About Anyi
My name is Anyi (pronounced “ahn-ee”). I am an Assistant Professor of Management at Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Previously I was at Tulane University, Freeman School of Business. I received my PhD in Management from Duke University, Fuqua School of Business.
Organizations often tell employees to take charge and assert themselves – or to be agentic – at work. I research how other people perceive agentic employees and the effects these perceptions have on gender and leadership.
I also examine how employees experience agency, such as having choice and control and the wide-ranging – and often counter-intuitive – consequences of these experiences.
My work has been published in Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, American Psychologist, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Naval Research Logistics, and The Leadership Quarterly.
If you’re an undergrad or grad student at UW-Madison, I’m also on the lookout for research assistants and collaborators. Email me at ama35 [at] wisc [dot] edu if you’re interested!
Selected Accepted Journal Articles
Feng, Z. & Ma, A. & Dwivedi, P. & Liu, F. (2025). Fostering Competence Perceptions Weaken the Dominance Penalty for Women in Leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology
Selected Published Journal Articles
Sheetal, A. & Ma, A. & Infurna, F. (2024). Psychological Predictors of Socioeconomic Resilience Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Machine Learning American Psychologist
Ma, A. & Paek, J. & Liu, F. & Kim, J. (2024). Threats to personal control fuel similarity attraction Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Ma, A. & Ponce de Leon, R. & Rosette, A. (2024). Asking for less (but receiving more): Women avoid impasses and outperform men when negotiators have weak alternatives. Journal of Applied Psychology
Ma, A. & Savani, K. & Liu, F. & Tai, K. & Kay, A. (2023). The mutual constitution of culture and psyche: The bidirectional relationship between individuals’ perceived control and cultural tightness–looseness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Madan, S. & Ma, A. & Pandey, N. & Rattan, A. & Savani, K. (2023). Support for increasing low-wage workers’ compensation: The role of fixed-growth mindsets about intelligence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
Chakraborty, S. & Ma, A. & Swinney, R. (2023). Designing rewards-based crowdfunding campaigns for strategic (but distracted) contributors Naval Research Logistics
Ma, A. & Rosette, A. & Koval, C. (2022). Reconciling female agentic advantage and disadvantage with the CADDIS measure of agency. Journal of Applied Psychology
Fath, S. & Ma, A. & Shelby Rosette, A. (2022). Self-views of disadvantage and success impact perceptions of privilege among White men Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
Ma, A. & Tang, S. & Kay, A. (2019). Psychological reactance as a function of thought versus behavioral control Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Ma, A. & Axt, J. & Kay, A. (2019). A control-based account of stereotyping Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Ma, A. & Yang, Y. & Savani, K. (2019). “Take it or leave it!” A choice mindset leads to greater persistence and better outcomes in negotiations Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
Ma, A. & Landau, M. & Narayanan, J. & Kay, A. (2017). Thought-control difficulty motivates structure seeking Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
Ma, A. & Kay, A. (2017). Compensatory control and ambiguity intolerance Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
Rosette, A. & Koval, C. & Ma, A. & Livingston, R. (2016). Race matters for women leaders: Intersectional effects on agentic deficiencies and penalties The Leadership Quarterly
Practitioner-Oriented Publications
Ma, A. & Paek, J. & Liu, F. & Kim, J. (2024). Research: Why Forming Diverse Teams Is Harder in Uncertain Times Harvard Business Review
Madan, S. & Ma, A. & Rattan, A. & Savani, K. (2023). Research: A Growth Mindset Can Boost Support for Increasing the Minimum Wage Harvard Business Review
Ma, A. & Fath, S. & Rosette, A. (2022). Research: People Can Learn to Recognize Their Racial Privilege Harvard Business Review
Ma, A. & Yang, Y. & Savani, K. (2020). How to Respond to “Take It or Leave It” Harvard Business Review
WSB Stories
- What Do Our Clothes Communicate to Others? More Than We Might Think. - April 23, 2025
- Assistant Professor Anyi Ma’s Research Featured in Harvard Business Review - January 23, 2025
- Growth Mindset Research from WSB’s Anyi Ma Featured in Harvard Business Review - November 22, 2023
- WSB Faculty: How Is Your Work Helping Shape Better Business Leaders? - September 11, 2023
WSB Stories
What Do Our Clothes Communicate to Others? More Than We Might Think.
Assistant Professor Anyi Ma’s Research Featured in Harvard Business Review
Growth Mindset Research from WSB’s Anyi Ma Featured in Harvard Business Review
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