Overview

First, Professor Zlatev studies how people make decisions that reinforce a sense that they are good or moral. He studies the psychology behind dual motive behaviors—actions that incorporate self-interested and prosocial motives—and the structure of moral identity. For example, he examines the role that counterfactual thinking plays in shaping charitable behavior as well as how dual motive behaviors play out within the context of investment decisions.

Second, Professor Zlatev examines the factors that contribute to judgments of how moral others are, including the cues people use to form impressions of another’s moral character. For example, he hypothesizes that one signal people use to judge a target’s moral character is how much that target cares about social issues. As a result, he studies how observers respond to targets who disagree with them on a contentious issue, but who also care deeply about the issue.

Finally, Professor Zlatev looks into social influence in organizational life and the role it plays in effective leadership and negotiation. In doing so, he explores ways in which leaders can use positive and negative instruments to motivate employees. For example, he examines the use (and misuse) of the default effect (the tendency to choose whichever option is already set as the default), one of the most common influence techniques in psychology and economics. He also looks at whether the qualities associated with leadership translate into competence in negotiations.