Oscar Ybarra

Professor of Business Administration and Academic Director for the Center for Professional Responsibility in Business and Society and Center for Professional Responsibility Fellow

Contact

4015 Business Instructional Facility

515 Gregory Dr

Champaign, IL 61820

Listings

Educational Background

Ph.D., Experimental Social Psychology, New Mexico State University, 1996
M.A., Social Psychology, New Mexico State University, 1993
Master of Public Administration, Sul Ross State University, 1990
B.A, Psychology, Sul Ross State University, 1988

Positions Held

Academic Director for the Center for Professional Responsibility in Business and Society, Center for Professional Responsibility in Business and Society, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2023 to present
Associate Academic Director for the Center for Professional Responsibility in Business and Society, Center for Professional Responsibility in Business and Society, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2022-2023
Professor of Business Administration, Business Administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2021 to present
Professor, Management & Organizations, University of Michigan, 2016-2021
Professor, Psychology, University of Michigan, 2009-2021
Associate Professor, Psychology, University of Michigan, 2001-2009
Assistant Professor, Psychology, University of Michigan, 1996-2001

Recent Publications

Ybarra, O. (2023). The skills that help employees adapt: Empirical validation of a four-category framework PLOS ONE, 23. link >
Ybarra, O. (2022). Identity lost and found: Self-concept clarity in social network site contexts Self & Identity, 21 (4), 406-429. link >
Ybarra, O. (2021). Better to brag: Underestimating the risks of avoiding positive self-disclosures in close relationships Journal of Personality, 89 (5), 1044-1061.
Ybarra, O. (2021). Leading and managing the workplace: The role of executive functions Academy of Management Perspectives, 35 (1), 142-164.
Ybarra, O. (2021). Social media and wellbeing: Pitfalls, progress, and next steps Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Elsevier, Cell Press, 25 (1), 55-56.

