Samantha "Sam" Stalion is a PhD student in Business Administration at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and an adjunct instructor at Indiana University. She conducts research on workplace mistreatment, destructive leadership, and the hidden harmful dynamics of power in organizations.
Sam’s research focuses on how employees interpret and respond to ambiguous and covert forms of workplace mistreatment, particularly workplace gaslighting. Her work examines the cognitive, relational, and cultural conditions that allow harmful leadership behaviors to emerge and persist, often beneath the surface of “strong” or high-performing leadership. Drawing from perspectives such as sensemaking, impression management, dramaturgy, and cognitive dissonance theory, she explores how individuals navigate experiences of ambiguity, manipulation, and power in organizational life.
Using a theoretically pluralist approach, Sam draws from qualitative and quantitative methodologies (including diary studies, multilevel modeling, thematic analysis, and discourse analysis) to study how destructive workplace dynamics are triggered and unfold over time and how employees cope with, resist, and recover from these experiences.
Alongside her research, Sam teaches courses on leadership, organizational culture, and team dynamics with an emphasis on practical, ethical, and psychologically sustainable leadership practices.