People_
Professor Anya Johnson
BPsych, UWA; MSc (Occ Psych) Sheffield; PhD Manchester
Head of Discipline
Professor of Organisational Behaviour
Professor of Organisational Behaviour
Phone
+61 2 9351 6387
Anya Johnson is a Professor and Head of Discipline in Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney Business School. Anya is also co-director of the Body, Heart and Mind in Business Research Group. This group integrates research from the fields of management, psychology, biology, and medical sciences to build research strength and excellence in the areas of employee performance, health, and well-being.
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The focus of Anya’s research is on the way people think, feel and behave at work, and how we work together to be effective. As the world of work changes and there is increasing uncertainty, the challenges and opportunities that employees face add to the complexity of the work they do. Anya’s research explores how employees respond to these challenges.
In very broad terms Anya’s research examines the factors that facilitate (or enable) and prevent (or act as a barrier) to well-being and performance at work. She is interested in the design of jobs and how employees use their own resources and / or the resources available within the workplace to manage the demands of their work, to be effective.
Anya has a particular interest in the role of emotions in the workplace and how employees regulate their emotions. So, when faced with emotional demands (for example the requirement to be positive or to hide negative emotions or to manage the emotions of others), how do employees choose to manage these emotional demands and what are the consequences of the strategies that they use – both for their own well-being and their effectiveness in their role.
Anya also uses multilevel research designs to examine teams and the team environment in which employee’s work. For example, exploring questions such as to what extent climate and culture within teams affects individual well-being and performance, and how team members work together to achieve effective outcomes in organisations.
Anya’s research has focused on the work and team design of health professionals and in the caring industry. The challenges facing the health and caring workforce are significant (and only exacerbated by the pandemic) with an aging workforce, more patients with chronic and complex illness, shrinking resources, higher public expectations and more complex technology (to name a few). As a result of these pressures new ways of working are being developed and Anya’s research focuses on whether and why these new ways of working improve outcomes for patients, clients and employees.
Anya has collaborated extensively with industry partners, in particular hospitals and health districts within NSW and has successfully applied for multiple research grants such as ARC Linkage grants and from the Templeton Foundation in addition to industry partners such as ICare.
- BUSS2000 Leading and Influencing in Business
- WORK2221 Organisational Communication
- WORK6026 Organisational Change and Development
- WORK6118 Managing Communication in Organisations
Selected publications
Contemporary Issues in Work and Organisations: Actors and Institutions
(Routledge, 2020)
Publications
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Edited Books
- Lansbury, R., Johnson, A., Van Den Broek, D. (2020). Contemporary Issues in Work and Organisations: Actors and Institutions. London: Routledge. [More Information]
Book Chapters
- Boomsma, R., Coupe, J., Holmes, E., Gouveros, O., Huber, E., Ishkova, M., Johnson, A., Lay, B., Luff, L., Nguyen, H., Paul, M., Zhang, E. (2024). The Value of Interactivity: Connections within a Community. In G. Fosbraey (Eds.), Creative Learning, Teaching, and Assessment for Arts and Humanities Higher Education, (pp. 51-70). Sydney, Australia: Bloomsbury Publishing. [More Information]
- Lansbury, R., Johnson, A., Van Den Broek, D. (2020). Introduction. In R.D. Lansbury, A. Johnson & D. van den Broek (Eds.), Contemporary Issues in Work and Organisations: Actors and Institutions, (pp. 1-4). London: Routledge. [More Information]
- Donald, J., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H. (2020). Workplace well-being: A critical review and the case of mindfulness-based programs. In R.D. Lansbury, A. Johnson & D. van den Broek (Eds.), Contemporary Issues in Work and Organisations: Actors and Institutions, (pp. 224-236). London: Routledge. [More Information]
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Journals
- Zettna, N., Yam, C., Kunzelmann, A., Forner, V., Dey, S., Askovic, M., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Jolly, A., Parker, S. (2025). Crystal clear: How leaders and coworkers together shape role clarity and well-being for employees in social care. Human Resource Management, 64(1), 5-20. [More Information]
- Kunst, H., Nguyen, H., Johnson, A., MacCann, C. (2025). Does it matter why we try? How goal-focused extrinsic emotion regulation influences co-worker's relational outcomes. Applied Psychology-an International Review, 74(1), e70000. [More Information]
- Kunst, H., Byington, E., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H. (2025). Mapping Workplace Compassion Research across the Social Sciences: A Bibliometric Review. Australian Journal of Management, in press.
