Crowd of Black Lives Matters demonstrators marching in the street.
Feature: The Democratic Necessity of Reckoning

Erica Chenoweth reviews scholarship that overwhelmingly shows the Black Lives Matter movement generated high levels of public awareness about systemic racism and increased support for criminal justice reform.

Electronic stock ticker board with numbers and arabic letters.
Feature: Against Rule-of-Thumb Economics

Dani Rodrik argues against neoliberalism’s universal rule-of-thumb approach and for economic analyses grounded in contextual dependencies.

Several hands of team members covering one another in a huddle above a work table.
Feature: Leaders’ Psychological Bravery

Dana Born explores what skills leaders need to cultivate psychological safety on their teams and across their organizations.

Dollars and Euros piled on top of one another.
Feature: Dollar vs. Euro as International Reserve Currencies

Jeffrey Frankel explores the strengths and weaknesses of using the Dollar and the Euro as international reserve currencies.

Harvard Kennedy School faculty disseminate their research in working publications and papers that contribute to public knowledge and fuel policy innovation. This list features recent faculty publications, including journal articles, books, edited volumes, research papers, and public testimony.

Faculty Publications

Feeling uncertain despite knowing the risk: Patients with OCD (but not controls) experience known and unknown probabilistic decisions as similarly distressing and uncertain

Jacoby, Ryan J., Abigail Szkutak, Jin Shin, Jennifer Lerner, and Sabine Wilhelm. "Feeling uncertain despite knowing the risk: Patients with OCD (but not controls) experience known and unknown probabilistic decisions as similarly distressing and uncertain." Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders 39 (October 2023).

Staying the course: Decision makers who escalate commitment are trusted and trustworthy

Dorison, Charles A., Christopher K. Umphres, and Jennifer S. Lerner. "Staying the course: Decision makers who escalate commitment are trusted and trustworthy." Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 151.4 (April 2022): 960-965.

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic

Wang, Ke, Jennifer Lerner, et al. "A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic." Nature Human Behaviour 5.8 (August 2021): 1089–1110.

Emotion in Organizational Judgment and Decision Making

Dorison,Charles A., Joowon Klusowski, Seunghee Han, and Jennifer S. Lerner. "Emotion in Organizational Judgment and Decision Making." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 49.1 (January-March 2020): 100702.

Decision Science Meets National Security: A Personal Perspective

Lerner, Jennifer S. "Decision Science Meets National Security: A Personal Perspective." Perspectives on Psychological Science 14.1 (2019): 96-100.

The Misery-Is-Not-Miserly Effect Revisited: Replication Despite Opportunities for Compensatory Consumption

Garg, Nitika, Lisa A. Williams, and Jennifer S. Lerner. "The Misery-Is-Not-Miserly Effect Revisited: Replication Despite Opportunities for Compensatory Consumption." PLoS ONE 13.6 (June 2018).

Behavioral Consequences of Probabilistic Precision: Experimental Evidence from National Security Professionals

Friedman, Jeffrey A., Jennifer S. Lerner, and Richard Zeckhauser. "Behavioral Consequences of Probabilistic Precision: Experimental Evidence from National Security Professionals." International Organization 71.4 (Fall 2017): 803-826.

Revisiting the Effects of Anger on Risk-Taking: Empirical and Meta-Analytic Evidence for Differences Between Males and Females

Ferrer, Rebecca A., Alexander Maclay, Paul M. Litvak, and Jennifer S. Lerner. "Revisiting the Effects of Anger on Risk-Taking: Empirical and Meta-Analytic Evidence for Differences Between Males and Females." Journal of Behavioral Decision Making 30.2 (April 2017): 516-526.

The Contribution of Trait Negative Affect and Stress to Recall for Bodily States

Ma-Kellams, Christine, Lei Lai, Shelley E. Taylor, and Jennifer S. Lerner. "The Contribution of Trait Negative Affect and Stress to Recall for Bodily States." Physiology & Behavior 167 (December 2016): 274-281.

Trust Your Gut or Think Carefully? Examining Whether an Intuitive, Versus a Systematic, Mode of Thought Produces Greater Empathic Accuracy

Ma-Kellams, Christine, and Jennifer Lerner. "Trust Your Gut or Think Carefully? Examining Whether an Intuitive, Versus a Systematic, Mode of Thought Produces Greater Empathic Accuracy." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 111.5 (November 2016): 674-685.

The Interaction of Testosterone and Cortisol Is Associated With Attained Status in Male Executives

Sherman, Gary D., Jennifer S. Lerner, Robert A. Josephs, Jonathan Renshon, and James J. Gross. "The Interaction of Testosterone and Cortisol Is Associated With Attained Status in Male Executives." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (August 24, 2015).

Perceiving others’ feelings: The importance of personality and social structure

Sherman, Gary D., Jennifer S. Lerner, Jonathan Renshon, Christine Ma-Kellams, and Samantha Joel. "Perceiving others’ feelings: The importance of personality and social structure." Social Psychological and Personality Science 6.5 (July 2015): 559-569.

Emotion and Decision Making

Lerner, Jennifer S., Ye Li, Piercarlo Valdesolo, and Karim S. Kassam. "Emotion and Decision Making." Annual Review of Psychology 66 (January 2015): 799-823.

The Financial Costs of Sadness

Lerner, Jennifer S., Ye Li, and Elke U. Weber. "The Financial Costs of Sadness." Psychological Science 24.1 (January 2013): 72-79.

Sadness and Consumption

Garg, Nitika, and Jennifer S. Lerner. "Sadness and Consumption." Journal of Consumer Psychology 23.1 (January 2013): 106-113.

Leadership is Associated with Lower Levels of Stress.

Sherman, Gary D., Jooa J. Lee, Amy J. C. Cuddy, Jonathan Renshon, Christopher Oveis, James J. Gross, and Jennifer S. Lernera,. "Leadership is Associated with Lower Levels of Stress." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109.44 (October 2012): 17903-17907.

The Disgust-Promotes-Disposal Effect

Han, Seunghee, Jennifer S. Lerner, Richard Zeckhauser. "The Disgust-Promotes-Disposal Effect." Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 44.2 (April 2012): 101-113.

Individual Differences in Need for Cognition and Decision-Making Competence among Leaders

Carnevale, Jessica J., Yoel Inbar, and Jennifer S. Lerner. "Individual Differences in Need for Cognition and Decision-Making Competence among Leaders." Personality and Individual Differences 51.3 (August 2011): 274-278.