Pernille Piechowiak Strøbæk

Primary fields of research

The social psychology of stress and emotion i organizations

Current research

Returning from maternity leave in the Summer 2015 I continue my focus on the social psychology of stress and emotion in organizational settings. Especially I am interested in the social psychology of emotion in organizations characterized by emotional labor. For example how emotional labor forges links between professionalized, personalized, and socialized zones of emotion work (Stroebaek,P.S. 2011). Also I pay attention to the social makeup of group life and the cultural synergy processes in organizations (Müller-Leonhardt, A.; stroebaek, P.S., Vogt, J., 2015; Stroebaek, P.S. & Willert, S. 2014; Stroebaek, P.S. & Vogt, J., 2013).

A major contribution in recent years is my 2013 paper published in Symbolic Interaction entitled "Let's have a cup of coffee! Coffee and coping communities at work". Here I show the power and legitimacy of social coping through a focus on coffee sociality at work. - A focus that from a research perspective can be seen as a revisit to the social value of work already suggested by the Elton Mayo studies back in the 1920's. From a societal perspective the paper ecchoed a need and an interest for re-establishing a focus on the human and social factor in modern political and economic thinking led by waves of new public management ideas and the neo-liberal turn. My paper led to interviews and discussions worldwide and it had a socital impact. Since my 2013 paper I have been invited to write a book chapter on Drinking Coffee (Stroebaek, P.S. in press, in: Waskul, D. & Vannini, P. (red.): Popular Culture as Everyday Life, Routledge) and a paper on Coffee and Worksite Stress soon to be reviewed in Beverages special issue on Coffee.

My interest in the social psychology of stress and emotion has moreover led me to an interest in situations. As the Danish collaborator I work with Professor David Funder, University of California, Riverside, USA, on an international situation study using the Riverside International Q-sort (RSQ) examining situational assessment across cultures. This study is an advangement of a pilot study (Guillaume, E. et. al., 2015. The World at 7:00. Comparing the Experience of Situations Across 20 Countries, Journal of Personality). In our new study 45 countries participate and more seem to come before data gathering starts next year.

As the Danish collaborator I currently collect data on a project led by Mark Brandt, Toon Kuppens, and Russell Spears at Tilburg University, Holland, investigating power, status and legitimacy across countries. This is a broader project that is adaptable to my current research focus on power and legitimacy in relation to stress and emotion.

Other both national and international collaborations on the sociality of emotion and on dealing with cliental aggression are being discussed and developed.

Besides my research activities I concentrate presently on engaging in the compulsory course program planned for Assistant Professors "Teaching and Learning in Higher Education".

Knowledge of languages

Teaching

I am the responsible coordinator of Social Psychology at the Bachelor Level of Psychology.

Most of my teaching takes place as grand lectures in the Social Psychology Program. However, I also teach seminar classes and overview lectures in the following areas: 

Work- and Organizational Psychology

Bachelor course with supervision on bachelor project ending the BA in psychology

Project Management (Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen)

Besides my teaching I supervise student instructors and TAs in social psychology and supervise both master and bachelor projects.

Fields of interest

The social psychology of stress and emotion; emotional labor; feeling and feeling rules; social structure; organizational change; social acts and activity

CV

Born: January 1980

Education: MSc in Psychology (2007), PhD in psychology (2011) both from Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen.

Current postion: Assistant Professor (2014-)

Current responsibility: Responsible coordinator for the social psychology programme, bachelor level (2015-)

Former positions and responsibities:

(Summer 2013-Spring 2014: maternity leave)

2013: Editor in Chief, Psykologisk Set, Bogforlaget Frydenlund, Denmark. http://www.psykologisk-set.dk/

2012: Ad hoc reviewer Interperona: an International Journal on Personal Relationships. ISSN 1981-6472. http://interpersona.org/

(Summer 2011-Autumn 2012: maternity leave)

2011: Post doc position, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Copenhagen

2011: PhD degree, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Copenhagen. Thesis title: "Occupational Stress in Social Context: Exploring Social Practices of Occupational Stress Among Public Family Law Caseworkers in the Wake of the Structural Reform in Denmark"

2011: Board member, Stresstænketanken. http://www.stressfonden.dk/stresstaenketanken/

2010: Ph.d. fellow member for the Faculty of Social Sciences in Copenhagen University Reseach Education Comittee, (Københavns Universitets Forskningsuddannelsesråd (KURFUR))

2010: Ph.d. fellow member for psychology in the Ph.d. programme comittee, Faculty of Social Sciences, Copenhagen University

2010: Ph.d fellow member in the ph.d. programme committee, Department of Psychology, Copenhagen University 

2009: Ph.d. fellow member for psychology in the Ph.d. programme comittee, Faculty of Social Sciences, Copenhagen University

2009: Ph.d fellow member in the ph.d. programme committee, Department of Psychology, Copenhagen University 

2008: Member of Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (SSSI)

2008: Editor of journal "Psykologisk Set", Frydenlund Publ., Copenhagen, Denmark 

2008: Ph.d. fellow, Department of Psychology, Copenhagen University

2007: Teaching Assistant, Department of Psychology, Copenhagen University

2007: Msc in Psychology, Department of Psychology, Copenhagen University. Master thesis: Structures of Purposeful Action: On Reintroducing Intentional Workers in Worksite Stress Models

2007: 4+4-student, Department of Psychology, Copenhagen University.

2005: Bach.Psych., Department of Psychology, Copenhagen University. Bachelor thesis: Naturalizing the Stress Concept: An Argument for the Project of Phenomenology

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