Assistant Professor of Psychology
About
Additional Research Interests: Psychological well-being
I am a faculty member at the Personality and Social Contexts area, the Department of Psychology, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and a docent of Organizational Behavior at the Aalto University School of Science, Finland. I also am a faculty associate at the Center for Positive Organizations, University of Michigan.
I graduated with a PhD at the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. After that, I have worked as a European Commission Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Kassel in Germany, as an Academy Research Fellow at the Aalto University School of Science, Finland, and as a senior researcher at the University of Giessen, Germany.
My research approaches people’s lives contextualized in social structures and systems, illuminating how theories and concepts in psychology gain more meaning and power when grounded in relevant social contexts. Drawing from personality, positive, and organizational psychology, I explore adult psychological growth that can emerge from struggles with work and life adversities. In addition, I explore the meaning of wellbeing in the context of adversarial life circumstances (e.g., forced displacement) and the strategies and resources that foster people's wellbeing in such situations.
Selected publications:
Kira, M., Belgrade, A., Saleem, N., Pattipati, M. A., & Lee, F. (2023), Values informing former refugees’ good life experiences and endeavors. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, DOI: 10.1080/15562948.2023.2213173
Wallin, A., Nokelainen, P., & Kira, M. (2022). From thriving developers to stagnant self-doubters: An identity-centered approach to exploring the relationship between digitalization and professional development. Vocations & Learning, 15, 285–316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-022-09288-6
Sadaghiyani, S., Belgrade, A., Kira, M., & Lee, F. (2022). Finding strength in adversity: Exploring the process of postadversarial growth among culturally diverse individuals. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000517
Belgrade, A., Kira, M., Sadaghiyani, S., & Lee, F. (2021). What makes us complete: Hybrid multicultural identity and its social contextual origins. Journal of Community Psychology, 50, 2290-2313. doi.org/10.1002/JCOP.22776
Xiong, Z.B., Her, M., Kira, M., Belgrade, A. J., Pattipati, M. A., Xiong, G. N., Miller, H., & Lee, F. (2021). Role of family in refugee adjustment: Experiences of Hmong, Somali, and Syrian refugees in the USA. Adversity and Resilience Science, 2, 285–301. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42844-021-00043-9
Belgrade, A., Kira, M., & Lee, F. (2021), The role of stable security in resettled refugees’ sense of wellbeing. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, DOI: 10.1080/15562948.2021.1955171.
Naegeli Costa, C., Park, N., & Kira, M. (2021). #ArmMeWith: Resources for teacher wellbeing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 11(2), 20-37.
Wehrle, K., Kira, M., & Klehe, U.-C. (2019). Putting career construction into context: Career adaptability among refugees. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 111, 107-124.
Klehe, U.-C., Koen, J., De Pater, I. E., & Kira, M. (2018). Too old to tango? Job loss and job search among older workers. In U.-C. Klehe & E. A. J. Hooft (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Job Loss and Job Search. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Wehrle, K., Klehe, U.-C., Kira, M., & Zikic. J. (2018). Can I come as I am? Refugees’ vocational identity threats, coping, and growth. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 105, 83-101.
Toiviainen, H., & Kira, M. (2017). From struggles to resource gains in interprofessional service networks: Key findings from a multiple case study. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 31(4), 479-486.
Kira, M., & Klehe, U.-C. (2016). Self-definition threats and potential for growth among mature-aged job-loss victims. Human Resource Management Review, 26, 242–259.
Kira, M., & Balkin, D. B. (2014). Interactions between work and identities: Thriving, withering, or redefining the self? Human Resource Management Review, 24, 131-143.
Kira, M., Balkin, D. B., & San, E. (2012). Authentic work and organizational change: Longitudinal evidence from a merger. Journal of Change Management, 21, 1, 31-51.
Kira, M., Van Eijnatten, F.M., & Balkin, D. B. (2010). Crafting sustainable work: Development of personal resources. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 23, 616-632.
Docherty, P., Kira, M., & Shani, A. B. (Eds., 2009). Creating Sustainable Work Systems. Developing Social Sustainability (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
