Jane L. Risen

  • Title: Professor of Behavioral Science and John E. Jeuck Faculty Fellow, Chicago Booth
  • Education: AB, Harvard University; PhD, Cornell University
  • Joined UChicago faculty: 2007
  • jane.risen@chicagobooth.edu

Jane L. Risen

Departmental website:
https://www.chicagobooth.edu/faculty/directory/r/jane-l-risen

Jane L. Risen conducts research in the areas of judgment and decision-making, intuitive belief formation, magical thinking, stereotyping and prejudice, and managing emotion.

Her research has appeared in several notable publications, including “Looking Forward to Looking Backward: The Misprediction of Regret,” with D. T. Gilbert, C. K. Morewedge, and T. D. Wilson in Psychological Science; “Why People Are Reluctant to Tempt Fate,” with T. Gilovich in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; “How Choice Affects and Reflects Preferences: Revisiting the Free-Choice Paradigm,” with K. Chen in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; “Visceral Fit: While in a Visceral State, Associated States of the World Seem More Likely,” with C. Critcher in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; and “Believing What We Don’t Believe: Acquiescence to Superstitious Beliefs and Other Powerful Intuitions” in Psychological Review.

Prof. Risen’s research has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the APA Monitor, and Psychology Today. She is a member of the American Psychological Society, Midwestern Psychological Association, and Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

Media Contact

Marielle Sainvilus

Director of Public Relations and Communications, Chicago Booth

ACN

Expertise

Risen Stories

Origins of the ‘Ostrich Effect’ A photorealistic ostrich stands in a sandy desert with it's head stuck in the sand.

Origins of the ‘Ostrich Effect’

In recent study, UChicago researchers pinpoint the age we start avoiding information—even when it’s helpful

19 UChicago faculty receive named, distinguished service professorships Campus aerial-winter

19 UChicago faculty receive named, distinguished service professorships

Friday the 13th Is Back. Here's Why It Scares Us.

Friday the 13th Is Back. Here's Why It Scares Us.

Prof. Jane Risen examines effects of superstitions


Believing What You Don’t Believe

Believing What You Don’t Believe

In op-ed, Assoc. Profs. Jane L. Risen and A. David Nussbaum discuss how intuition can override rationality


White People Think One Black Person's Success Proves Racism Is Over

White People Think One Black Person's Success Proves Racism Is Over

Research co-authored by Assoc. Prof. Jane Risen finds that exposure to one successful African-American makes whites 'more likely to deny the existence of systematic racism'


Feeling warm makes people more likely to believe in global warming, study finds

Feeling warm makes people more likely to believe in global warming, study finds