UROP Project

Measuring Intellectual Humility in Written Responses

Social Psychology, Perception, Humility, Leadership, Text Analysis

Research Mentor: Dr. Irmak Olcaysoy Okten, She/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Florida State University, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: okten@psy.fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Psychology, pre-med, sociology, anthropology. education, communication preferred. All social science majors will be considered.
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Yes
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 8-10 hours, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:

• Day: Monday, August 31
  Start Time: 12:00
  End Time: 12:30
  Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/4156299509

Project Description

Successful leadership in today’s professional world increasingly depends on intellectual humility (IH). Individuals high in IH recognize the limits of their knowledge, avoid both overconfidence and underconfidence, and remain open to learning from others (Leary et al., 2017). Despite its many documented benefits, however, IH may be undervalued in leadership contexts. Important questions, therefore, remain about why intellectually humble leaders are not always viewed positively and how IH can be fostered among current and emerging leaders.

The goal of this project is to examine how people perceive intellectual humility in leadership and to identify factors that shape these perceptions. As part of a larger longitudinal research program, we will investigate how individuals with current or prior leadership experience express intellectual humility, particularly when responding to social conflict and disagreement. Research assistants recruited through the UROP program will contribute to the development of a coding system for assessing intellectual humility in written responses and will gain experience in content analysis, psychological research methods, and data management.

Research Tasks: This project will involve conducting a literature review of prior research on intellectual humility and contributing to the development of a coding scheme for the thematic analysis of intellectual humility expressed in written responses. Students will have the opportunity to review and analyze existing research data, participate in the coding process, and gain experience with content analysis.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Research assistants will work as a team, so strong collaboration skills are required for this position. Previous experience with scientific literature review and APA- style writing is recommended.