Introducing New Graduate Student Seoyeong Jeong

August 7, 2024 - Shelly DeJong

Meet Seoyeong Jeong, an incoming graduate student in the Organizational Psychology research area.

 

Name: Seoyeong Jeong (she/her) 

Hometown: I grew up in Gwangyang, a small and peaceful city in southern South Korea. When I was 20, I moved to Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, to attend university. 

Education:

M.S. Yonsei University (Industrial and Organizational Psychology) 

B.A. Yonsei University (Major: Psychology / Minor: Applied Statistics) 

 

Tell us about your background/experience. 

Hello everyone! I am thrilled to be joining the Organizational Psychology PhD program at Michigan State University. While I'm excited to start my PhD program in the U.S., I also have some concerns about adapting to a new environment since I've only ever lived in South Korea. I would greatly appreciate it if you could share any insights about the new culture! 

During my master’s degree, I participated in several research projects that explored the safety climate in hospitals, the relationship between daily micro-break and well-being after work, and the positive effect of cooperation across diverse generations. Based on these experiences, I have developed a keen research interest in research areas related to occupational health psychology. 

In addition, I am interested in learning and applying new statistical methods. That is why I minored in applied statistics during my undergraduate and took as many statistics courses as possible during my master’s degree. Despite these efforts, I still want to delve into advanced statistical methods (e.g., network analysis, multi-level analysis, and computational modeling) and to gain more research opportunities. I am anticipating collaborating with many faculty members and current students on various projects. 

I am happy to meet all of you and hope to form good relationships with the MSU OP members! 

 

Why grad school? 

Although I encountered some difficulties at times, developing my own research was an amazing experience. I feel like I am continuously learning and developing myself through this process. Therefore, I applied for the PhD program. 

 

What do you hope to research while you're here? 

There are two main research topics that I would like to study during my doctoral degree. 

First, I am planning to research topics related to occupational health psychology (OHP). I am interested in both employees’ psychological and physical well-being (e.g., eating habits, quality of sleep, and physical activity after work). Thus, I want to examine which organizational factors (e.g., workload, social support, and break time during work hours) affect employees’ well-being in their life domain and investigate the specific mechanism involved. 

Furthermore, I aim to investigate the well-being of older workers, with a specific focus on their distinct characteristics. I endeavor to explore the predictor of successful adaptation of older workers and, ultimately, to suggest how we can help them maintain their performance and well-being. 

Second, I intend to investigate strategies for improving the accuracy of measurement. To achieve this, I want to study item response theory (IRT) in depth. Additionally, I would like to examine ways to overcome the limitation of relying solely on self-report surveys by incorporating additional methods such as game-based assessment and text analysis. 

 

Why are you interested in Organizational Psychology?  

Through an internship in my third year of university, I realized the profound impact of work on one’s life. Specifically, dynamics in organizations, such as the interaction between members and leaders or the relationship between work and life domains, fascinate me the most about organizational psychology. 

In addition, I believe that majoring in organizational psychology would be a good chance for me since I could comprehensively learn about measurement, psychometrics, and advanced statistics. 

Therefore, I decided to pursue a doctoral degree in organizational psychology. 

 

In your free time, what do you like to do? 

In my free time, I enjoy exercises such as Pilates, yoga, and weight training. Additionally, I love watching video clips about pandas or the history of war on YouTube. (Actually, I am a BIG fan of the panda named Fubao. I think she is the cutest panda in the world!) 

Sometimes, I hang out with my friends exploring delicious restaurants. Let me know if you would like to discover some nice restaurants in East Lansing with me!