Robb Willer

Professor of Organizational Behavior (by courtesy) at Stanford Graduate School of Business

Schools

  • Stanford Graduate School of Business

Expertise

Links

Biography

Stanford Graduate School of Business

Research Interests

  • Morality
  • Politics
  • Generosity
  • Status
  • Masculinity

Bio

Robb Willer is a Professor in the Departments of Sociology, Psychology (by courtesy), and the Graduate School of Business (by courtesy) at Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from Cornell University and his B.A. in Sociology from the University of Iowa. He previously taught at the University of California, Berkeley.

Professor Willer’s teaching and research focus on the bases of social order. One line of his research investigates the factors driving the emergence of collective action, norms, solidarity, generosity, and status hierarchies. In other research, he explores the social psychology of political attitudes, including the effects of fear, prejudice, and masculinity in contemporary U.S. politics. Most recently, his work has focused on morality, studying how people reason about what is right and wrong and the social consequences of their judgments. His research involves various empirical and theoretical methods, including laboratory and field experiments, surveys, direct observation, archival research, physiological measurement, agent-based modeling, and social network analysis.

Willer’s research has appeared in such journals as American Sociology Review, American Journal of Sociology, Annual Review of Sociology, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Science, Proceedings of the Royal Society B:Biological Sciences,and Social Networks.He has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. His work has received paper awards from the American Sociological Association’s sections on Altruism, Morality, and Social Solidarity, Mathematical Sociology, Peace, War, and Social Conflict, and Rationality and Society.

His research has also received widespread media coverage including from the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Washington Post, Science, Nature, Time, U.S. News and World Report, Scientific American, Harper’s, Slate, CNN, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, and National Public Radio.

Willer was the 2009 recipient of the Golden Apple Teaching award, the only teaching award given by UC-Berkeley’s student body.

Academic Degrees

  • Ph.D., Sociology, Cornell University, 2006
  • M.A., Cornell University, 2004
  • B.A., University of Iowa, 1999
  • Director, Laboratory for Social Research, University of California Berkeley, 2006-13
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Psychology (by courtesy) and Cognitive Sciences (affiliated faculty), University of California Berkeley, 2006-12

Academic Appointments

  • Professor of Sociology, Stanford University
  • Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, 2012-13
  • Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of California Berkeley, 2012-13
  • Visiting Professor, Department of Economics and Social Psychology, University of Cologne Germany, 2011

In the Media

Researchers Lightened President Obama's Skin - and Here's What Happened

Yahoo News, May 17, 2016

Insights by Stanford Business

writtenMoral Judging Helps People Cooperate

April 10, 2017

We are as motivated by others’ approval as we are by material profit, new research shows.

writtenA Look Back at 2016

December 19, 2016

Read 10 Stanford Business stories from the past year, including pieces on work-life balance, power, and management.

audioTop Business Podcasts of 2016

December 12, 2016

Long commute? Spend the time listening to these 10 Stanford Business stories.

writtenHow Racial Threat Has Galvanized the Tea Party

July 15, 2016

New research explores the link between racial animosity and the Tea Party movement.

writtenImpact: The Recommended List

February 1, 2016

Stanford GSB professors share their reading list for topics related to impact.

writtenRobb Willer: What Makes People Do Good?

November 16, 2015

How external factors pressure people to cooperate.

writtenRobb Willer: The Powerlessness Paradox

April 23, 2015

Researchers find that feeling powerless can lead people to support systems that disadvantage them.

Videos

Read about executive education

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