Samantha N. Smith

Research

I examine when incentives help talent emerge—and when they create costly trade-offs for identity, belonging, and advancement.

Dissertation

Alone at the Top: When Competition Makes Standing Out Worth Standing Alone

Competition not only identifies talent—it fundamentally shapes how talent emerges. My dissertation introduces solo positioning—the strategic choice to become the only member of one's identity group in competitive contexts. Across eleven experiments (N = 11,800), I find that people are twice as likely to forego homophily for distinctiveness when competing for bonuses or promotions. Those who employ this strategy expect to stand out to evaluators through reduced social comparisons, and they appraise competition as a challenge rather than a threat. To understand the long-term implications of this strategy, I analyzed 500 executive career memos. Solo positioning proves particularly consequential for working-class executives, for whom it enables upward mobility while creating enduring isolation: families cannot relate to their professional challenges, and peers with inherited networks feel inaccessible. These findings advance optimal distinctiveness theory by revealing how competition shifts the belonging-distinctiveness calculus—making standing alone strategically compelling despite its psychological cost. More broadly, competitive evaluation systems may systematically disadvantage individuals who derive strength from group identity, with implications for how organizations design promotion processes.

Under Review

Smith, Samantha N., Pink, Sophia L., Kirgios, Erika L., Chang, Edward H., and Milkman, Katherine L. Which Group Should I Join? Competition Drives Group Selection Away from Like-Minded Others. [Conditionally accepted at Journal of Experimental Social Psychology]

Work in Progress

Smith, Samantha N., “Challenge Accepted: How and Why Competition Alters Group Affiliation Preferences” [Preparing for submission to OBHDP]

Smith, Samantha N., “Flying Solo: Strategic Gains and Psychological Tolls of Low-SES Executive Advancement” [Analyzing data]

Smith, Samantha N., “The Polarity Penalty: How Feedback Variability Exacerbates Gendered Performance Differences in Organizations” [Writing manuscript]

Select Presentations and Interviews

Smith, Samantha N. (2025, July). The Data-Driven Workforce: Transforming Human Capital into Competitive Advantage. Moderated conversation with Matthew Breitfelder at Apollo Global Management, New York, NY.

Catoe, Jamel, *Blocker, Victor E., Smith, Samantha N., *Holmes IV, Oscar, Carter, James T., Johnson, Tiffany D., Ruggs, Enrica N., Gonzalez, Jorge A., Muzanenhamo, Penelope, Chico, Robert, Garcia, Alexandria L., De La Haye, DC, Reddick, Joanna, Rivera Piedra, Daniela, Simon, Angel, Thomas, Syreeta A., Turner. Sarah R. (2025, July). Expanding DEI Horizons: Broader Approaches to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Management Research. Co-organized PDW at AOM Annual Meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Smith, Samantha N., Kirgios, Erika L., Chang, Edward H., and Milkman, Katherine L. (2022, November). Which Group Should I Join? Competition Drives Group Selection Away from Like-Minded Others. Oral presentation at SJDM Conference, San Diego, CA.

Smith, Samantha N., Kirgios, Erika L., Chang, Edward H., and Milkman, Katherine L. (2022, August). Which Group Should I Join? Competition Drives Group Selection Away from Like-Minded Others. Organized presenter symposium and presented at AOM Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.

Smith, Samantha N. (2021, October). In Conversation with Linda Hill, Ph.D. Rising Scholars Conference at Harvard Business School, Boston, MA.

* Presented by co-author(s)

Future Directions

Standing Out Without Burning Out—How can organizations foster excellence while preserving belonging?

I am developing three interconnected streams. First, system-level interventions—redesigning promotion processes, bonus structures, and performance reviews to preserve belonging alongside differentiation (e.g., cohort-based advancement, team-based rewards, structured peer networks). Second, individual differences—to understand who is most vulnerable to solo positioning's costs and who develops resilience, examining factors like social class background, identity centrality, and early career experiences. Third, belonging-preserving practices—to help professionals maintain connections while standing out (e.g., mentor networks, identity-affirming feedback, and cross-identity collaboration structures). My approach combines experiments and archival analyses to develop practical tools and frameworks that guide talent reviews, succession planning, and leadership assessment.