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Publications

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    • All HBS Web  (218)
      • Faculty Publications  (29)

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      • April 27, 2022
      • Article

      Inequality in Researchers' Minds: Four Guiding Questions for Studying Subjective Perceptions of Economic Inequality

      By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Shai Davidai, Daniela Goya-Tocchetto, Barnabas Szaszi, Martin Day, Stephanie Tepper, L. Taylor Phillips, M. Usman Mirza, Nailya Ordabayeva and Oliver P. Hauser
      Subjective perceptions of inequality can substantially influence policy attitudes, public health metrics, and societal well-being, but the lack of consensus in the scientific community on how to best operationalize and measure these perceptions may impede progress on...  View Details
      Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Perception; Analysis
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      Jachimowicz, Jon M., Shai Davidai, Daniela Goya-Tocchetto, Barnabas Szaszi, Martin Day, Stephanie Tepper, L. Taylor Phillips, M. Usman Mirza, Nailya Ordabayeva, and Oliver P. Hauser. "Inequality in Researchers' Minds: Four Guiding Questions for Studying Subjective Perceptions of Economic Inequality." Journal of Economic Surveys (April 27, 2022).
      • March 2022
      • Article

      How Much Does Your Boss Make? The Effects of Salary Comparisons

      By: Zoë B. Cullen and Ricardo Perez-Truglia
      The vast majority of the pay inequality in an organization comes from differences in pay between employees and their bosses. But are employees aware of these pay disparities? Are employees demotivated by this inequality? To address these questions, we conducted a...  View Details
      Keywords: Salary; Inequality; Managers; Career Concerns; Pay Transparency; Wages; Equality and Inequality; Perception; Behavior
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      Cullen, Zoë B., and Ricardo Perez-Truglia. "How Much Does Your Boss Make? The Effects of Salary Comparisons." Journal of Political Economy 130, no. 3 (March 2022): 766–822.
      • 2021
      • Article

      Psychological Pathways Linking Income Inequality in Adolescence to Well-being in Adulthood

      By: Lora E. Park, Han Young Jung, Kristen Schultz Lee, Deborah E. Ward, Paul K. Piff, Ashley Whillans and Kristin Naragon-Gainey
      Does exposure to income inequality in adolescence relate to well-being in adulthood? In Studies 1 and 2 ( N = 888), individuals who grew up in U.S. counties with higher income inequality expected greater benefits of financial success as adults, were more likely to base...  View Details
      Keywords: Financial Contingency Of Self-worth; Life Satisfaction; Social Comparison; Income; Equality and Inequality; Happiness; Satisfaction; Well-being
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      Park, Lora E., Han Young Jung, Kristen Schultz Lee, Deborah E. Ward, Paul K. Piff, Ashley Whillans, and Kristin Naragon-Gainey. "Psychological Pathways Linking Income Inequality in Adolescence to Well-being in Adulthood." Self and Identity 20, no. 8 (2021): 982–1014.
      • July 2021
      • Article

      Making Medications Stick: Improving Medication Adherence by Highlighting the Personal Health Costs of Non-compliance

      By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Joe J. Gladstone, Dan Berry, Charlotte L. Kirkdale, Tracey Thornley and Adam D. Galinsky
      Poor compliance of prescription medication is an ongoing public health crisis. Nearly half of patients do not take their medication as prescribed, harming their own health while also increasing public health care costs. Despite these detrimental consequences, prior...  View Details
      Keywords: Prescription Drugs; Medication Adherence; Personal Health Costs; Health; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Communication Strategy
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      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 5, no. 3 (July 2021): 396–416.
      • June 2020
      • Article

      Start-up Inertia versus Flexibility: The Role of Founder Identity in a Nascent Industry

