Tin Nguyen, PhD
- Assistant Professor
- Psychology
- ASH 347 C
- Industrial Organizational Psychology
Additional Information
Bio
Tin L. Nguyen, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the Research and Technology Transition Lead for the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education (NCITE) Center. He received his doctorate from The Pennsylvania State University and has a decade of research and consulting experience working with federal entities, non-profit organizations, and corporations on issues of employee innovation, teamwork, engagement, and retention.
Nguyen’s expertise lies in the psychology and management of norm-violating behaviors, such as creativity, work-related deviance, and violence. His work spans basic and applied research, and he serves on the editorial review boards for the Journal of Business and Psychology, Creativity Research Journal, and The Journal of Creative Behavior. He has received more than $1.5 million in external funding in collaboration with federal partners and non-profit research institutes.
Research Interests
Idea implementation, creative self-regulation, emotions in creative work, work deviance, violence prevention and mitigation, workforce training, teamwork, event security, behavioral threat assessment and management
Education
B.A. Psychology, Creighton University
B.S. Exercise Science, Creighton University
M.S. Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University
Ph.D. Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University
Teaching
PSYC 9650 – Research Methods in Psychology
PSYC 9630 – Leadership Theories and Research
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Nguyen, T. L., Prabhu, R. (2025). The ACT-ON Ideas framework: A contingency perspective on creative self-regulation. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 59(1), e1537. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.1537
Nguyen, T. L., d’Amato, A. L., Miller, S. R., Hunter, S. T. (2025). Malevolent creativity as parochial altruism? Examining the intergroup bases of new and harmful ideas. Creativity Research Journal, 37(1), 104-119. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2023.2255011
Nguyen, T. L., Walters, K. N., d’Amato, A. L., Miller, S. R., & Hunter, S. T. (2024). Target personification influences the positive emotional link between generating and implementing malevolently creative ideas. Creativity Research Journal, 36(1), 42-57. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2022.2089820
Nguyen, T. L., Allen, M. T., & Parsons, K. (2023) Advancing an organizational perspective on insider threat prevention and management. Managing Insider Risk and Organizational Resilience Journal, 1(1), 43-58. https://insiderthreat.westpoint.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2023/09/Report_Volume-11_2021SpringEdition-1.pdf
Nguyen, T. L., & Hunter, S. T. (2023). Not worth my time: Applying a value-based framework of creative idea appraisals to predict investments of time toward implementing others’ ideas. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 56(2), 274-295. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.529
Hunter, S. T., Walters, K. N., Nguyen, T. L., & Manning, C. E. (2022). Malevolent creativity and malevolent innovation: A critical but tenuous linkage. Creativity Research Journal, 34(2), 123-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2021.1987735
Technical Reports
Nguyen, T. L., Scalora, M., & Bulling, D. (2024). Behavioral threat assessment and management programs: Practitioner-informed baseline capabilities. A technical report published by the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education (NCITE) Center. Omaha: NE. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1098&context=ncitereportsresearch
Allen, M. T., Parsons, K., Nguyen, T. L., & Zimmerman, L. (2024). Understanding insider threats: learning from related research streams. A technical report published by the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education (NCITE) Center. Omaha: NE. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1055&context=ncitereportsresearch
NEW IDEAS Lab
The Novel Explorations of Work and Innovation through the Design, Evaluation, and Application of Science (NEW IDEAS) Lab
Dr. Tin Nguyen directs the NEW IDEAS Lab, which applies scientific methods to study how people experience and navigate innovative work in a variety of contexts, often amidst social, environmental, and resource constraints. The NEW IDEAS Lab conducts both basic and applied research, relying on multidisciplinary perspectives and a blend of qualitative and quantitative methods. Topics under investigation:
- How do people create, implement, and sustain new ideas for products, processes, programs, or services in resource-constrained contexts?
- How do people manage their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors when implementing creative ideas?
- How do people view and self-construct environments for creative work?
- How do creators respond to idea rejection?
