Research

My scientific research focuses on two broad topics: the employment relationship across the lifespan and the role of fictional narratives in organizational behavior. The former topic includes research on workplace dignity, organizational democracy, idiosyncratic deals, psychological contracts, older workers, working beyond retirement, and careers. In 2005, I started working on my PhD on the psychological contract of older workers, and over the years, I became more interested in how people experience their relationship with the organization, and these relationships differ because of the aging process. At the same time, I started doing research for organizations, and dealt with questions from organizations on how to motivate their older workers in their work and to retain them as long as possible. This research has been published in amongst others Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Vocational Behavior, and Journal of Management Studies, but I also write for popular journals such as Personeelsbeleid and Gids voor Personeelsmanagement.

During the time I was working on my PhD I also became fascinated about the role of fictional narratives in people's lives and I have been thinking for a long time on how fiction can change people, and whether this could have an influence at work-related outcomes. Reading the work of great Russian auhors, including Dostoyevski, Gogol and Turgenyev made me realize that they taught me something that formal education never achieved. What is it in fiction that we become so attracted to these stories? How do they change us? My scientific work on this topic has been presented at various conferences, published in a Dutch book as well as PLOS One and the Review of General Psychology (see publications).

If you have any questions about my research, please contact me. I can share papers, questionnaires, expertise, and I am always very enthusiastic about research collaborations.