      By: Tiona Zuzul and Mary Tripsas
      Through an inductive, comparative study of four early entrants in the nascent air taxi market, we examine why start-ups, generally characterized as flexible, malleable entities, might instead exhibit inertial behavior. While two of the firms engaged in ongoing...  View Details
      Keywords: Founder Identity; Nascent Industries; Entrepreneurship; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Identity
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      Zuzul, Tiona, and Mary Tripsas. "Start-up Inertia versus Flexibility: The Role of Founder Identity in a Nascent Industry." Administrative Science Quarterly 65, no. 2 (June 2020): 395–433.
      • 2020
      • Article

      The Upside to Feeling Worse Than Average (WTA): A Conceptual Framework to Understand When, How, and for Whom Worse-Than-Average Beliefs Have Long-Term Benefits

      By: Ashley V. Whillans, Frances Chen and Alex Jordan
      Our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are shaped in critical ways by our beliefs about how we compare to other people. Past research has predominantly focused on the consequences of believing oneself to be better than average (BTA). Research on the consequences of...  View Details
      Keywords: Worse Than Average; Better Than Average; Social Cognition; Self-perception; Social Comparisons; Identity; Perception; Personal Characteristics
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      Whillans, Ashley V., Frances Chen, and Alex Jordan. "The Upside to Feeling Worse Than Average (WTA): A Conceptual Framework to Understand When, How, and for Whom Worse-Than-Average Beliefs Have Long-Term Benefits." Frontiers in Psychology 11, no. 642 (2020).
      • Article

      Signing at the Beginning vs at the End Does Not Decrease Dishonesty

      By: Ariella S. Kristal, A.V. Whillans, Max Bazerman, Francesca Gino, Lisa Shu, Nina Mazar and Dan Ariely
      Honest reporting is essential for society to function well. However, people frequently lie when asked to provide information, such as misrepresenting their income to save money on taxes. A landmark finding published in PNAS (Shu, Mazar, Gino, Ariely, and Bazerman,...  View Details
      Keywords: Morality; Nudge; Policy-making; Replication; Honesty; Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Policy
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      Kristal, Ariella S., A.V. Whillans, Max Bazerman, Francesca Gino, Lisa Shu, Nina Mazar, and Dan Ariely. "Signing at the Beginning vs at the End Does Not Decrease Dishonesty." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117, no. 13 (March 31, 2020).
      • November 9, 2019
      • Article

      Effect of Revealing Authors' Conflicts of Interests in Peer Review: Randomized Controlled Trial

      By: Leslie K. John, George Loewenstein, Andrew Marder and Michael Callaham
      Objective: To assess the impact of disclosing authors’ conflict of interest declarations to peer reviewers at a medical journal.
      Design: Randomised controlled trial.

      Setting: The study was conducted within the manuscript review process at the...  View Details
      Keywords: Conflicts Of Interest; Peer Review; Randomized Controlled Trial; Scientific Publication; Conflict of Interests; Journals and Magazines; Science
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      John, Leslie K., George Loewenstein, Andrew Marder, and Michael Callaham. "Effect of Revealing Authors' Conflicts of Interests in Peer Review: Randomized Controlled Trial." BMJ: British Medical Journal 367, no. 8221 (November 9, 2019).
      • December 2018
      • Article

      Improving Resilience Among Employees High in Depression, Anxiety, and Workplace Distress

      By: Allison L. Williams, Acacia C. Parks, Grace Cormier, Julia Stafford and A.V. Whillans
      Depression and anxiety are costly for both employees and employers, in terms of direct medical costs as well as costs stemming from lost productive time and missed days at work. Resilience training has been shown to improve workplace functioning for employees, which...  View Details
      Keywords: Depression; Anxiety; Engagement; Resilience; Presenteeism; Employee Engagement; Mental Health; Employees; Emotions; Health; Internet and the Web; Performance Productivity
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      Williams, Allison L., Acacia C. Parks, Grace Cormier, Julia Stafford, and A.V. Whillans. "Improving Resilience Among Employees High in Depression, Anxiety, and Workplace Distress." International Journal of Management Research 9, nos. 1-2 (December 2018): 4–22.
      • Article

