K. and Haslam, S. Alexander (2017). Building team and organisational identification to promote leadership, citizenship and resilience. Managing for resilience: a practical guide for employee wellbeing and organizational performance. (pp. 150-167) edited by Monique F. Crane. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315648033-10
2017
Journal Article
A social identity analysis of responses to economic inequality
Jetten, Jolanda, Wang, Zhechen, Steffens, Niklas K, Mols, Frank, Peters, Kim and Verkuyten, Maykel (2017). A social identity analysis of responses to economic inequality. Current Opinion in Psychology, 18, 1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.05.011
2017
Journal Article
Dysfunction of hepatic regulatory T cells in experimental sclerosing cholangitis is related to IL-12 signaling
Schwinge, Dorothee, von Haxthausen, Franziska, Quaas, Alexander, Carambia, Antonella, Otto, Benjamin, Glaser, Fabian, Höh, Benedikt, Thiele, Nina, Schoknecht, Tanja, Huber, Samuel, Steffens, Niklas, Lohse, Ansgar W., Herkel, Johannes and Schramm, Christoph (2017). Dysfunction of hepatic regulatory T cells in experimental sclerosing cholangitis is related to IL-12 signaling. Journal of Hepatology, 66 (4), 798-805. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2016.12.001
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Associate Professor Nik Steffens is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
The Role of Social Identity in Leadership Coaching
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Alex Haslam
-
Master Philosophy
Leadership in Group Exercise
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Alex Haslam
-
Master Philosophy
The Impact of Leadership on Exercisers Experience of, and Participation in, Group Exercise Contexts
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Alex Haslam
-
Doctor Philosophy
From Privilege to Autocracy: The Hidden Costs of Inequality in Resource Distribution on Leadership Behaviors
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Alex Haslam
-
Doctor Philosophy
Social identity processes affecting retirement from sport
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Catherine Haslam, Professor Alex Haslam
-
Doctor Philosophy
Identity leadership in action: An ethnographic approach to identify leadership behaviours in a professional football team
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Alex Haslam, Professor Cliff Mallett
-
Doctor Philosophy
Identity leadership in action: An ethnographic approach to identify leadership behaviours in a professional football team
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Alex Haslam, Professor Cliff Mallett
-
Doctor Philosophy
Evaluating the efficacy of 5R as a leadership intervention and training program
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Alex Haslam
Completed supervision
-
2024
Doctor Philosophy
Understanding what it means to be 'us': Collective identity content and clarity.
Principal Advisor
-
2023
Master Philosophy
What Does it Mean to Follow? Exploring Theories, Definitions, and Measures of Followership
Principal Advisor
-
2021
Doctor Philosophy
How leaders fall: Exploring the process of leadership destabilization
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Alex Haslam
-
2024
Doctor Philosophy
From Intent to Impact: Spotlighting the Understudied Role of Employee Inclusivity
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Stacey Parker, Professor Tyler Okimoto
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
Social Connectedness and Retirement Adjustment: The Contribution of Social Participation and Social Group Memberships
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Catherine Haslam
-
2021
Doctor Philosophy
An Examination of Players' Shared Leadership in the Australian Men's Professional Football League
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Steven Rynne, Professor Cliff Mallett
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
Who Aspires to Have More? The Impacts of Social Class and Economic Inequality on People's Desire for Wealth and Status
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Jolanda Jetten
-
2017
Master Philosophy
A Social Identity Perspective on the Management of Confidential Information in Organisational Contexts
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Alex Haslam
Media
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