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Conferences
- Maerz, A., Schilpzand, P., Kiewitz, C., Zettna, N., Chen, Y., Li, Y., Kim, S., Liborius, P., Faber, A., Nguyen, H., Johnson, A., et al (2024). New Insights into the Role of Virtue in Leadership Emergence and Effectiveness. 84th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM) 2024, Chicago, USA: Academy of Management. [More Information]
- Zettna, N., Wu, Y., Parker, S., Pugh, S., Yam, C., Kunzelmann, A., Forner, V., Dey, S., Askovic, M., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., et al (2024). The Evolution of the Frontline Employee Role: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and the Road Ahead. 84th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM) 2024, Chicago, USA: Academy of Management. [More Information]
- Zettna, N., Wang, K., Nguyen, H., Johnson, A. (2023). Peer support and proactive customer care in buffering the effects of customer mistreatment on absenteeism: A three‐way interaction model. 83rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM) 2023, United States: Academy of Management.
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Report
- Jolly, A., Kunzelmann, A., Dey, S., Zettna, N., Yam, C., Forner, V., Askovic, M., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Parker, S. (2023). How work design shapes mental health in the Healthcare and Social Assistance industry. [More Information]
- Mobbs, S., Deady, M., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Yip, D., Connell, C., Harvey, S. (2021). Modern work: how changes to the way we work are impacting Australians' mental health. [More Information]
Research Reports
- Iles, L., Askovic, M., Deng, C., Trezise, M., Graf, E., Zettna, N., Jolly, A., Kunzelmann, A., Thomas, C., Carr, M., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., et al (2024). Changing work design to improve mental health in the Healthcare and Social Assistance industry, April 2024, Australia: Curtin University and the University of Sydney as part of the Design for Care project. [More Information]
- Forner, V., Holtrop, D., Kragt, D., Johnson, A. (2022). The great (volunteer) resignation: An evidence-based strategy for retaining volunteers, September 2022, (pp. 1 - 14). Canberra, Australia: Volunteering Australia. [More Information]
- Stratton, E., Johnson, A., Glozier, N. (2021). Psychosocial Risks and Interventions for Mental Ill-health in the Workplace - A Meta-Review of the Evidence, January 2021, (pp. 2 - 60). Sydney, Australia: NSW Government: SafeWork NSW. [More Information]
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2025
- Zettna, N., Yam, C., Kunzelmann, A., Forner, V., Dey, S., Askovic, M., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Jolly, A., Parker, S. (2025). Crystal clear: How leaders and coworkers together shape role clarity and well-being for employees in social care. Human Resource Management, 64(1), 5-20. [More Information]
- Kunst, H., Nguyen, H., Johnson, A., MacCann, C. (2025). Does it matter why we try? How goal-focused extrinsic emotion regulation influences co-worker's relational outcomes. Applied Psychology-an International Review, 74(1), e70000. [More Information]
- Kunst, H., Byington, E., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H. (2025). Mapping Workplace Compassion Research across the Social Sciences: A Bibliometric Review. Australian Journal of Management, in press.
2024
- Iles, L., Askovic, M., Deng, C., Trezise, M., Graf, E., Zettna, N., Jolly, A., Kunzelmann, A., Thomas, C., Carr, M., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., et al (2024). Changing work design to improve mental health in the Healthcare and Social Assistance industry, April 2024, Australia: Curtin University and the University of Sydney as part of the Design for Care project. [More Information]
- Gelaw, A., Parker, S., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Jolly, A., Forner, V., Deng, C., Collie, A. (2024). Determinants of psychological injury among health and social care workers in community settings: A systematic review. Work, 78(1), 3-27. [More Information]
- Nguyen, H., Groth, M., Johnson, A. (2024). How Display Rules Influence Turnover in Healthcare Teams and the Moderating Role of Team Negative Affective Tone. Journal of Service Research, 27(3), 397-413. [More Information]
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2023
- Jolly, A., Kunzelmann, A., Dey, S., Zettna, N., Yam, C., Forner, V., Askovic, M., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Parker, S. (2023). How work design shapes mental health in the Healthcare and Social Assistance industry. [More Information]
- Zettna, N., Wang, K., Nguyen, H., Johnson, A. (2023). Peer support and proactive customer care in buffering the effects of customer mistreatment on absenteeism: A three‐way interaction model. 83rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM) 2023, United States: Academy of Management.