      Facebook Undermines the Social Belonging of First Year Students

      By: A.V. Whillans and Frances Chen
      We examined whether an online social networking technology (Facebook) influenced students' perceptions of their peers' social connections as well as their own feelings of belonging. In this experiment (N = 601), students were assigned to view Facebook profiles with...  View Details
      Keywords: Facebook; Social Comparisons; Belonging; Social Connection; Relationships; Networks; Familiarity; Perception; Well-being
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      Whillans, A.V., and Frances Chen. "Facebook Undermines the Social Belonging of First Year Students." Special Issue on Examining Personality and Individual Differences in Cyberspace. Personality and Individual Differences 133 (October 15, 2018): 13–16.
      • 2018
      • Chapter

      New Prospects for Organizational Democracy?: How the Joint Pursuit of Social and Financial Goals Challenges Traditional Organizational Designs

      By: Julie Battilana, Michael Fuerstein and Michael Lee
      For an extended period during the first half of the 20th century, industrial democracy was a vibrant movement, with ideological and organizational ties to a thriving unionism. In 2015, however, things look different. While there are instances of democracy in the...  View Details
      Keywords: Organizational Design; Social Enterprise; Values and Beliefs; Integration; Theory
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      Battilana, Julie, Michael Fuerstein, and Michael Lee. "New Prospects for Organizational Democracy? How the Joint Pursuit of Social and Financial Goals Challenges Traditional Organizational Designs." In Capitalism Beyond Mutuality? Perspectives Integrating Philosophy and Social Science, edited by Subramanian Rangan, 256–288. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2018.
      • Article

      Performance Effects of Setting a High Reference Point for Peer‐Performance Comparison

      By: Henry Eyring and V.G. Narayanan
      We conduct a field experiment, based on a registered report accepted by the Journal of Accounting Research, to test performance effects of setting a high reference point for peer‐performance comparison. Relative to providing the median as a reference point for...  View Details
      Keywords: Relative Performance Evaluation; Reference Points; Social Comparison; Field Experiment; Performance; Performance Evaluation; Education
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      Eyring, Henry, and V.G. Narayanan. "Performance Effects of Setting a High Reference Point for Peer‐Performance Comparison." Journal of Accounting Research 56, no. 2 (May 2018): 581–615.
      • 2018
      • Working Paper

      Backhanded Compliments: How Negative Comparisons Undermine Flattery

      By: Ovul Sezer, Alison Wood Brooks and Michael I. Norton
      Seven studies (N = 2352) examine backhanded compliments—seeming praise that draws a comparison with a negative standard—a distinct self-presentation strategy with two simultaneous goals: eliciting liking (“Your speech was good…”) and conveying status (“…for a woman”)....  View Details
      Keywords: Backhanded Compliments; Self-presentation; Impression Management; Interpersonal Perception; Liking; Status; Image Concern; Interpersonal Communication; Status and Position; Perception; Motivation and Incentives
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      Sezer, Ovul, Alison Wood Brooks, and Michael I. Norton. "Backhanded Compliments: How Negative Comparisons Undermine Flattery." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-082, February 2018.
      • November 2017 (Revised June 2019)
      • Case

      Measuring True Value at Ambuja Cement

      By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Suraj Srinivasan and Namrata Arora
      The case discusses the measurement of social and environmental impact at Ambuja Cements, one of India’s leading cement companies. Ambuja is a leader in CSR activities and is attempting to quantify its impact, both positive and negative, using the “True Value” framework...  View Details
      Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Value; Measurement and Metrics; Framework; Cost vs Benefits
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      Rangan, V. Kasturi, Suraj Srinivasan, and Namrata Arora. "Measuring True Value at Ambuja Cement." Harvard Business School Case 518-063, November 2017. (Revised June 2019.)
      • December 2017
      • Article

      From Misperception to Social Connection: Correlates and Consequences of Overestimating Others' Social Connectedness

