Professor Ana Cristina Costa

I am Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Director of Research. Before joining the University of Leicester, I held various academic posts both in the UK and the Netherlands, including at Brunel University London, Delft University of Technology, and Tilburg University where I obtained my PhD. I am currently Visiting Professor at University of Valencia in Spain. 

My research sits at the unique intersection between organisational behaviour, industrial psychology, human performance and space exploration. I am particularly interested in three interrelated research areas: trust and fairness in organisations, innovation and well-being at work, and employees’ perspectives to digital work practices. My work is mostly quantitative and often uses longitudinal or lagged designs with data being collected in real life settings in organisations. 

I am part of recently-awarded Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space with a £10m research grant to explore how space is reshaping our lives, currently Strand Lead of Living and Working in Space. Our work is driven by a diverse and interdisciplinary team of researchers and collaborators united by a shared commitment to exploring humanity and space, fostering innovative dialogue, ensuring our work remains grounded, inclusive, and forward-thinking. Previously I secured funding from the NASA-Johnson Space Centre in the USA to study team trust in the specific context of extreme conditions endured by NASA astronauts on long duration space missions, and from the Leverhulme Trust Foundation in the UK collaborating with European partners from the University of Valencia (Spain) and University of Maastricht (The Netherlands) to investigate the dark-side of innovation and its impact on employee performance and well-being.

I am member of several editorial boards and currently serve as Associate Editor of the British Journal of Management (ABS-4*).

I am an experienced university educator having taught in programmes in The Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. I have designed and delivered a variety of modules across the diverse fields of Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management, Organizational Psychology and Research Methods. I have also been involved in several executive development programmes covering topics such as Leadership, Teamwork and Conflict Management.  

My research stems from the desire to understand how team-based collaborations succeed (or fail) and how it affects or is affected by working climates, employment practices, trust relationships and wellbeing. My work is informed by various literatures including organisational justice theory, leader-member exchange, social identity, social-exchange theory, among others. My research has strong applied and quantitative components. 

I have secured external finding both as principal investigator (PI) or co-Investigator (Co-I) on more than 17 grants funded by various leading bodies in the UK and internationally. 

I am part of recently-awarded Leverhulme Centre for Humanity and Space with a £10m research grant to explore how space is reshaping our lives, currently Strand Lead of Living and Working in Space. Previously I secured funding from the NASA-Johnson Space Centre in the USA (2015-2018) to study team trust in the specific context of extreme conditions endured by NASA astronauts on long duration space missions, and from the Leverhulme Trust Foundation in the UK (2013-2015) collaborating with European partners from the University of Valencia (Spain) and University of Maastricht (The Netherlands) to investigate the dark-side of innovation and its impact on employee performance and well-being. Together with colleagues at University of Surrey we have obtained funding from the British Academy/Leverhulme Trust (2018-2023) to study applicant reactions to digital technology in promotion contexts.

My research has impact beyond academia. I have consulted with government support organisations, community leaders, health care and other industry partners in both private and public sectors in the UK, Europe and the USA on issues relating to people's behaviour and performance at work.  

 

Selected publications:

Costa, A. C., Ahmed, S., & Anderson, N. R. (2025). Applicant Reactions to Digital Selection Procedures. EUROPEAN MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, 1-18. doi:10.1111/emre.70012

Aharonson, B. S., Arndt, F. F., Budhwar, P., Chang, Y., Chowdhury, S., Costa, A. C., . . . Hibbert, P. (2025). Establishing a Contribution: Calibration, Contextualization, Construction and Creation. BRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, 36(2), 481-499. doi:10.1111/1467-8551.12910

Costa, A. C. (2024). Teams. In Elgar Encyclopaedia of Organizational Psychology (pp. 681-688). Edward Elgar Publishing. doi:10.4337/9781803921761.00133

Woods, S. A., Ahmed, S., Nikolaou, I., Costa, A. C., & Anderson, N. R. (2020). Personnel selection in the digital age: a review of validity and applicant reactions, and future research challenges. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF WORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, 29(1), 64-77. doi:10.1080/1359432X.2019.1681401

Costa, A. C., Ferrin, D. L., & Fulmer, C. A. (2018). Trust at Work. In Ones, D, Anderson, N R, Sinangil, H K, & Viswesvaran, C, (Eds) The SAGE Handbook of Industrial, Work & Organizational Psychology. (pp. 481-513). SAGE.

Costa, A. C., Fulmer, C. A., & Anderson, N. R. (2018). Trust in work teams: An integrative review, multilevel model, and future directions. JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR, 39(2), 169-184. doi:10.1002/job.2213

Costa, A. C., & Anderson, N. R. (2017). Team Trust. In The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Team Working and Collaborative Processes. In Salas E., Ashkanasy, N, Rico, R & Passmore J. (Eds) (pp. 393-416). John Wiley & Sons Ltd. doi:10.1002/9781118909997.ch17
McCarthy, J. M., Bauer, T. N., Truxillo, D. M., Anderson, N. R., Costa, A. C., & Ahmed, S. M. (2017). Applicant Perspectives During Selection: A Review Addressing "So What?," "What's New?," and "Where to Next?". JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, 43(6), 1693-1725. doi:10.1177/0149206316681846

