Zachariah Berry

Check out our latest for Harvard Business Review that summarizes and discusses this paper 👇: hbr.org/2025/07/rese...

The take-home message: When a passion pursuit does not feel viable, other people are more supportive than you think; it might be a good opportunity to leave that one behind to pursue another passion that could be more fulfilling. 10/10

Finally, in two interventions with nurses and teachers, we attempt to shift people's understanding of how they would be perceived—that giving up on a passion is not the end of the road, but just a step along the way. 9/10

In a field study, we also find that these misplaced worriers lead PhD students to underreport poor working conditions or abuse they might experience—for fear that others might view them as less committed to their passion pursuit. 8/10

We find that this effect is specific to pursuing passion (and not just any job), and specific to giving up on a passion (rather than choosing to persevere). It is also robust to different reasons for giving up (e.g., too difficult, financial strain) 7/10

Instead, we find that observers are far more charitable; for them, quitting one passion pursuit opens the door to opportunities to find and pursue a different passion. This mismatch represents a crucial barrier we suggest passion pursuers must overcome. 6/10

In our studies, we find that one key barrier lies in people's (misplaced) worries about what others would think if they quit their passion pursuit; they believe others view this decision as "giving up" on pursuing passions altogether 5/10

In many cases, it can be better for people to give up on one passion pursuit to explore another; to learn, and move on, in order to find a passion pursuit that is more sustainable and successful. But we find people do not do this enough...4/10

We find that one common obstacle is the lay belief that pursuing passion MUST come with perseverance; that if you love what you do, you should never give up. This can trap people in passion pursuits that do not or no longer work for them. 3/10

The advice to "follow your passion" is widespread. But lots of people struggle to pursue their passion—they endure poor working conditions and are burned out. How can we make the pursuit of passion more sustainable? 2/10

🚨 New paper alert 🚨
In my latest out now in JPSP (w/ @brianjlucas.bsky.social
& @jonj.bsky.social), we show across 10 studies (including w/nurses, teachers, & PhD students) that people considering giving up a passion pursuit overestimate how harshly others will judge them 🧵 doi.org/10.1037/pspa...

🤖 New paper with Simon Myers: People expect artificial moral advisors to be more utilitarian, and distrust utilitarian moral advisors 🤖

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@moralsmyers.bsky.social

Graduate Programs | PhD Program The Marshall Ph.D. Program is one of the premier Business Ph.D. programs in the world. With a diverse and outstanding faculty and a student-centered culture, we have achieved stellar success in placi...

Want to learn more? We’re hosting an information session on December 5th.

Ready to apply? Applications are due on December 15th.

Register for the event and apply for the program here: www.marshall.usc.edu/programs/gra...

Track 2) Strategy / Organizational Theory Track includes topics such as corporate strategy, innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability, corporate governance, and more

We have two primary tracks:

Track 1) Organizational Behavior Track includes topics such as leadership, decision-making, ethics, AI, group processes, power & status, DEI, negotiation, and more

Why the Management & Organization program at USC?

1) Ranked top 5 globally for research productivity (UT-Dallas rankings)
2) Prime location in LA (access to leading industries in tech, entertainment, etc)
3) Collaborative culture and mentorship from world-class faculty

🚨 Calling all PhD applicants 🚨

Are you applying for PhD programs in Management? Please consider applying for our program at USC Marshall School of Business (Management & Organization), where applications are due December 15th.

Details 🧵

I’d love to join!

Cool new paper showing that moral relativism signals tolerance, whereas moral objectivism signals intolerance. Awesome work @andresm.bsky.social and team!

Link and further details 👇

Two PhD candidates--Bharathy & Zach--in Cornell regalia; me in Michigan regalia. All in front of a brick wall.

Bharathy (in Cornell regalia) and I (in Michigan regalia) in front of a brick wall.

Zach Berry, Brian Lucas, and I all in regalia on the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations quad.

It's commencement weekend at Cornell, which means I had the honor of hooding and celebrating the accomplishments of two amazing humans and scholars: Bharathy & @zberry.bsky.social. I'm so proud of them and grateful to have had the opportunity to work with them over the past six years ❤️.

Dr. Zachariah Berry's dissertation defense

Interrupting the doom scrolling feed with some happy news :)

This morning, DR. @zberry.bsky.social defended his dissertation!!! I'm proud of Zach and all the work he's done over the years on how people contend with moral values in the workplace. Excited to see what he does in his next chapter!

Are Whistleblowers Seen as Heroes or Snitches? It Depends. Reporting workplace misconduct often requires choosing between morality and loyalty. New research explores how that trade-off is viewed by others.

Cool little write-up today from #KelloggInsight
about our work on moral judgments of whistleblowing among coworkers, led by newly minted prof
@zberry.bsky.social.

Do snitches get stitches? Read on to find out...

insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/are-...

Hi folks! I'm migrating the Organization Science community over here, given all the evil and nastiness on the other site. Follow @orgscience.bsky.social for new papers, policies, opportunities, and ideas.

BlueSky Science-Related Feeds Sheet1 Likes,Name (Click to visit feed),Tags,Contact to ask to be added to contributor list 11,<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ftnzzw4cnon2pzpw7i5m2xu7/feed/aaaiqnkwsgsz6">#AI&HCI</a>,#HCI,...

🚨 Science Resources for BlueSky 🚨

Scientist? Just joined BlueSky? Here’s four resources you might find useful.

#AcademicSky 🧪 🧵

(1) A list of over 130 subject-specific feeds. Find posts by others in your area and use the right tags in your posts to get them seen.

Oh.. did not know that I could reply and create a thread? Well, the results highlight that people have to navigate competing reputations, being a moral leader or being a loyal friend, when deciding whether to snitch.

It’s a context where what is loyal separates from what is moral

Hello, Bluesky! ⛅️

Excited to share my new paper w/ Ike Silver and Alex Shaw accepted at JEP:Applied (postprint: psyarxiv.com/r9kag)!

People who snitch on their close friend’s wrongdoing at work are seen as more moral and better leaders, but less loyal and worse friends.👇