Jo Silvester

Jo Silvester is an organisational psychologist who specialises in the assessment and development of leaders in public, private and political organisations. She has lectured at the University of Leeds, and University of Wales Swansea, and became Professor of Occupational Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2002.

For the past decade Jo has studied political leaders and predictors of political effectiveness. She developed the first competency based selection process for prospective Parliamentary candidates for the Conservative Party and redesigned the approvals process for prospective Parliamentary candidates for the Liberal Democrat Party.

Other research interests include diversity and leadership emergence in investment banking, leadership and political effectiveness, and cognitive and behavioural predictors of empathy judgements.

Qualifications

PhD, MSc and BSc.

Visiting Appointments

Member, University of Aarhus, Business School Advisory Board, Jun 2016 – present

Memberships of Committees

Member, British Psychological Society, Standards Committee responsible for producing national professional standards for Assessment and Development Centres

Memberships of Professional Organisations

Member, Study of Parliament Group

Expertise

Primary Topics

• Leadership
• Organisational Psychology
• Organizational Behaviour
• Organizational Culture

Additional Topics

• Gender & Diversity Management
• Knowledge & Learning
• Management
• Management Development
• Public Sector Management
• Voluntary Sector Management

Research

As an organizational psychologist I am primarily interested in how individuals make sense of each other and their environment. Drawing on attribution theory, my research focuses on three broad areas: (1) studies of how individuals explain their own performance and experiences in the workplace, and the impact this has subsequent performance and leadership journeys; (2) how individuals explain the behaviour of other people (for example, how managers explain the actions of direct reports, physicians explain patient behaviour, and financial service advisors explain the needs of male and female clients) and the potential impact that systematic bias has on observers decisions and behavioural responses, and; (3) political work and political leadership. This last area has been a key area of interest over the past decade. Political work presents fascinating and significant challenges for management researchers and organizational psychologists. My research centres on questions like what is effective political leadership, how do we develop incumbent or aspiring political leaders, and can we select for political talent?

Research Topics

• Service and stewardship in the British Parliament
• Think politician - think male
• Political learning and development
• Managing volunteers

Books (5)

• Arnold, J., Randall, R., Patterson, F., Silvester, J., Robertson, I., Cooper, C., Burnes, B., Harris, D. and Axtell, C. (2016). Work Psychology Understanding Human Behaviour in the Workplace. Pearson Education. ISBN 978-1-292-06340-9.
• Arnold, J., Silvester, J., Randall, R., Patterson, F. and Robertson, I. (2010). Work psychology. Pearson Education. ISBN 978-0-273-71121-6.
• Silvester, J. (2008). The Meaning and Impact of Work: Critical Perspectives in Organizational Psychology. London, UK: Routledge.
• Silvester, J., Arnold, J.M., Patterson, F., Robertson, I., Cooper, C. and Burnes, B. (2004). Work Psychology: Understanding Human Behaviour in the Workplace. London, UK: Financial Times/ Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-273-65544-2.
• Munton, A.G., Silvester, J., Stratton, P. and Hanks, E. (1999). Attributions in Action: Practical Approach to Coding Qualitative Data. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-98216-6.

Chapters (11)

• Silvester, J. and Wyatt, M. (2018). Political Effectiveness at Work. In Ones, D.S., Viswesvaran, C., Anderson, N. and Sinangil, H.K. (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Industrial, Work & Organizational Psychology (3 volumes) SAGE. ISBN 978-1-4739-4278-3.
• Doldor, E., Silvester, J. and Atewologun, D. (2017). Qualitative Methods in Organizational Psychology. In Willig, C. and Stainton-Rogers, W. (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research in Psychology Sage. ISBN 978-1-4739-2521-2.
• Silvester, J. (2017). Machiavellianism. In Moghaddam, F.M. (Ed.), The Sage Encyclopedia of Political Behavior Sage Publications, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-4833-9116-8.
• Silvester, J., Caprara, G.V., Best, H., Daloz, J.P. and Hoffman-Lange, U. (2017). Personality and Political Elites. Palgrave Handbook of Political Elites Palgrave.
• Silvester, J. (2013). Work and Organizational Psychology. In Willig, C. and Rogers, W.S. (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research in Psychology Sage Publications Ltd. ISBN 978-1-4129-0781-1.
• Silvester, J. (2011). Recruiting politicians: Designing competency based selection for UK Parliamentary candidates. In Weinberg, A. (Ed.), The Psychology of Politicians (pp. 21–38). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-11372-4.
• Silvester, J. (2008). The good, the bad, and the ugly: Politics and politicians at work. In Hodgkinson, G.P. and Ford, J.K. (Eds.), International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (pp. 107–148). Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
• Silvester, J. (2007). Qualitative research in organizations. In Willig, C. and Stainton-Rogers, W. (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research in Psychology (pp. 489–502). London: SAGE.
• Silvester, J. (2004). Attributional coding. In Cassell, C. and Symon, G. (Eds.), Essential guide to qualitative methods in organizational research (pp. 228–241). Sage Publications Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7619-4888-9.
• Silvester, J. (1998). Attributional Coding. In Cassell, C. and Symon, G. (Eds.), Qualitative Methods and Analysis in Organizational Research: A Practical Guide (pp. 73–93). London: Sage. ISBN 978-0-7619-5351-7.
• Silvester, J. and Chapman, A.J. (1997). Asking ‘why?’ in the workplace: causal attributions and organizational behaviour. In Rousseau, D. and Cooper, C. (Eds.), Trends in Organizational Behavior (pp. 1–14). ISBN 978-0-471-97203-7.

