His research explores how people understand their position within social and interpersonal hierarchies and the impact this understanding has on their perceptions of self, others, and group-based inequality. Unzueta's research has been published in top management and psychology journals including Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Science, and the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. In 2012, he was awarded the Eric and "E" Juline award for excellence in research at UCLA Anderson.