
Jon M. Jachimowicz
Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Jon Jachimowicz is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School, where he teaches the Leadership and Organizational Behavior course (LEAD) in the Required Curriculum.
Professor Jachimowicz's research focuses on two topics. First, he studies employees' passion for their work, highlighting that passion is an attribute that varies over time. As a result, employees can pursue their passion, fall out of passion, and learn how to maintain their passion. In addition, his research highlights that passion manifests in observable behaviors which are readily perceived by others who react to those who express passion. Second, he studies economic inequality, exploring how disparities in income are perceived, and how they influence individuals' emotions and behaviors. He particularly focuses on how those at the bottom of the income distribution can be supported to attain more favorable long-term outcomes. In exploring both topics, Professor Jachimowicz takes an interdisciplinary approach, leveraging theory from social psychology, behavioral economics, sociology, and organizational behavior, and conducts field experiments in collaboration with companies, local government, and NGOs.
Professor Jachimowicz received a Ph.D. in Management from Columbia Business School, an M.Phil. in Innovation, Strategy, and Organization from the University of Cambridge, and an M.A. in Psychology and Management from the University of St Andrews. His work has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Human Behaviour, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.
Professor Jachimowicz's research focuses on two topics. First, he studies employees' passion for their work, highlighting that passion is an attribute that varies over time. As a result, employees can pursue their passion, fall out of passion, and learn how to maintain their passion. In addition, his research highlights that passion manifests in observable behaviors which are readily perceived by others who react to those who express passion. Second, he studies economic inequality, exploring how disparities in income are perceived, and how they influence individuals' emotions and behaviors. He particularly focuses on how those at the bottom of the income distribution can be supported to attain more favorable long-term outcomes. In exploring both topics, Professor Jachimowicz takes an interdisciplinary approach, leveraging theory from social psychology, behavioral economics, sociology, and organizational behavior, and conducts field experiments in collaboration with companies, local government, and NGOs.
Professor Jachimowicz received a Ph.D. in Management from Columbia Business School, an M.Phil. in Innovation, Strategy, and Organization from the University of Cambridge, and an M.A. in Psychology and Management from the University of St Andrews. His work has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Human Behaviour, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.
- Academic Articles
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- Jachimowicz, Jon M., Ruo Mo, Adam Eric Greenberg, Bertus Jeronimus, and Ashley V. Whillans. "Income More Reliably Predicts Frequent Than Intense Happiness." Social Psychological & Personality Science (forthcoming). (Pre-published online December 7, 2020.) View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M., Julia Lee Cunningham, Bradley Staats, Francesca Gino, and Jochen I. Menges. "Between Home and Work: Commuting as an Opportunity for Role Transitions." Organization Science 32, no. 1 (January–February 2021): 64–85. View Details
- Götz, Friedrich M., Andrés Gvirtz, Adam D. Galinsky, and Jon M. Jachimowicz. "How Personality and Policy Predict Pandemic Behavior: Understanding Sheltering-in-Place in 55 Countries at the Onset of COVID-19." American Psychologist 76, no. 1 (January 2021): 39–49. View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M., Barnabas Szaszi, Marcel Lukas, David Smerdon, Jaideep Prabhu, and Elke U. Weber. "Higher Economic Inequality Intensifies the Financial Hardship of People Living in Poverty by Fraying the Community Buffer." Special Issue on Racism in Action. Nature Human Behaviour 4, no. 7 (July 2020): 702–712. View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M., Shannon Duncan, Elke U. Weber, and Eric J. Johnson. "When and Why Defaults Influence Decisions: A Meta-analysis of Default Effects." Behavioural Public Policy 3, no. 2 (November 2019): 159–186. View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M., Joe J. Gladstone, Dan Berry, Charlotte L. Kirkdale, Tracey Thornley, and Adam D. Galinsky. "Making Medications Stick: Improving Medication Adherence by Highlighting the Personal Health Costs of Non-compliance." Behavioural Public Policy (forthcoming): 1–21. (Pre-published online, February 27, 2019.) View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M., Christopher To, Shira Agasi, Stéphane Côté, and Adam D. Galinsky. "The Gravitational Pull of Expressing Passion: When and How Expressing Passion Elicits Status Conferral and Support from Others." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 153 (July 2019): 41–62. View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M., Oliver P. Hauser, Julia D. O'Brien, Erin Sherman, and Adam D. Galinsky. "The Critical Role of Second-order Normative Beliefs in Predicting Energy Conservation." Nature Human Behaviour 2, no. 10 (October 2018): 757–764. View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M., Andreas Wihler, Erica R. Bailey, and Adam D. Galinsky. "Why Grit Requires Perseverance and Passion to Positively Predict Performance." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, no. 40 (October 2, 2018): 9980–9985. View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M., Salah Chafik, Sabeth Munrat, Jaideep C. Prabhu, and Elke U. Weber. "Community Trust Reduces Myopic Decisions of Low-income Individuals." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114, no. 21 (May 23, 2017): 5401–5406. View Details
- Popular Articles
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- Jachimowicz, Jon M., Shannon Duncan, Elke U. Weber, and Eric J. Johnson. "Defaults Are Not the Same by Default." Behavioral Scientist (April 16, 2019). View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M. "3 Reasons It's So Hard to 'Follow Your Passion'." Harvard Business Review (website) (October 15, 2019). View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M., Joyce He, and Julian Arango. "The Unexpected Benefits of Pursuing a Passion Outside of Work." Harvard Business Review (website) (November 19, 2019). View Details
- Gino, Francesca, Bradley Staats, Jon M. Jachimowicz, Julia J. Lee, and Jochen I. Menges. "Reclaim Your Commute: Getting To and From Work Doesn't Have to be Soul Crushing." Harvard Business Review 95, no. 3 (May–June 2017): 149–153. View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M. "The Passion Paradox: A Conversation with Brad Stulberg." Behavioral Scientist (April 9, 2019). View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M., Oliver P. Hauser, Julie O'Brien, Erin Sherman, and Adam D. Galinsky. "Research: People Use Less Energy When They Think Their Neighbors Care About the Environment." Harvard Business Review (website) (January 28, 2019). View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M. "The Study Premortem: Why Publishing Null Results Is Only the First Step." Behavioral Scientist (October 16, 2018). View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M., Sandra Matz, and Vyacheslav Polonski. "The Behavioral Scientist's Ethics Checklist." Behavioral Scientist (October 23, 2017). View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M., Elke U. Weber, and Jaideep C. Prabhu. "The Conditions that Help Poor People Make Better Decisions, According to New Research." Quartz (May 2, 2017). View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M. "What to Do When Someone Angrily Challenges Your Data." Harvard Business Review (website) (April 5, 2017). View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M. "A 5-Step Process to Get More Out of Your Organization's Data." Harvard Business Review (website) (March 16, 2017). View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M., and Sam McNerney. "The Problem with Following Your Passion." Washington Post, On Leadership (November 6, 2015). View Details
- Jachimowicz, Jon M., and Sam McNerney. "Should Governments Nudge Us to Make Good Choices?" Scientific American Mind (September 1, 2015). View Details
- Working Papers
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- Cormier, Grace, and Jon M. Jachimowicz. "Quiet Fires Fail to Impress: Introverted Expressions of Passion Receive Less Social Worth." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-027, August 2020. View Details
- Tan, Josephine, and Jon M. Jachimowicz. "The Pursuit of Passion Propagates Privilege." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-136, June 2020. View Details
- Fetzer, Thiemo, Marc Witte, Lucas Hensel, Jon M. Jachimowicz, Johannes Haushofer, Andriy Ivchenko, Stefano Caria, Elena Reutskaja, Christopher Roth, Stefano Fiorin, Margarita Gomez, Gordon Kraft-Todd, Friedrich M. Goetz, and Erez Yoeli. "Global Behaviors and Perceptions in the COVID-19 Pandemic." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-111, April 2020. View Details
- Book Chapters
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- Ruggeri, Kai, Jascha Achterberg, Jana Berkessel, Alessandra Luna-Navarro, Jon M. Jachimowicz, and A.V. Whillans. "Behavioral Insights for the Workplace." Chap. 9 in Behavioral Insights for Public Policy: Concepts and Cases, edited by Kai Ruggeri. New York: Routledge, 2018. View Details
- Ruggeri, Kai, Jana Berkessel, Jascha Achterberg, Gerhard M. Prinz, Alessandra Luna-Navarro, Jon M. Jachimowicz, and A.V. Whillans. "Work and Workplace." Chap. 9 in Behavioral Insights for Public Policy: Concepts and Cases, edited by Kai Ruggeri, 156–173. New York: Routledge, 2018. View Details
- Additional Information
- In The News
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