Jennifer Ragsdale

Assistant Professor of PsychologyLorton Hall 302D
918-631-2840
jen-ragsdale@utulsa.edu

Occupational Stress

My research on recovery from occupational stress focuses on how people restore their resources and recharge their batteries during weekends by examining different types of weekend activities and the associated psychological experiences.  Currently, I am eexamining the specific work-related resources involved in this recovery process.  I plan on extending this research to examine the role of personality in the recovery process, integrating psychological and physiological indicators of recovery, and how recovery influences job performance.

Another area of interest includes military stress.  I have done research following a National Guard platoon through training and a year of deployment.  I have examined individual stress reactions and individual judgments about the platoon and how these variables change throughout the course of training and deployment.  Currently, I am looking at the role of relationships back home and how they influence the level of strain experienced by the National Guard unit.

Content Analysis of Personality

I have been studying work narratives, a qualitative approach that examines the stories employees tell about their work experiences.  Specifically, I study stories about stressful work situations, such as ambiguous experiences and major or unexpected changes.  I have developed coding protocols to assess uncertainty orientation and other motives.  Currently, I am working with automatic essay scoring software to reproduce human ratings of motives and personality in an effort to minimize the cumbersome nature of content analysis.

Education and Degrees Earned

  • Ph.D. Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Central Michigan University, 2011
  • M.A. Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Central Michigan University, 2008
  • B.A. Psychology, Bowling Green State University, 2006

Areas of Academic Specialty

  • Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Areas of Research Focus

  • Occupational Stress and Recovery
  • Military Stress
  • Content Analysis of Personality

Previous Teaching Experience

  • Central Michigan University, Graduate Instructor:  Stress & Health, Psychology of Advertising

Professional Affiliations

  • Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology
  • Society of Occupational Health Psychology

Courses Taught at TU

  • Research Method in Applied Psychology (PSY 7343)
  • Survey of Industrial Psychology (PSY 7623)