headshot of Cameron Anderson

Research Expertise and Interest

status hierarchies, psychology of power, self and interpersonal perception, team dynamics, influence processes, personality, emotions, groups and teams

Research Description

Cameron Anderson is a professor and the Lorraine Tyson Mitchell Chair in Leadership & Communication II at Berkeley Haas.  He is an expert on topics pertaining to power, status, and influence processes, leadership, negotiations and conflict resolution, and team dynamics. Anderson, a professor of organizational behavior, teaches courses in Power and Politics in Organizations, Negotiations, and Conflict Resolution. He was awarded the Earl F. Cheit Outstanding Teaching Award in 2008. Prior to joining the Haas faculty in 2005, Anderson taught at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and at the Stern School of Business at New York University, where he was awarded Professor of the Year. In addition to his research and teaching responsibilities, Anderson regularly consults with leading organizations and corporations worldwide.

In the News

Very big changes are coming very fast to the American workplace

Going to work used to be so simple. Across a span of decades, in organizations large and small, American white-collar workers by the millions would wake up in the morning and get to the office by 8 or 9. They would leave at 5 or 6, perhaps later if they were on deadline with an important project. It was like clockwork. Suddenly, however, that model seems outdated, if not archaic. In a series of interviews, Berkeley scholars who study work and management say that as the COVID-19 pandemic eases, American executives and office workers are emerging into a new and unfamiliar world that may have broad benefits for both.

Being a selfish jerk doesn’t get you ahead, research finds

The evidence is in: Nice guys and gals don’t finish last, and being a selfish jerk doesn’t get you ahead. That’s the clear conclusion from research that tracked disagreeable people—those with selfish, combative, manipulative personalities—from college or graduate school to where they landed in their careers about 14 years later.

Why are people overconfident so often? It’s all about social status

The lure of social status promotes overconfidence, explains Haas School Associate Professor Cameron Anderson. He co-authored a new study, “A Status-Enhancement Account of Overconfidence,” with Sebastien Brion, assistant professor of managing people in organizations, IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Haas School colleagues Don Moore, associate professor of management, and Jessica A. Kennedy, now a post-doctoral fellow at the Wharton School of Business.

Featured in the Media

Please note: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or positions of UC Berkeley.
September 28, 2020

How to Succeed In Your Career Without Being a Jerk

Forbes
Amy Blaschka
Does it seem like nice guys (and gals) always finish last at work? It might be because obnoxious leaders tend to stand out more, says Cameron Anderson, a professor of organizational behavior at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and the lead author of a recent study on the topic. "When we are presented with someone in power who's a jerk ... it sticks out to us. It's very salient," Anderson said. "And I think we notice those (people) much more than we do people in power who are nice — those people kind of blend into the background. Examples of people in power who are just awful human beings are more available in people's minds." In the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Anderson and her colleagues found that people with disagreeable personalities (selfish, combative, and manipulative) were more likely to be dominant and aggressive, but less communal toward colleagues. "What our findings suggest is that if disagreeable people had been nicer ... to their colleagues, they might've had a leg up in the competition for power," Anderson said. For more on this, see our press release at Berkeley News.
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September 8, 2020

It Doesn't Pay to be a Jerk at Work, Research Finds

CNN
Kristen Rogers
Being assertive and developing a thick skin may help in the workplace, but being out for yourself only is not a good strategy for success. People who tend to be hostile, deceptive and manipulative for their own gain, while ignoring others' concerns and welfare, might not attain any greater power in the workplace than people who are both dominant and sociable, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "When we are presented with someone in power who's a jerk ... it sticks out to us. It's very salient," said the study's lead author, Cameron Anderson, UC Berkeley professor of organizational behavior. "And I think we notice those (people) much more than we do people in power who are nice — those people kind of blend into the background. Examples of people in power who are just awful human beings are more available in people's minds." For more on this, see our press release at Berkeley News.
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