Other Publications

Articles

Ybarra, O. (2020). Restoring meaning: Self-uncertainty increases subjective distance between the past and the present self. Social Behavior and Personality, 48 (7).
Ybarra, O. (2020). Temporal reappraisal in a Chinese context. Distancing autobiographical memory following self-uncertainty salience. Social behavior and Personality, Society for Personality Research, 48 (2), 1-9. link >
Ybarra, O. (2019). When God is your only friend: Religious beliefs compensate for purpose in life in the socially disconnected. Journal of Personality, Blackwell Publishing Ltd 87 (3), 455-471. link >
Ybarra, O. (2019). Neurophysiological and behavioral evidence that self-uncertainty salience increases self-esteem striving. Biological Psychology, Elsevier Science, 143. link >
Ybarra, O. (2019). Does counting emotion words on online social networks provide a window into people’s subjective experience of emotion? A case study on Facebook Emotion, 97-107. link >
Ybarra, O. (2019). When chatting about negative experiences helps—and when it hurts: Distinguishing adaptive from maladaptive social support in computer-mediated communication. Emotion, American Psychological Association, 20 (3), 368-375. link >
Ybarra, O. (2019). Electrophysiological evidence for differences in the semantic processing of communal and agentic words. Psychology: Techniques and Applications, 7 (1), 9-16. link >
Ybarra, O. (2017). Cultivating effective support through abstraction: Reframing social support promotes goal pursuit. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Ybarra, O. (2017). Do social network sites enhance or undermine subjective wellbeing? A critical review. Social Issues and Policy Review.
Ybarra, O. (2017). I-Through-We: How supportive social relationships facilitate personal growth. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Ybarra, O. (2017). Social media and happiness: The case of Facebook. La Revue Québécoise de Psychologie.
Ybarra, O. (2016). Common and distinct neural mechanisms of the fundamental dimensions of social cognition. Social Neuroscience.
Ybarra, O. (2016). When perceptions defy reality: the relationships between depression and actual and perceived Facebook social support. Journal of Affective Disorders.
Ybarra, O. (2015). Biased perceptions of knowledge in negotiation: Implications for negotiators’ rapport and egocentrism. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research.
Ybarra, O. (2015). Enhanced memory for both threat and neutral Information under conditions of intergroup threat. Frontiers in Psychology.
Ybarra, O. (2015). Passive Facebook usage undermines affective well-being: Experimental and longitudinal evidence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
Ybarra, O. (2015). Social markers of mild cognitive impairment: Proportion of word counts in free conversational speech. Current Alzheimer Research, 12 (6), 513-9. link >
Ybarra, O. (2015). Web-enabled conversational interactions as a method to improve cognitive functions: Results of a 6-week randomized controlled trial. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions.
Ybarra, O. (2014). Not all disasters are equal in the public eye: The negativity effect of warmth in brand perception. Social Cognition.
Ybarra, O. (2014). The “Big Idea” that is yet to be: Towards a more motivated, contextual, and dynamic model of emotional intelligence Academy of Management Perspectives.
Ybarra, O. (2014). Tools for advancing research into social networks and cognitive function in older adults International Psychogeriatrics.
Ybarra, O. (2013). Accentuating your masculine side: Agentic traits generally dominate self-evaluation, even in China Social Psychology.
Ybarra, O. (2013). Facebook use predicts declines in subjective well-being in young adult PLOS ONE.
Ybarra, O. (2013). Outgroup primes induce unpredictability tendencies in people Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Ybarra, O. (2012). Neural correlates of aggression among individuals from low and high socioeconomic status: An ERP study International Journal of Psychological Studies.
Ybarra, O. (2012). On-line social interactions and executive functions Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
Ybarra, O. (2012). Self-judgment and reputation monitoring as a function of the fundamental dimensions, temporal appraisal, and culture European Journal of Social Psychology.
Ybarra, O. (2012). Supportive social connections attenuate the paradox of choice Psychological Science.
Ybarra, O. (2011). Friends (and sometimes enemies) with cognitive benefits: Which types of social interactions boost executive functioning? Social Psychological and Personality Science.
Ybarra, O. (2011). The neural basis of breaking mental set: an event-related potential study Experimental Brain Research.
Ybarra, O. (2010). Being unpredictable: Friend or foe matters Social Psychological and Personality Science.
Ybarra, O. (2010). Predicting whether multiculturalism positively or negatively influences White Americans’ intergroup attitudes: The role of ethnic identification Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Ybarra, O. (2009). Group status, perceptions of threat, and support for social inequality Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Ybarra, O. (2009). Symbolic threat and social dominance among liberals and conservatives: SDO reflects conformity to political values Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Ybarra, O. (2008). American optimism about the consequences of workgroup conflict Negotiation and Conflict Management Research.
Ybarra, O. (2008). But are you really happy? A negativity effect in the inference of others’ happiness and unhappiness Basic and Applied Social Psychology.
Ybarra, O. (2008). Life’s recurring challenges and the fundamental dimensions: An integration and its implications for cultural differences and similarities European Journal of Social Psychology.
Ybarra, O. (2008). Mental exercising through simple socializing: Social interaction promotes general cognitive functioning Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Ybarra, O. (2008). The effects of realistic threats and group identification on social dominance orientation Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Ybarra, O. (2007). Cultural training based on a theory of relational ideology Basic and Applied Social Psychology.
Ybarra, O. (2007). People accounting: Numerical imbalances and social-based choice Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Ybarra, O. (2006). Reversing the affective congruity effect: The role of target accessibility Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Ybarra, O. (2006). White Americans’ genetic lay theories of race differences and sexual orientation: Their relationship with prejudice toward blacks and gay men and lesbians Group Processes and Intergroup Relations.
Ybarra, O. (2005). A warm heart and a clear head: Effects of weather on mood and cognition Psychological Science.
Ybarra, O. (2004). Diagnosing the difficulty of conflict resolution between individuals from the same and different social groups Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Ybarra, O. (2004). Power and impression formation: The effects of power on the desire for morality and competence information Social Cognition.
Ybarra, O. (2003). Beliefs about the disconfirmability of stereotypes: The stereotype disconfirmability effect Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
Ybarra, O. (2002). Interaction goals and social information processing: Underestimating one’s partners but overestimating one’s opponents Social Cognition.
Ybarra, O. (2002). Naive causal understanding of valenced behaviors and its implications for social information processing Psychological Bulletin.
Ybarra, O. (2002). The disconfirmation of positive person expectations by older and younger Adults: Implications for social vigilance Journal of Gerontology.
Ybarra, O. (2002). The role of threats in the racial attitudes of Blacks and Whites Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Honors and Awards

Center for Professional Responsibility Fellow, Gies College of Business, 2021 to present

Grants

Emotion regulation of intergroup threat., National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2013-2018
What makes for great pitches?, Center for Entrepreneurship, University of Michigan, 2013-2015
ERP and fMRI investigations of the fundamental dimensions in social and self-judgment, Southwest University, Chongqing China, 2011-2014
Squelching innovation: Social dynamics in organizations that limit idea generation and idea revelation., Barger Leadership Institute, University of Michigan, 2011-2013
Conversational engagement as a means to delay Alzheimer’s disease onset: A randomized controlled trial., National Institute on Aging, 2010-2013
Emotion regulation of threat in intergroup perception., National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2010-2011
Cognitive aging and social cognition., National Institute on Aging, 1999-2001

Current Courses

Leading Individuals and Teams (BADM 311) Understanding the behavior of employees in work organizations; particular attention to the motivation of individuals to join and perform in organizations and to employee satisfaction with elements of the work environment; and emphasis on various management strategies to modify employee motivation and satisfaction.
Leading Negotiations (BADM 314) Aims to advance students' ability to negotiate formal and informal business agreements and resolve conflicts effectively. Because leaders depend on others to accomplish goals, leaders need to be skilled negotiators to generate solution that are acceptable, valuable, and able to be implemented. Students will engage in a series of negotiations that provide practice and impart a framework for planning for, conducting, and analyzing negotiations.