Social judgment and decision making drawing theory and method from research on: social perception, social cognition, judgment and decision making, social neuroscience, nonverbal communication, and personality.
I study rapid social judgment and decision-making. The primary thrust of my research investigates the attractive and economical claim that “snap” judgments and decisions are more adaptive than deliberative ones. My research is motivated by one primary problem: Attracted to the economy that “snap” judgments imply, some research and the popular book Blink argue that rapid judgments are better than more deliberative ones. Is it possible that “gut” driven judgments are better than thoughtfully considered ones? Although it is appealing to believe we are most savvy at social judgment when relying on our “gut” instincts, it is entirely unclear whether and when rapid judgments are superior. Decades of research and common lore understand deliberative social judgments and decisions to be much more adaptive. My work seeks to understand how, why, and under which conditions rapid social judgments and decisions are best. The importance of these questions is underscored by the ubiquity of rapid social judgment and decision in everyday social life.