- Jolly, A., Parker, S., Nguyen, H., Johnson, A., Zettna, N., Dey, S., Forner, V., Yam, C. (2023). The PA(RR)TH to SMART work design: A participatory approach to work redesign interventions for mental health in a health and social assistance (HSA) organization. 38th Annual Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) Conference 2023, United States: SIOP (Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology).
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2022
- Kunst, H., Nguyen, H., Johnson, A., MacCann, C. (2022). Exploring extrinsic emotion regulation at work. 50th Annual Conference of the Society of Australian Social Psychologists (SASP), Adelaide, Australia: Society of Australian Social Psychologists.
- Kunst, H., Nguyen, H., Johnson, A., MacCann, C. (2022). Extrinsic emotion regulation at work. 14th Industrial and Organisational Psychology Conference (IOP), Gold Coast, Australia: Australian Psychological Society.
- Choi, E., Leroy, H., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H. (2022). Flaws and all: How mindfulness reduces error hiding by enhancing authentic functioning. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 27(5), 451-469. [More Information]
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2021
- Wang, K., Nguyen, H., Johnson, A., Groth, M. (2021). Caught out! The role of customer emotional intelligence and dual thinking processes in perceptions of frontline service employees' inauthentic positive displays. Psychology and Marketing, 38(12), 2191-2208. [More Information]
- Kunst, H., Nguyen, H., Johnson, A., MacCann, C. (2021). Healthcare leaders' regulation of followers' emotions. Association for Research in Personality (ARP) 7th Biennial Conference, United States: Association for Research in Personality.
- Mobbs, S., Deady, M., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Yip, D., Connell, C., Harvey, S. (2021). Modern work: how changes to the way we work are impacting Australians' mental health. [More Information]
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2020
- Johnson, A., Dey, S., Nguyen, H., Groth, M., Joyce, S., Tan, L., Glozier, N., Harvey, S. (2020). A review and agenda for examining how technology-driven changes at work will impact workplace mental health and employee well-being. Australian Journal of Management, 45(3), 402-424. [More Information]
- Lansbury, R., Johnson, A., Van Den Broek, D. (2020). Contemporary Issues in Work and Organisations: Actors and Institutions. London: Routledge. [More Information]
- Nguyen, H., Johnson, A. (2020). Dynamic effects of emotion suppression on resources and social support seeking behavior. Society for Ambulatory Assessment Conference 2020, Melbourne, Australia: Society for Ambulatory Assessment.
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2019
- Nguyen, H., Johnson, A. (2019). A dyadic study examining the giving and receiving of compassion at the point of interaction. 13th APS Industrial and Organisational Psychology Conference 2019, Adelaide, Australia: The Australian Psychological Society Ltd.
- Johnson, A., Groth, M., Wu, Y., Nguyen, H. (2019). Interpersonal interactions on the frontline: Review and recommendations. 79th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM) 2019, Boston, United States: Academy of Management.
- Yue, Y., Nguyen, H., Groth, M., Frenkel, S., Johnson, A. (2019). Moderating role of work withdrawal on incidental customer mistreatment-emotional exhaustion relationship. 79th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM) 2019, Boston, United States: Academy of Management.
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2018
- Petrie, K., Joyce, S., Tan, L., Henderson, M., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Modini, M., Groth, M., Glozier, N., Harvey, S. (2018). A framework to create more mentally healthy workplaces: A viewpoint. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 52(1), 15-23. [More Information]
- Welp, A., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Wang, K. (2018). Positive team processes - the role of team work engagement in fostering learning and knowledge sharing. 3rd International Meeting on Well being and Performance in Clinical Practice (WELLMED 3), Pieria, Greece: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
- Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Groth, M., White, L. (2018). Reaping the Rewards of Functional Diversity in Healthcare Teams: Why Team Processes Improve Performance. Group and Organization Management, 43(3), 440-474. [More Information]
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2017
- Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Parker, S., Groth, M., Coote, S., Perry, L., Way, B. (2017). "That was a good shift": Interprofessional collaboration and junior doctors' learning and development on overtime shifts. Journal of Health Organization and Management, 31(4), 471-486. [More Information]
- Zettna, N., McGrath-Champ, S., Johnson, A. (2017). Behind the Smiles: Collectivism and uncertainty avoidance - Exploring the moderating effect of power distance on employee silence. 31st Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management ANZAM Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 5-8 December 2017: Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management ANZAM.
