Academic History

  • B.A. (Psychology), University of Toronto, 1965

  • Ph.D. in Social Psychology, Columbia University, 1969

Professional Experience

  • Assistant Professor of Psychology, Stanford University, 1969-1975

  • Associate Professor of Psychology, Stanford University, 1975-1980

  • Professor of Psychology, Stanford University, 1980-present

  • Stanford Federal Credit Union Professor of Psychology 2003-present

  • Principal Investigator and Co-founder, Stanford Center on International Conflict and Negotiation, 1988- present

  • Executive Board Member, Center for International Security and Arms Control, 1997-present

Academic Awards and Honors

  • Woodrow Wilson Fellow, 1966

  • Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching 1991-1992

  • Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1994

  • E.E. Jones Memorial Lecture, Princeton, 2002

  • Carl Hovland Memorial Lecture, Yale University, 1989, 2002

  • William James Fellow of the American Psychological Association, 2003

  • Doctorate Honoris Causa Universaet Osnabrueck 2003

  • Third Fritz Heider Lecturer, University of Kansas, 2005

  • Distinguished Scientific Career Award, 2007, Society of Experimental Social Psychology

  • Elected to National Academy of Science, 2010

  • Katz-Newcomb Lecture, University of Michigan, 2011

  • Donald Hebb Lecture, Mc Gill University 2012

Current Research Interests

Human inference and judgment.  Strategies and shortcomings of the "intuitive scientist," especially the role of "naive realism" in fostering misunderstanding, misattribution, and conflict. Cognitive mechanisms underlying the perseverance of erroneous beliefs and maladaptive personal or social strategies.  Also, applications of these theoretical concerns to personal and social decision-making. Perceptions of justice and fairness and collective rationalization.

Basic psychological processes underlying interpersonal and intergroup misunderstanding and enmity, feelings of inequity and unfairness, and institutional, strategic, and psychological barriers to dispute resolution. Also, techniques and strategies for facilitating successful negotiation, and the use of multi-track diplomacy, dialogue groups, and other "public peace processes" to promote better understanding and discovery of  "common ground" in the context of intergroup conflict.

Issues in forensic psychology, including the relevance of basic social psychology and cognitive psychology to legal theory and practice; also, uses and abuses of social science data and "experts,” and the use of mediation and arbitration as alternatives to litigation.

Application of social psychology and related fields (e.g., microeconomics, game theory, and the judgment and decision-making tradition in cognitive psychology) to contemporary social problems and issues including educational underachievement, social security, climate change, and problems of an aging population—more generally strategies and tactics of "wise” social intervention.

Research Awards

  • Externality, Obesity, and the Control of Eating Behavior, NIH Grant HD-05281 (1971-1974)

  • Investigation of Empirical Issues Related to Capital Punishment, Sage Foundation  Grant (1973-1974)

  • Perseverance in self perception and social perception.  NIMH Grant MH-24134 (1975-1978)

  • Perseverance and change in impressions and theories.  NSF Grant BNS 78-0121 (1978-1981)

  • Errors in social inference:  Causes and consequences.  NIMH Grant MH-36093 (1981-1984)

  • Bias in social inference and prediction.  NIMH Grant MH-36093 (1984-1986)

  • Construal biases in social judgment.  NSF Grant BNS-86-06155 (1986-1988)

  • Construal biases in the mediation of conflict.  NIMH Grant MH-44321 (1989-2004)

  • Finding common ground in Northern Ireland.  USIP Grant (1998-1999)

  • Applying social psychology to social problems and conflicts. Hewlett Foundation Grant (2004-2008)

  • Conflict, collaboration, and dispute resolution: processes and theory-based intervention strategies. Israeli Binational Foundation Grant (2007-2012)

  • Exploring the effectiveness of duty-based arguments for retirement saving. Center on Advancing Decision Making in Aging (2009-2011)