James Beck

Associate Professor
Head shot of James Beck

BS, Michigan State University

MA, University of Akron

PhD, University of Minnesota

Contact information

James Beck CV (PDF)

Research interests

My research deals primarily with motivational and self-regulatory processes. I study the way individuals allocate finite resources, such as time, effort, and attention across multiple, competing demands.

Selected publications

Student co-authors are underlined.

  • Beck, J. W., Nishioka, M., Scholer, A. A., & Beus, J. M. (in press). Moderation in all things, except when it comes to workplace safety: Accidents are most likely to occur under moderately hazardous work conditions. Personnel Psychology.
  • White, N. C., Minnikin, A. F., Malo, O. R., & Beck, J. W. (2024). Research productivity norms among Canadian I-O psychology scholars. Canadian Psychology / Psychologie Canadienne, 65, 28-33.
  • Phan, V., Nishioka, M., Beck, J. W., & Scholer, A. A. (2023). Goal progress velocity as a determinant of shortcut behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 108, 553-570.
  • Phan, V. & Beck, J. W. (2023).Why do people (not) take breaks? An investigation of individuals’ reasons for taking and for not taking breaks at work. Journal of Business and Psychology, 38, 259-282.
  • Gödöllei, A. F. & Beck, J. W. (2023). Insecure or optimistic? Employees’ diverging appraisals of automation, and consequences for job attitudes. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 12, 100342.
  • Minnikin, A., Beck, J. W., & Shen, W. (2022). Why do you ask? The effects of perceived motives on the effort that managers allocate toward delivering feedback. Journal of Business and Psychology, 37, 813-830
  • Beck, J. W., & Flow, A. (2022). The effects of contracting Covid-19 on cognitive failures at work: Implications for task performance and turnover intentions. Scientific Reports, 12, 8826. 
  • Gödöllei, A. F. & Beck, J. W. (2020). Development and validation of the State Regulatory Focus Scale. Human Performance, 33, 104-129. 
  • Phan, V. & Beck, J. W. (2020). The impact of goal progress velocity on affect while pursuing multiple sequential goals. Motivation Science, 6, 247-258. 
  • Beck, J. W., & Gödöllei, A. F. (2020). A dynamic perspective on workplace motivation. In Y. Griep & S. D. Hansen (Eds.), Handbook on the Temporal Dynamics of Organizational Behavior (pp. 237-250). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
  • Beck, J. W., Schmidt, A. M., & Natali, M. W. (2019). Efficient proximal resource allocation strategies predict distal team performance: Evidence from the National Hockey League. Journal of Applied Psychology, 104, 1387-1403.  
  • Beck, J. W., & Shen, W. (2019). The effects of U.S. presidential elections on work engagement and job performance. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 68, 547-576. 
  • Beck, J. W., & Schmidt, A. M. (2018). Negative relationships between self-efficacy and performance can be adaptive: The mediating role of resource allocation. Journal of Management, 44, 555-588. 
  • Beck, J. W., Scholer, A. A., & Hughes, J. (2017). Divergent effects of distance versus velocity disturbances on emotional experiences during goal pursuit. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102, 1109-1123. 
  • Beck, J. W., Scholer, A. A., & Schmidt, A. M. (2017). Workload, risks, and goal framing as antecedents of shortcut behaviors. Journal of Business and Psychology, 32, 421-440. 
  • Beck, J. W., Beatty, A. S., & Sackett, P. R. (2014). On the distribution of job performance: The role of measurement characteristics in observed departures from normality. Personnel Psychology, 67, 531-566. 
  • Beck, J. W., & Schmidt, A. M. (2013). State-level goal orientations as mediators of the relationship between time pressure and performance: A longitudinal study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98, 354-363. 
  • Beck, J. W., & Schmidt, A. M. (2012). Taken out of context? Cross-level effects of between-person self-efficacy and difficulty on the within-person relationship of self-efficacy with resource allocation and performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 119, 195-208. 
  • Beck, J. W., Carr, A. E., & Walmsley, P. T. (2012). What have you done for me lately? Charisma attenuates the decline in U.S. presidential approval over time. Leadership Quarterly, 23, 934-942.