July 20, 2008

"In our studies, what we find is that people in a fearful state will make risk-avoidant choices," said Jennifer Lerner, director of the Laboratory for Decision Research at Harvard University.

February 28, 2008

Human judgment and decision-making is a little like an iceberg — a lot of it lies far below the surface. Harvard Kennedy School Professor Jennifer Lerner, who directs the new Laboratory for Decision Science, draws upon psychology, economics, and neuroscience to better understand the social and emotional influences on judgment and decision making that tend to escape our conscious awareness. Her latest research paper, “Misery is not miserly: Sad and self-focused individuals spend more,” is scheduled for publication in Psychological Science.

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February 13, 2008

When you’re depressed, you tend to devalue things around you. But then why are you more inclined to hit the mall and buy stuff at higher prices than you would at other times? A new paper to be published in Psychological Science provides an answer to that question — and support for a theory of the self proposed by William James more than a century ago.

February 9, 2008

Scientists have unravelled a bit of the mechanics of retail therapy. A new study has shown that sadness prompts people to overspend, but only if they’re focused on themselves.