Faculty Profiles

Thayer, Amanda L.

Assistant Professor, School of Psychology, College of Psychology and Liberal Arts

Personal Overview

Dr. Amanda L. Thayer is an Assistant Professor in the Industrial/Organizational Psychology program at the Florida Institute of Technology, Director of the Advancing Collaboration and Teams Interactions in Organizations and Networks (ACTION) Lab, Secretary for the Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research (INGRoup), and Chair of the Scientific Affairs committee for the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP). She also serves on the Editorial Board for Group and Organization Management and as an ad hoc reviewer for journals such as American Psychologist, Personnel Psychology, Management Science, and more. She has conducted lab- and field-based research for government agencies, the military, and industry, including the U.S. Army Research Institute, NASA, and nonprofit organizations. To date, she has secured $6 million in external funding and has played an integral role in several interdisciplinary research efforts that have produced more than 50 publications and conference presentations, including outlets such as American Psychologist and Human Resource Management Review, among others.  Her research is focused on measuring and optimizing teamwork processes (e.g., cohesion, trust, adaptation) and team performance, as well as team staffing, selection, and composition across a variety of contexts. Dr. Thayer earned her B.A. in Psychology in 2005 from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW) and completed her doctorate at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in 2015.

Educational Background

• Ph.D., Industrial/Organizational Psychology, University of Central Florida, 2015
• B.A., Psychology, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2005

Professional Experience

• Assistant Professor, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, The University of Akron, 2015-2020
• Graduate Research Associate, Institute for Simulation and Training, University of Central Florida, 2010-2015
• Instructor, School of Psychology, Florida Institute of Technology, 2014
• Instructor, Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida, 2013

Research

Funded Projects

• Co-Principal Investigator -- U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) Cooperative Agreement, Next Generation Teams and Organizational Subsystems Research (Cooperative Agreement #W911NF-19-2-0173, 9/27/19-3/26/23, $5,993,790). Salas, E. (PI), Thayer, A. L. (Co-PI), Carter, D. R. (Co-I), Shuffler, M. L. (Co-I), Luciano, M. (Co-I), Tannenbaum, S. I. (Co-I), & Ratwani, K. (Co-I). Objective: to lay the groundwork for the next generation of teams research by (1) designing, developing, and validating a core experimental paradigm and measurement and analysis data collection toolkit and (2) laying the foundations for the future of research on team selection, staffing, and composition decisions, accounting for multiple staffing scenarios and operational requirements.

Other Current Research

• A survey-based study investigating organizational culture, feedback, and teamwork in volunteer, non-profit teams.
• Various manuscripts focused on trust violation and repair, cohesion, team composition, measurement, and research methodologies.

Selected Publications

Smith, J.G.*, Flynn, M.L.*, Shuffler, M.L., Carter, D.R., & Thayer, A.L. (in press). Meetings as a facilitator of multiteam system functioning. In J. Allen, A. Meinecke, & N. Lehmann-Willenbrock (Eds), Research on Managing Groups and Teams: Managing Meetings in Organizations (Vol. 20). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Diefendorff, J. M., Thayer, A. L., Sodhi, K.*, & Magill, D* (in press). Dynamic emotional labor: A review and extension to teams. Cambridge Handbook of Workplace Affect.

Viol, J., Johnson, M., & Saunders, C. & Thayer, A. L. (2019). Trust in virtual teams: A multidisciplinary review and integration. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 23.

Thayer, A. L., Petruzzelli, A.*, & McClurg, C. E.* (2018). Addressing the paradox of the team innovation process: A review and practical considerations. American Psychologist, 73, 363-375.

Shuffler, M. L., Kramer, W. S.*, Carter, D., Thayer, A. L., & Rosen, M. (2018). Leveraging a team-centric approach to diagnosing multiteam system functioning: The role of intrateam state profiles. Human Resource Management Review, 4, 361-377. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2017.08.003.

McClurg, C. E.*, Chen, J. L.*, Petruzzelli, A.*, & Thayer, A. L. (2017). Challenges and new directions in examining team cohesion over time. In E. Salas, W. B. Vessey, and L. B. Landon (Eds.), Research on Managing Groups and Teams: Team Dynamics Over Time (Vol. 18, pp. 261-186). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Salas, E., Shuffler, M. L., Thayer, A. L., Bedwell, W. L., & Lazzara, E. H. (2015). Understanding and diagnosing teamwork in organizations: A scientifically based practical guide. Human Resource Management, 54, 599-622.

Grossman, R., Thayer, A. L., Shuffler, M. L., Burke, C. S., & Salas, E. (2015). Critical social thinking: A conceptual model and insights for training. Organizational Psychology Review, 5, 99-125.

Miloslavic, S.*, Wildman, J. L., & Thayer, A. L. (2014). Structuring successful global virtual teams. In J. L. Wildman & R. L. Griffith (Eds.). Leading global teams: Translating the multidisciplinary science to practice (pp. 67-87). New York, NY: Springer.

Thayer, A. L., Rico, R., Salas, E., & Marlow, S. L.* (2013). Teams at work. In M. C. W. Peeters, J. de Jonge, & T. W. Taris (Eds.), An introduction to contemporary work psychology (pp. 434-457). Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Kramer, W. S., Thayer, A. L., & Salas, E. (2013). Goal setting in teams. In E. Locke & G. Latham (Eds.), New developments in goal setting and task performance (pp. 287-310). New York: Routledge.

Wildman, J. L., Thayer, A. L., Rosen, M. A., Salas, E., Mathieu, J. E., & Rayne, S. R. (2012). Task types and team-level attributes: Synthesis of team classification literature. Human Resource Development Review, 11, 97-129.

Wildman, J. L., Thayer, A.L., Pavlas, D., Salas, E., Stewart, J. E., & Howse, W. (2012). Team knowledge research: Emerging trends and critical needs. Human Factors, 54, 84-111.

*Denotes graduate or undergraduate student at time of collaboration.