Hongkai Mao

Hongkai Mao
PhD Student, Organizational Behavior
PhD Program Office Graduate School of Business Stanford University 655 Knight Way Stanford, CA 94305

Hongkai Mao

Research Statement

My research examines the unintended consequences of emergent technologies on individuals within organizations. Specifically, I investigate how individual cognition and behavior evolve alongside shifting technological paradigms over time, and how underlying psychological drivers intersect with broader organizational landscapes. I pay particular attention to the adverse outcomes these innovations may bring, devising interventions to obviate them.

Research Interests

  • Computational Social Science
  • Technology
  • Morality
  • Emotion

Publications

H. Mao, Y.C. Leong, Y. Jiang, A. Koch, W.J. Brady, & J.C. Jackson, Differentiation drives the erosion of positivity on social media, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 123 (26) e2527316123, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2527316123 (2026).