Wendi Adair

BS (Georgetown), MS, PhD (Northwestern)

Contact information

Culture at Work Lab

Research interests

My current research focuses on the impact of culture and low/high context communication on interdependent work outcomes including negotiation outcome, conflict resolution, interpersonal trust, and team performance. I am co-Principal Investigator for Indigenous Workways, a collaborative project among faculty and Indigenous Student Centres in Southwest Ontario working to empower Indigenous youth with career mentors and opportunities, and Ontario employers with relational, respectful, reciprocal, and relevant workplace communication and climate practices. My research appears in outlets including Journal of Applied Psychology, Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, and Academy of Management Discoveries. I have served as Associate Editor of Negotiation and Conflict Management Research and President of the International Association for Conflict Management.

Selected publications

• Ramirez, J., Olekalns, M., & Adair, W.L. (2019). Normatively speaking: Do cultural norms influence negotiation, conflict management, and communication? Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, 12(2), 146-160.
• Kung, F., Chao, M.M., Yao, D.J., Adair, W.L., Fu, J.H., & Tasa, K. (2018). Bridging racial divides: Social constructionist (vs. essentialist) beliefs facilitate trust in intergroup contexts. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 74: 121-134.
• Chuapetcharasopon, P., Neville, L., Adair, W.L., Brodt, S., Lituchy, T., & Racine, A. (2018). Cultural mosaic beliefs as a new measure of the psychological climate for diversity: Individual distinctiveness and synergy in culturally diverse teams. International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management, 18(1): 7-32.
• Adair, W.L., Kwantes, C., Stonefish, T., Badea, R., & Weir, W. (2017). Conversations about Aboriginal work experiences: Reflections for community members, organizations, and the academy. Journal of Aboriginal Economic Development, 10(2), 53-72.
• Adair, W.L, Buchan, N., Chen, X.P., & Liu, D. (2016). A model of communication context and measure of context dependence. Academy of Management Discoveries, 2(2), 198-217.

Research grants and awards (last 5 years)

• Adair, W.L., Campbell, L., & Kwantes, C. Reconciliation in the workplace: Creating cultures of trust via effective communication, building relationships, and a climate for cultural safety for Indigenous employees in Ontario and Canada. Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence Award.
• Kwantes, C., Adair, W.L., & Hewitt, J.G. Indigenous Workways: Cultural safety, cultures of trust and psychologically safe workplaces. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Grant.
• Kwantes, C., Adair, W.L., & Weir, W. Sharing knowledge and building relationships: Aboriginal experience in the cross-cultural workplace. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Connections Grant.
• Adair, W. Cross-cultural negotiation challenges: The role of nonverbal expression, multicultural experience, and implicit beliefs on miscommunication and information exchange. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Standard Research Grant.