Rui Zhong
Assistant Professor
Dr. Rui Zhong is an Assistant Professor in Organizational Behavior at the Smeal College of Business. He obtained his Ph.D. from University of British Columbia.
Expertise
Dr. Rui Zhong studies the so-called “dark side” of workplace life: gossip, deviance, mistreatment, and psychological challenges such as homesickness and death awareness. Adopting a paradoxical lens, Dr. Zhong's research examines not only how these phenomena can be harmful and how employees can cope with them but also how they may generate constructive outcomes, revealing an often-overlooked “bright side.” Dr. Zhong's work seeks to equip employees and managers with insights to more effectively navigate these less desirable yet inevitable parts of organizational life and, where possible, leverage them as opportunities for growth and resilience. Dr. Zhong uses a variety of methods, such as experience samplings, meta-analyses, experiments, and narrative reviews. His research has been published in a number of top-tier management journals, including Journal of Applied Psychology, Academy of Management Annals, Personnel Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Journal of Management.
Education
Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior, University of British Columbia, Sauder School of Business, Vancouver, Canada, 2023-05-01 BMgt in Construction Management, Tianjin University, College of Management and Economics, Tianjin, China, 2017-07-01
Courses Taught
MGMT 326 – Org Beh and Design
Concepts, theories, and methods of managing people and designing organizations. MGMT 326 Organizational Behavior and Design (3) This introductory course covers the concepts, theories, and methods of managing people and designing organizations. Issues and challenges of managing at different organizational levels (individual, group, project, and total organization) are discussed and illustrated with real-world examples. Students learn about the latest means of designing high-performing organizations, including how to change an organization. This course will serve as a foundation for taking advanced management courses. The primary method of evaluation is an examination after each of the four major parts of the course, but class participation and short papers may also be used for evaluation.
Selected Publications
Zhong R., Deng Y., Tucker R. "Socializing through the grapevine: A content-based functional perspective on the receipt of workplace gossip during newcomer socialization" Journal of Applied Psychology, 2026-07-01
Zhong R., He Y., Zheng Y., Barnes C. M., Wu W., Wu S. "Reinforcing or eroding norms? The team consequences of negative gossip networks" Journal of Applied Psychology, 2026-06-01
Zhong R., Lee S. H., Chen J., Wilson K. S., Deng Y. "Spilling the tea at home: The effects of sharing negative work gossip with one's partner" Personnel Psychology, 2026-05-01
Zhong R., Yao J., Wang Y. "Filling the secrecy vacuum: Examining employees’ responses to perceived supervisor secrecy" Personnel Psychology, vol. 78, 2025-11-11
Zhong R., Yu L., Zhu J., Zhu L. "Combat poison with “poison”: Leader-targeted negative team gossip mitigates the detrimental team consequences of abusive supervision climate" Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 110, 2025-09-01
Zhong R., Lee S., Deng Y. "Not all workplace gossip is equal: A moral-emotions perspective on how gossip type shapes recipients’ reactions to gossipers" Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, vol. 190, 2025-09-01
Zhong R., Yao J., Wang Y., Lyubykh Z., Robinson S. "Workplace aggression and employee performance: A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms and cultural contingencies" Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 110, 2025-04-01
Lyubykh Z., Zhong R., Vuong T., Robinson S., Hershcovis S. "Understanding the impact of witnessed workplace mistreatment: A meta-analysis of observer deontic reactions and employee outcomes" Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 110, 2025-03-01
Zhong R., Tang P., Lee S. "The gossiper’s high and low: Investigating the impact of negative gossip about the supervisor on work engagement" Personnel Psychology, vol. 77, 2024-06-01
Zhong R., Lian H., Hershcovis S., Robinson S. "Mitigating or magnifying the harmful influence of workplace aggression: An integrative review" Academy of Management Annals, vol. 17, 2023-07-01
Zhong R., Robinson S. "What happens to bad actors in organizations? A review of actor-centric outcomes of negative behavior" Journal of Management, vol. 47, 2021-07-01
Zhong R., Paluch R., Shum V., Zatzick C., Robinson, S. "Hot, cold, or both? A person-centered perspective on death awareness during the COVID-19 pandemic" Journal of Applied Psychology., vol. 106, 2021-06-01