- Why and how do people innovate for nefarious reasons, and how can we mitigate harm?
Additional Information
Bio
Tin L. Nguyen, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the Research and Technology Transition Lead for the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education (NCITE) Center. He received his doctorate from The Pennsylvania State University and has a decade of research and consulting experience working with federal entities, non-profit organizations, and corporations on issues of employee innovation, teamwork, engagement, and retention.
Nguyen’s expertise lies in the psychology and management of norm-violating behaviors, such as creativity, work-related deviance, and violence. His work spans basic and applied research, and he serves on the editorial review boards for the Journal of Business and Psychology, Creativity Research Journal, and The Journal of Creative Behavior. He has received more than $1.5 million in external funding in collaboration with federal partners and non-profit research institutes.
Research Interests
Idea implementation, creative self-regulation, emotions in creative work, work deviance, violence prevention and mitigation, workforce training, teamwork, event security, behavioral threat assessment and management
Education
B.A. Psychology, Creighton University
B.S. Exercise Science, Creighton University
M.S. Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University
Ph.D. Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University
Teaching
PSYC 9650 – Research Methods in Psychology
PSYC 9630 – Leadership Theories and Research
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Nguyen, T. L., Prabhu, R. (2025). The ACT-ON Ideas framework: A contingency perspective on creative self-regulation. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 59(1), e1537. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.1537
Nguyen, T. L., d’Amato, A. L., Miller, S. R., Hunter, S. T. (2025). Malevolent creativity as parochial altruism? Examining the intergroup bases of new and harmful ideas. Creativity Research Journal, 37(1), 104-119. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2023.2255011
Nguyen, T. L., Walters, K. N., d’Amato, A. L., Miller, S. R., & Hunter, S. T. (2024). Target personification influences the positive emotional link between generating and implementing malevolently creative ideas. Creativity Research Journal, 36(1), 42-57. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2022.2089820
Nguyen, T. L., Allen, M. T., & Parsons, K. (2023) Advancing an organizational perspective on insider threat prevention and management. Managing Insider Risk and Organizational Resilience Journal, 1(1), 43-58. https://insiderthreat.westpoint.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2023/09/Report_Volume-11_2021SpringEdition-1.pdf
Nguyen, T. L., & Hunter, S. T. (2023). Not worth my time: Applying a value-based framework of creative idea appraisals to predict investments of time toward implementing others’ ideas. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 56(2), 274-295. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.529
Hunter, S. T., Walters, K. N., Nguyen, T. L., & Manning, C. E. (2022). Malevolent creativity and malevolent innovation: A critical but tenuous linkage. Creativity Research Journal, 34(2), 123-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2021.1987735
Technical Reports
Nguyen, T. L., Scalora, M., & Bulling, D. (2024). Behavioral threat assessment and management programs: Practitioner-informed baseline capabilities. A technical report published by the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education (NCITE) Center. Omaha: NE. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1098&context=ncitereportsresearch
Allen, M. T., Parsons, K., Nguyen, T. L., & Zimmerman, L. (2024). Understanding insider threats: learning from related research streams. A technical report published by the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education (NCITE) Center. Omaha: NE. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1055&context=ncitereportsresearch
NEW IDEAS Lab
The Novel Explorations of Work and Innovation through the Design, Evaluation, and Application of Science (NEW IDEAS) Lab
Dr. Tin Nguyen directs the NEW IDEAS Lab, which applies scientific methods to study how people experience and navigate innovative work in a variety of contexts, often amidst social, environmental, and resource constraints. The NEW IDEAS Lab conducts both basic and applied research, relying on multidisciplinary perspectives and a blend of qualitative and quantitative methods. Topics under investigation:
- How do people create, implement, and sustain new ideas for products, processes, programs, or services in resource-constrained contexts?
- How do people manage their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors when implementing creative ideas?
- How do people view and self-construct environments for creative work?
- How do creators respond to idea rejection?
- Why and how do people innovate for nefarious reasons, and how can we mitigate harm?