Who influences the way we think, buy, and vote? Who influences how we treat one another? Influence is power, and so most people believe that influence comes from powerful forces like celebrities, leaders, and religious or political institutions. The Think Better Speaker Series returns with MacArthur "genius award" winner Betsy Levy Paluck. Prof. Paluck delves into the research that identifies who influences us and how. In particular, this research suggests that influence from powerful sources needs to be amplified by certain types of everyday people—less powerful people who are often overlooked in conversations about influence.
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About the Speaker
Betsy Levy Paluck is a professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University. She also serves as the Deputy Director of the Kahneman-Treisman Center for Behavioral Science and Policy at Princeton University.
Professor Paluck's research explores how people understand, follow, and disobey social norms, and how social norms change over time. In particular, she has studied social norms regarding ethnic and political violence, prejudice and political attitudes, corruption, bullying and conflict in schools, and gender-based violence. Her research relies on large-scale field experiments in partnership with public and private institutions, which test interventions targeted at social norm perceptions and behavior.
Professor Paluck is a 2017 MacArthur Fellow (“genius award”) and received Princeton's Graduate mentoring award, among other recognitions.