Journal Articles (27)

• Caprara, G.V., Vecchione, M., Schwartz, S.H., Schoen, H., Bain, P.G., Silvester, J., Cieciuch, J., Pavlopoulos, V., Bianchi, G., Kirmanoglu, H., Baslevent, C., Mamali, C., Manzi, J., Katayama, M., Posnova, T., Tabernero, C., Torres, C., Verkasalo, M., Lonnqvist, J.-.E., Vondrakova, E. and Giovanna Caprara, M. (2017). Basic Values, Ideological Self-Placement, and Voting: A Cross-Cultural Study. CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH, 51(4), pp. 388–411. doi:10.1177/1069397117712194.
• Wyatt, M. and Silvester, J. (2015). Reflections on the labyrinth: Investigating black and minority ethnic leaders’ career experiences. Human Relations, 68(8), pp. 1243–1269. doi:10.1177/0018726714550890.
• Silvester, J. and Wyatt, M. (2015). Developing strong and diverse political leaders. Psychologist, 28(5), pp. 368–371.
• Vecchione, M., Schwartz, S.H., Caprara, G.V., Schoen, H., Cieciuch, J., Silvester, J., Bain, P., Bianchi, G., Kirmanoglu, H., Baslevent, C., Mamali, C., Manzi, J., Pavlopoulos, V., Posnova, T., Torres, C., Verkasalo, M., Lönnqvist, J.E., Vondráková, E., Welzel, C. and Alessandri, G. (2015). Personal values and political activism: A cross-national study. British Journal of Psychology, 106(1), pp. 84–106. doi:10.1111/bjop.12067.
• Silvester, J., Wyatt, M. and Randall, R. (2014). Politician personality, Machiavellianism, and political skill as predictors of performance ratings in political roles. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 87(2), pp. 258–279. doi:10.1111/joop.12038.
• Schwartz, S.H., Caprara, G.V., Vecchione, M., Bain, P., Bianchi, G., Caprara, M.G., Cieciuch, J., Kirmanoglu, H., Baslevent, C., Lönnqvist, J.-.E., Mamali, C., Manzi, J., Pavlopoulos, V., Posnova, T., Schoen, H., Silvester, J., Tabernero, C., Torres, C., Verkasalo, M., Vondráková, E., Welzel, C. and Zaleski, Z. (2014). Basic Personal Values Underlie and Give Coherence to Political Values: A Cross National Study in 15 Countries. Political Behavior, 36(4), pp. 899–930. doi:10.1007/s11109-013-9255-z.
• Silvester, J., Patterson, F., Koczwara, A. and Ferguson, E. (2007). "Trust me...": psychological and behavioral predictors of perceived physician empathy. J Appl Psychol, 92(2), pp. 519–527. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.92.2.519.
• Silvester, J. and Dykes, C. (2007). Selecting political candidates: A longitudinal study of assessment centre performance and political success in the 2005 UK general election. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 80(1), pp. 11–25. doi:10.1348/096317906X156287.
• Silvester, J. and Leggett, J. (2003). Care staff attributions for violent incidents involving male and female patients: A field study. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 42(4), pp. 393–406. doi:10.1348/014466503322528937. [publisher’s website]
• Silvester, J., Patterson, F. and Ferguson, E. (2003). Comparing two attributional models of job performance in retail sales: A field study. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 76(1), pp. 115–132. doi:10.1348/096317903321208916. [publisher’s website]
• Silvester, J. and Anderson, N. (2003). Technology and Discourse: A Comparison of Face-to-face and Telephone Employment Interviews. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 11(2-3), pp. 206–214. doi:10.1111/1468-2389.00244. [publisher’s website]
• Silvester, J., Anderson-Gough, F.M., Anderson, N.R. and Mohamed, A.R. (2002). Locus of control, attributions and impression management in the selection interview. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 75(1), pp. 59–76. doi:10.1348/096317902167649.
• Martin, R., Leach, D.J., Norman, P. and Silvester, J. (2000). The role of attributions in psychological reactions to job relocation. Work & Stress, 14(4), pp. 347–361. doi:10.1080/02678370010029186.
• Silvester, J., Anderson, N., Haddleton, E., Cunningham-Snell, N. and Gibb, A. (2000). A Cross-Modal Comparison of Telephone and Face-to-Face Selection Interviews in Graduate Recruitment. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 8(1), pp. 16–21. doi:10.1111/1468-2389.00127.
