Lay Theories of Expertise: A Mixed‐Methods Exploration

Lauren A. Keating and Benjamin W. Walker

Journal of Management Studies, 2026, vol. 63, issue 3, 1264-1302

Abstract: Failure to engage with expertise underpins many organizational and societal problems. Despite decades of research on expertise, we still do not fully understand why such failures persist, and there is a sense that these failures are becoming a crisis of expertise. In this article, we highlight a person's system of beliefs about the meaning of expertise – what we term their lay theory of expertise (LTE) – as an important factor for understanding their engagement with expertise. Through a free response study (Study 1), analysis of social media data (Study 2), and word sorting study (Study 3), we first develop a taxonomy of common LTE elements. We then examine how LTEs affect expert recognition via two experiments with managers (Studies 4 and 5). Study 4 reveals that congruence between the most psychologically active element of a person's lay theory and expert conduct is conducive to expert recognition, while Study 5 highlights that (in)congruence between LTEs and expert conduct can alter how other mental representations (such as gender stereotypes) shape expert recognition. Our work provides a conceptual foundation for exploring variation in the subjective meaning of expertise in future research on expert recognition and engagement, both within and beyond organizations.

Date: 2026
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