Costa, A. C. (2017). Trust in Organizations ☆. In Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology. Elsevier. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-809324-5.05741-2

MacIver, R., Anderson, N., Costa, A., & Evers, A. (2014). Validity of Interpretation: A user validity perspective beyond the test score. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SELECTION AND ASSESSMENT, 22(2), 149-164. doi:10.1111/ijsa.12065

Anderson, N., Costa, A. C., & Salgado, J. F. (2012). Sustainability and Industrial, Work, and Organizational Psychology: Globalization, Contribution, and Psychological Sustainability. INDUSTRIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, 5(4), 487-490. doi:10.1111/j.1754-9434.2012.01484.x

Anderson, N., Ahmed, S., & Costa, A. C. (2012). Applicant Reactions in Saudi Arabia: Organizational attractiveness and core‐self evaluation. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 20(2), 197-208. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2389.2012.00592.x

Singh, S., Darwish, T. K., Costa, A. C., & Anderson, N. (2012). Measuring HRM and organisational performance: concepts, issues, and framework. MANAGEMENT DECISION, 50(4), 651-667. doi:10.1108/00251741211220282

Costa, A. C., & Anderson, N. (2011). Measuring trust in teams: Development and validation of a multifaceted measure of formative and reflective indicators of team trust. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF WORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, 20(1), 119-154. doi:10.1080/13594320903272083

Costa, A. C., & Peiró, J. M. (2009). Trust and social capital in teams and organizations — antecedents, dynamics, benefits and limitations: an introduction. SOCIAL SCIENCE INFORMATION, 48(2), 131-141. doi:10.1177/0539018409102402

Costa, A. C., Bijlsma-Frankema, K., & de Jong, B. (2009). The role of social capital on trust development and dynamics: implications for cooperation, monitoring and team performance. SOCIAL SCIENCE INFORMATION, 48(2), 199-228. doi:10.1177/0539018409102408

Daskapan, S., & Costa, A. C. (2008). Reengineering trust in global information systems. In Trust and New Technologies Marketing and Management on the Internet and Mobile Media (pp. 244-266).

Costa, A. C., & Bijlsma-Frankema, K. (2007). Trust and Control Interrelations. GROUP AND ORGANIZATION MANAGEMENT, 32(4), 392-406. doi:10.1177/1059601106293871

Bijlsma-Frankema, K., & Costa, A. C. (2005). Understanding the Trust-Control Nexus. INTERNATIONAL SOCIOLOGY, 20(3), 259-282. doi:10.1177/0268580905055477

Daskapan, S., Costa, A. C., Vree, W. G., & Eldin, A. A. (2004). Virtual Trust in Distributed Systems. Unknown Journal, 30-39. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-30079-3_4

Costa, A. C. (2004). Trust. In Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology Three Volume Set (pp. 611-620). doi:10.1016/B0-12-657410-3/00493-1

Costa, A. C. (2004). Developing and maintaining trust upon different basis: Implications for cooperation monitoring and performance of temporary project teams. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY Vol. 39 (pp. 42). Retrieved from https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=elements-live611&SrcAuth=WosAPI&KeyUT=WOS:000226118000375&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=WOS_CPL

Costa, A. C. (2003). Work team trust and effectiveness. PERSONNEL REVIEW, 32(5), 605-622. doi:10.1108/00483480310488360

Costa, A. C. (2003). Understanding the nature and the antecedents of trust within work teams. In The Trust Process in Organizations. Edward Elgar Publishing. doi:10.4337/9781843767350.00012

Costa, A C, Roe, R A, & Taillieu, T (2001). Trust within teams: The relation with performance effectiveness. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF WORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, 10(3): 225-244.

I am open for doctoral supervisions. Particularly in the following areas:

• Trust in Organisations: Multilevel and Cross Level

Trust in central to people's behaviour in organisations. I am currently interested in research that addresses how trust develops at different levels in organisations, and the emergence of collective trust within diverse groups and teams.

I am also interested in applied projects into emotional labour, trust and control management strategies. Under which conditions these strategies become inhibitors or facilitators of performance at work and other attitudes and behaviours.  

• Innovation and Wellbeing at Work

  With a particular focus on the so called ‘dark side’ of innovation I am particularly interested in research into the disruptive impact of innovation to those who experience it. Under which circumstances innovation can detrimental to performance and wellbeing at work.

  I am also interested in research that investigates how organisations can improve the quality of working live and wellbeing of their employees while remaining relevant and up-to-date.

• Applicant Perspectives to Digital HRM Practices

With a focus on the fairness and transparency of selection and promotion procedures in the digital age, I am interested in research proposals that investigate the experiences of applicants in relation to e-HRM and how these impact their attitudes and behaviors once on the job and subsequent working relationships including with the leader.

I teach across the broad areas of Organisation Behaviour, HRM, Organizational Psychology and Research Methods. I also supervise in these areas at all levels.

Current I lead the following modules:

MN7005 - Leading Managing and Developing People

SS7200 -Research Philosophy

MN8002 - Foundations of Social Research 

 

 

Yorkshire Post

Mars - Research Impact