- Volk, S., Nguyen, H., Johnson, A., Ashkanasy, N., Wang, M., Bednall, T., Parker, S., King, J. (2017). Bringing physiology back into IO Psychology (Awarded Best Paper). 12th Industrial and Organisational Psychology Conference 2017, Sydney, Australia: Australian Psychological Society.
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2016
- Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Parker, S., Groth, M., Coote, S., Perry, L., Way, B. (2016). "That was a good shift": Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Junior Doctors' experience on overtime. 76th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, New York, United States: Academy of Management. [More Information]
- Wang, K., Goodwin, R., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Groth, M. (2016). Demanding resources: Investigating non-linear and interactive effects of skill utilization and job demands on unpaid sick leave. The 16th Annual conference of the European Academy of Management (EURAM 2016), Brussels, Belgium: European Academy of Management (EURAM).
- Nguyen, H., Groth, M., Johnson, A. (2016). Effects of Shared Positive and Negative Display Rules on Employee Turnover. 2nd HR Division International Conference (HRIC), Sydney, Australia: Academy of Management.
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2015
- Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Groth, M. (2015). Effects of Display Rules and Motivation in Predicting Employee Absenteeism and Organizational Citizenship Behavior. 11th Industrial and Organisational Psychology Conference 2015, Melbourne, Australia: Australian Psychological Society.
- Nguyen, H., Johnson, A., Parker, S., Cangiano, F., Collins, C. (2015). Experimental Study of Social Support and Negative Affect on Performance and Resources. 11th Industrial and Organisational Psychology Conference 2015, Melbourne, Australia: Australian Psychological Society.
- Blewitt, L., Wang, K., Nguyen, H., Johnson, A., Pidial, K., Yu, N. (2015). Mindfulness: Creating the Space for Compassionate Care. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 8(4), 706-710. [More Information]
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2014
- Wang, K., Goodwin, R., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Groth, M. (2014). Demanding resources: The curvilinear and interactive effects of skill utilization. The 29th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
- Harvey, S., Joyce, S., Tan, L., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Modini, M., Groth, M. (2014). Developing a mentally healthy workplace: A review of the literature, November 2014, (pp. 1 - 73). Sydney, Australia: National Mental Health Commission.
- Ng, J., Johnson, A., Nguyen, H., Groth, M. (2014). Workplace Culture Improvements: A Review of the Literature, June 2014, (pp. 1 - 93). Sydney, Australia: NSW Health.
2013
- Parker, S., Johnson, A., Collins, C., Nguyen, H. (2013). Making the most of structural support: moderating influence of employees' clarity and negative affect. Academy of Management Journal, 56(3), 867-892. [More Information]
- Johnson, A., Hong, H., Groth, M., Yu, N. (2013). Who cares? The emotional labour of nursing and why it matters. Nursing Monograph.
2012
- Johnson, A., Jackson, P. (2012). Golden parachutes: changing the experience of unemployment for managers. The Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(2), 474-485. [More Information]
2011
- Johnson, A., Hong, H., Groth, M., Parker, S. (2011). Learning and development: promoting nurses' performance and work attitudes. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 67(3), 609-620. [More Information]
- Johnson, A., Hong, H., Groth, M., Yu, N. (2011). Who cares? The emotional labour of nursing and why it matters. Nursing Monograph.
Selected Grants
2021
- When, why, and how well do we regulate other peoples emotions, MacCann C, Pinkus R, Nguyen H, Johnson A, Niven K, Gross J, Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Projects (DP)
- Enhancing Healthcare Access for People with Communication Disabilities, Dennis S, McAllister S, Johnson A, Ng J, Brunner M, Elbourn E, Nisbet G, Rietdijk R, Togher L, National Disability Insurance Agency/Mainstream Capacity Building (MCB) Grant Round
2017
- Compassion at the heart of well-being: an inter-disciplinary study of well-being in a healthcare setting, Huppert F, Johnson A, Nguyen H, O'Connor S, Samuel G, John Templeton Foundation/Large Grants
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