James LeBreton

James LeBreton is a Professor of Psychology at Pennsylvania State University specializing in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, where he serves as the SoDA Dual Title Degree Liaison and Primary Investigator of the Measurement, Applied Psychology, and Statistics (MAPS) Lab. His research bridges personality theory and organizational behavior with methodological innovation in psychometrics.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Psychology, University of Tennessee (2002)

LeBreton's foundational work centers on the Conditional Reasoning Theory of Personality, which posits that implicit motives (aggression, achievement, power) generate cognitive biases that drive behavior. His research demonstrates how these implicit processes influence counterproductive work behavior, leadership effectiveness, team dynamics, and job attitudes. Complementing this, his methodological expertise spans meta-analysis, multilevel modeling, and test validation, evidenced by his editorship of Organizational Research Methods and co-editorship of the APA Handbook on Multilevel Theory, Measurement, and Analysis.

His recent publications reveal three converging trends: (1) international validation of conditional reasoning measures across cultural contexts, (2) refinement of implicit assessment techniques to capture dark personality traits, and (3) methodological critiques addressing interaction effects and measurement equivalence in organizational research. This work consistently prioritizes practical applications for personnel selection and workplace interventions.

LeBreton actively mentors graduate students in the Industrial-Organizational program through the MAPS Lab, fostering research at the intersection of personality assessment and statistical methodology. His laboratory serves as a hub for developing psychometric tools that translate theoretical constructs into actionable organizational insights, with current projects focusing on cross-cultural test adaptation and bias mitigation in personality measurement.