      By: A.V. Whillans, C. Christie, S. Cheung, A.H. Jordan and F.S. Chen
      Two studies document the existence and correlates of a widespread social belief, wherein individuals who have recently moved to a new social environment see their peers as more socially connected than they themselves are. In Study 1, the prevalence of this belief was...  View Details
      Keywords: Social Comparison; Interpersonal Relationships; Perception; Relationships; Familiarity; Well-being
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      Whillans, A.V., C. Christie, S. Cheung, A.H. Jordan, and F.S. Chen. "From Misperception to Social Connection: Correlates and Consequences of Overestimating Others' Social Connectedness." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 43, no. 12 (December 2017): 1696–1711.
      • 2016
      • Chapter

      Envy and Interpersonal Corruption: Social Comparison Processes and Unethical Behavior in Organizations

      By: Julia J. Lee and Francesca Gino
      Book Abstract: Competition for resources, recognition, and favorable outcomes are all facts of life in professional settings. When one falls short in comparison to colleagues or subordinates, feelings of envy may arise. Fueled by inferiority, hostility, and resentment,...  View Details
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      Lee, Julia J., and Francesca Gino. "Envy and Interpersonal Corruption: Social Comparison Processes and Unethical Behavior in Organizations." In Envy at Work and in Organizations, edited by Richard H. Smith, Ugo Merlone, and Michelle K. Duffy, 347–372. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
      • Article

      The Effect of Providing Peer Information on Retirement Savings Decisions

      By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian and Katherine L. Milkman
      Using a field experiment in a 401(k) plan, we measure the effect of disseminating information about peer behavior on savings. Low-saving employees received simplified plan enrollment or contribution increase forms. A randomized subset of forms stated the fraction of...  View Details
      Keywords: Saving; Decision Choices and Conditions; Retirement
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      Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Katherine L. Milkman. "The Effect of Providing Peer Information on Retirement Savings Decisions." Journal of Finance 70, no. 3 (June 2015): 1161–1201.
      • 2014
      • Book

      Consumer Lending in France and America: Credit and Welfare

      By: Gunnar Trumbull
      Why did America embrace consumer credit over the course of the twentieth century, when most other countries did not? How did American policy makers by the late twentieth century come to believe that more credit would make even poor families better off? This book traces...  View Details
      Keywords: Attitudes; Credit; France; United States
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      Trumbull, Gunnar. Consumer Lending in France and America: Credit and Welfare. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
      • March 2014
      • Article

      Cheating More for Less: Upward Social Comparisons Motivate the Poorly Compensated to Cheat

      By: Leslie K. John, George Loewenstein and Scott Rick
      Intuitively, people should cheat more when cheating is more lucrative, but we find that the effect of performance-based pay rates on dishonesty depends on how readily people can compare their pay rate to that of others. In Experiment 1, participants were paid 5 cents...  View Details
      Keywords: Dishonesty; Social Comparison; Pay Secrecy; Motivation and Incentives; Fairness; Decision Making; Compensation and Benefits
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      John, Leslie K., George Loewenstein, and Scott Rick. "Cheating More for Less: Upward Social Comparisons Motivate the Poorly Compensated to Cheat." Special Issue on Behavioral Ethics. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 123, no. 2 (March 2014): 101–109.
      • September 2013
      • Article

      Prizes, Publicity, and Patents: Non-Monetary Awards as a Mechanism to Encourage Innovation

      By: Petra Moser and Tom Nicholas
      This paper exploits the selection of prize-winning technologies among exhibitors at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851 to examine whether—and how—ex post prizes that are awarded to high-quality innovations may encourage future innovation. U.S. patent data...  View Details
      Keywords: Prizes; Innovation; Motivation and Incentives; Patents; Innovation and Invention
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      Moser, Petra, and Tom Nicholas. "Prizes, Publicity, and Patents: Non-Monetary Awards as a Mechanism to Encourage Innovation." Journal of Industrial Economics 61, no. 3 (September 2013): 763–788.
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