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Zaniboni Sara

Full Professor

Sara Zaniboni is Full Professor of Work and Organizational Psychology. She has previously worked at the University of Bologna, ETH Zurich, and the University of Trento, and has been a visiting professor/scholar at the University of Essex, University of Sherbrooke, Université du Québec à Montréal, Portland State University, and ISCTE – Lisbon University Institute. She is or has been: a) coordinator and/or member of 15 research groups (11 international and 4 national); b) Principal Investigator or Investigator of 14 funded projects (6 international and 8 national); c) recipient of 2 international research paper awards; d) member of 4 editorial boards of peer-reviewed journals; e) editor of 4 special issues in peer-reviewed journals; f) organizer of 11 scientific conferences and events (10 international and 1 national); g) author or co-author of more than 70 publications (including peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, academic textbooks, and outreach contributions); h) invited speaker for 11 keynotes and presentations at academic and industrial institutions, both nationally and internationally; i) appointed for institutional activities at both national and international levels (including Expert Evaluator for EU projects, External Examiner at the University of Limerick, and member of committees in associations such as SIOP and EAWOP).

Career

PhD in Social, Development and Organizational Psychology, U. of Bologna

Master degree in Psychology (Work and Organizational Psychology), U. of Bologna

Research

Sara Zaniboni’s work focuses on three main areas:

  1. Diversity at Work: Focusing on managing and enhancing diversity (e.g., age, disability, and gender) to achieve positive results for workers, teams, and companies.
  2. Work Design and Redesign: Investigating how characteristics of work impact key individual and organizational outcomes (e.g., performance, motivation, and well-being).
  3. Uncertainty at Work: Exploring how individuals engage with uncertainty and developing targeted interventions to foster an enhancing mindset within unpredictable environments, such as during job searches or human-technology and AI interactions.

These research lines are supported by multi-method approach, including the development of conceptual models, qualitative, quantitative and experimental methods, tool validation, and interventions.

Selected Publications

  1. Truxillo, D.M., Brady, G.M., Fraccaroli, F., Yaldiz, L., & Zaniboni, S. (2026). The future of work design and an age-diverse workforce in the context of the new economy. Human Resource Management Review, 36, 101131.
  2. Zaniboni, S., Pfrombeck, J., & Grote, G. (2025). Navigating uncertainty across the lifespan in contemporary work and careers: Introduction to the special issue. Work, Aging and Retirement, 11, 307-314.
  3. Brady, G.M., Cadiz, D.M., Truxillo, D.M., & Zaniboni, S. (2025). The consequences of age discrimination via perceived work ability: Downstream effects on well-being, performance, and motivation. Human Resource Management, 64, 247-264.
  4. Fraccaroli, F., Zaniboni, S., & Truxillo, D.M. (2024). Challenges in the new economy: A new era for work design. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 11, 307-335.
  5. Zaniboni, S., Kmicinska, M., Truxillo, D. M., Kahn, K., Paladino, M. P., & Fraccaroli, F. (2019). Will you still hire me when I am over 50? The effects of implicit and explicit age stereotyping on resume evaluations. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 28, 453-467.


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