Eva Selenko is a Professor in Work Psychology at Loughborough University. A social and organisational psychologist by origin (MSc, University of Groningen, NL; PhD, University of Graz, Austria) she is interested in how precarious or quickly changing work situations can affect people's identity, their wellbeing, their performance and their attitudes – within and beyond work. She is a prolific author, who has published in world-leading journals; is active as editorial board member for Journal of Organizational Behavior (from 2026) and the Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. In recognition for her work on precarity and wellbeing she was awarded a Fellowship by the Royal Society of Arts in 2020. Since 2026 she also holds an Alma Mater Professorship at Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
Eva’s research focuses on precarious employment situations and how these affect wellbeing, identity and behaviour. Work is part of who we are – but what happens to our sense of self when work becomes insecure, difficult to get, or changes dramatically? And how does that affect expectations, wellbeing, work performance and even civic engagement outside work? In her research on AI and digitalisation, Eva is curious to find out how dramatic changes to the nature of work affect peoples self-understanding.
In her research with the Work-Politics Nexus Eva is starting to explore in an international group of researchers how experiences that people make at work - shape their democratic participation and civic behavior outside work, in broader society.
Eva publishes her research in leading academic journals, such as the Journal of Management, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Journal of Organisational Behavior, Current Directions in Psychological Science, and European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology among others and regularly presents at international academic conferences. Outside academia Eva has served as policy advisor for Cumberland Lodge, the German BAUA and the World Bank and gets regularly invited as a keynote speaker at international events.
Eva’s research focuses on how work situations affect people’s well-being, job performance, but also civic behaviour outside the work context. Starting from the premise that work is closely related to who we are, Eva explores what happens if work suddenly becomes insecure, unattainable, or lost – or changes dramatically due to AI.
Work means more than just providing a financial income alone – it can offer social contacts, the opportunity to do something useful, it structures time, it activates people. However, not all forms of work can provide these functions equally well, and if work changes, associated identities might change with it or get threatened – with serious consequences for wellbeing, performance and even civic behavior outside work.
To investigate these questions in modern (often precarious) work settings and explore the bridges between work changes and employment experiences, employment experiences and wider democratic participation, provides the stage for Eva’s research interests.
If you are interested in these issues from an academic, practitioner, or policymaking angle, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Eva is open to supervise PhD students with interests in her research.
- Alma Mater Professor, Johannes-Kepler University Linz
- Journal of Organizational Behavior (Editorial Board member)
- Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organisational Psychology (Editorial Board member)
- Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts
- Habilitation ad personam, Johannes-Kepler University Linz (2016)
- Selenko, E., Schilbach, M., Brieger, S. A., Van Hootegem, A., & De Witte, H. (2025). The political consequences of work: An integrative review. Journal of Management, 51(6), 2355-2388.
- Selenko, E., Bankins, S., Shoss, M., Warburton, J., & Restubog, S. L. D. (2022). Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work: A Functional-Identity Perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 31(3), 272-279.
- Selenko, E., Mäkikangas, A., & Stride, C. B. (2017). Does job insecurity threaten who you are? Introducing a social identity perspective to explain well‐being and performance consequences of job insecurity. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(6), 856-875.
- Klug, K., Selenko, E., & Gerlitz, J. Y. (2021). Working, but not for a living: a longitudinal study on the psychological consequences of economic vulnerability among German employees. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 30(6), 790-807.
- Selenko, E., & De Witte, H. (2021). How job insecurity affects political attitudes: Identity threat plays a role. Applied Psychology, 70(3), 1267-1294.