Sanna Malinen is a Finnish–New Zealand psychology academic, and is a full professor at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

, specialising in

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

and

organisational psychology Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology) "focuses the lens of psychological science on a key aspect of human life, namely, their work lives. In general, the goals of I-O psychology are to better understand and optimize the effec ...

Academic career

Malinen is Finnish, and emigrated to New Zealand in 1996. Malinen completed a Bachelor of Arts at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

, followed by a Master of Science in psychology and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

at the University of Canterbury. Her doctoral thesis was titled ''Implicit and explicit attitudes towards older workers: Their predictive utility and the role of attitude malleability'' and was completed in 2009. Malinen then joined the faculty of the School of Business at University of Canterbury, rising to full professor in 2024. She works as part of the Workplace Analytics group with Professor Katharina Näswall. In 2013 Malinen was awarded the University of Canterbury School of Business and Economics Early Career Research award. Malinen is an organisational and applied psychologist, and her research covers topics such as leadership development, and how to build resilience in workplaces and communities. She has researched what factors in team meetings enable better decision-making, and the concept of 'paradoxical leadership' in public organisations, defined as 'the ability to balance competing structural and relational demands over time'. Malinen is also interested in environmental psychology, including the use of values in

environmental management Environmental resource management or environmental management is the management of the interaction and impact of human societies on the environment. It is not, as the phrase might suggest, the management of the environment itself. Environment ...

and the connection between nature and wellbeing, and disaster management within organisations and communities. Malinen has collaborated on research on cultural and

ecological resilience In ecology, resilience is the capacity of an ecosystem to respond to a perturbation or Disturbance (ecology), disturbance by resisting damage and subsequently recovering. Such perturbations and disturbances can include stochastic events such as ...

with Professor

Jacinta Ruru Jacinta Arianna Ruru (born 1974) is an established New Zealand academic and the first Māori professor of law. Ruru is currently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Māori at the University of Otago. Academic career Ruru completed a Master's at the ...

of the University of Otago and Dr Phil Lyver of

Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Landcare Research (Māori: Manaaki Whenua) is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute whose focus of research is the environment, biodiversity, and sustainability. The New Zealand Government intends to merge the institute into the New Zealand ...

as part of the Biological Heritage National Science Challenge. Malinen is married to an ecologist, and has two children.

Selected works

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References

External links

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By using their resilience, organizations can survive even from severe crisis
', Sanna Malinen on the Filosofian Akatemia Oy podcast (in English, via YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Malinen, Sanna New Zealand academics New Zealand women academics Academic staff of the University of Canterbury University of Otago alumni University of Canterbury alumni Finnish emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand psychologists Finnish psychologists