Dr. Alex Benson

Biographical Information

After completing my BSc and MSc in Kinesiology, I went on to complete my PhD in Social Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University.  During this time, I also spent some time abroad at Bangor University in Wales as a visiting scholar at the Institute for Psychology of Elite Performance.  Before arriving at Western University, I was a SSHRC postdoctoral fellow at Nipissing University.  My research program investigates group dynamics, with an aim of understanding how groups shape our experiences as individuals, and how individuals shape the groups to which they belong.

Selected Publications

Benson, A. J., & Jordan, C. (2018).  Narcissistic followership. In A. Hermann, A. Brunell, & J. Foster (Eds.), Trait narcissism: Key advances, research methods, and controversies. Springer Publishing Company. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-92171-6 

Graupensperger, S., Benson, A. J., Evans, M. B. (2018). Everyone else is doing it: The association between social identity and susceptibility to peer-influence in NCAA athletes. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 40, 117-127. 

Benson, A. J., & Bruner, M. W. (2018). How teammate behaviors relate to athlete affect, cognition, and behaviors: A daily diary approach within youth sport. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 34, 119-127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2017.10.008 

Boroumand, S, Benson, A. J., & Eys, M. (2017). How status conflict undermines athletes’ willingness to help new teammates. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2017.1384939

Benson, A. J., & Eys, M. A. (2017). Development of the Sport Team Socialization Tactics Questionnaire: Understanding the consequences of newcomer integration processes. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 39, 13-28. doi: 10.1123/jsep.2016-0182

Benson, A. J., Hardy, J., & Eys, M. A. (2016). Contextualizing leaders’ interpretations of proactive followership. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 37, 949-966. doi: 10.1002/job.2077 

Benson, A. J., Jordan, C. H., & Christie, A. M. (2016). Narcissistic responses to subordinate role assignment: The case of the narcissistic follower. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 42, 985-999. doi: 10.1177/0146167216649608 

Benson, A. J., Eys, M., & Irving, G. (2016). Great expectations: How role expectations and role experiences relate to perceptions of team cohesion. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 38, 160-172. doi: 10.1123/jsep.2015-0228 

Benson, A. J., Evans, M. B., & Eys, M. A. (2016). Organizational socialization in team sport environments. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 4, 463-473. doi: 10.1111/sms.12460 

Benson, A. J., Šiška, P., Eys, M., Priklerová, S., & Slepička, P. (2016). A prospective multilevel examination of the relationship between cohesion and team performance in elite youth sport. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 27, 39-46. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2016.07.009

Research

My research program integrates a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to better understand the conditions and processes that shape our experiences in work groups and teams. Current research projects are funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Mitacs. We are also working closely with organizational partners to develop innovative solutions to optimize employee and team member experiences.

One line of inquiry is investigating how people differ in the roles (e.g., leadership, followership) they strive for and covet within teams and organizations, which traits people value in leaders and followers, and how leader-follower dynamics contribute to team and organizational functioning. In a separate line of inquiry, my lab is investigating how organizations and teams can structure the entry experiences of newcomers to optimize both individual-level (e.g., psychological well-being) and group-level (e.g., teamwork proficiency) outcomes.

Please visit our lab website for additional information: https://www.bensonlab.ca