• Anderson, N., Silvester, J., Cunningham-Snell, N. and Haddleton, E. (1999). Relationships Between Candidate Self-Monitoring, Perceived Personality, and Selection Interview Outcomes. Human Relations, 52(9), pp. 1115–1131. doi:10.1177/001872679905200901.
• Silvester, J., Anderson, N.R. and Patterson, F. (1999). Organizational culture change: An inter-group attributional analysis. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 72(1), pp. 1–23. doi:10.1348/096317999166464.
• Bugental, D.B., Johnston, C., New, M. and Silvester, J. (1998). Measuring parental attributions: Conceptual and methodological issues. Journal of Family Psychology, 12(4), pp. 459–480. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.12.4.459.
• Silvester, J., Ferguson, E. and Patterson, F. (1997). Comparing Spoken Attributions by German and UK Engineers: Evaluating the Success of a Culture Change Programme. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 6(1), pp. 103–117. doi:10.1080/135943297399330.
• Silvester, J. (1997). Spoken attributions and candidate success in graduate recruitment interviews. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 70(1), pp. 61–73. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8325.1997.tb00631.x [publisher’s website]
• Silvester, J. (1996). Questioning Discrimination in the Selection Interview: A Case for more Field Research. Feminism and Psychology, 6(4), pp. 574–578. doi:10.1177/0959353596064019.[publisher’s website]
• Silvester, J. and Chapman, A.J. (1996). Unfair Discrimination in the Selection Interview: An Attributional Account. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 4(2), pp. 63–70. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2389.1996.tb00060.x.
• [publisher’s website]
• Silvester, J., Bentovim, A., Stratton, P. and Hanks, H.G. (1995). Using spoken attributions to classify abusive families. Child Abuse and Neglect, 19(10), pp. 1221–1232.
• Silvester, J. (1994). Attributions and the selection interview: Predicting motivation? Selection and Development Review, 10(1), pp. 5–7.
• Silvester, J. and Collins, S.C. (1994). Selecting and managing teleworkers. Selection and Development Review, 10(6), pp. 5–7.
• Silvester, J. and Brown, A. (1993). Graduate recruitment: testing the impact. Selection and Development Review, 9(1), pp. 1–3.
• Silvester, J. and Stratton, P. (1991). Attributional discrepancy in abusive families. Human Systems Management, 2(3/4), pp. 277–296.
• Hulme, C., Silvester, J., Smith, S. and Muir, C. (1986). The effects of word length on memory for pictures: Evidence for speech coding in young children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 41(1), pp. 61–75. doi:10.1016/0022-0965(86)90051-2.

Course Directorship

• 1997 - 2002, MSc Organisational Psychology, Director
• 1997 - 2002, MSc Organisational Behaviour, Director

Subject/Academic Leadership

• 2002 - 2006, Postgraduate Studies, Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, University of London, Director
• 2006 - 2012, Programme review panels for City University London, Member
• 1999 - 2002, Validation Committee for Ashridge MBA, Member
• Responsible for managing British Psychological Society professional reaccreditation processes for MSc in Organisational Psychology, City University London (x2) and MSc in Occupational Psychology, Goldsmiths College, University of London (x1).
• External panel member, for new programmes (Open University, University of Leeds, Goldsmiths College, London Metropolitan University)
• 2006 - 2013, Organisational Psychology Research Group, City University London, Director
• 2008 - present, Centre for Performance at Work, Director

Editorial Activities (3)

• Journal of Applied Psychology, Referee, 2007 – present.
• Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, Associate Editor, 1998 – 2001.
• International Journal of Selection & Assessment, Associate Editor, 1997 – 2001.