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Education
PhD, Behavioral Decision Research, Carnegie Mellon University
MA, Economics, University of Pécs
BA, Economics, University of Pécs
BACKGROUND
Andras Molnar is a scholar of behavioral decision-making, with education and research training at the intersection of behavioral economics and social psychology.
Before joining Booth in January 2021, Andras will be completing his Ph.D. in Behavioral Decision Research at the Department of Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. Prior his graduate studies, Andras was a Fulbright Visiting Research Scholar at Carnegie Mellon University, studied Cognitive Science at Central European University, Hungary, and earned a B.A. and an M.A. in Economics.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
His research focuses on the role of beliefs in social interactions (“belief-based utility”). In his dissertation, Andras explores the idea that people inherently monitor and care about what others believe—even if this does not help people to make better decisions. While most previous work has hypothesized that such preferences over others’ mental states serve as intermediate steps towards an ultimate goal (e.g., to outwit an opponent or to foster social relations), in his work Andras demonstrates that individuals’ well-being and choices are directly affected by consideration of what others believe. For example, Andras and his co-authors have found that belief-based motives can be more important drivers of revenge than retribution or deterrence, which puts the previous literature on moral punishment in a new light.
In addition to his research projects, Andras is dedicated to improving experimental research methods and open science practices. He has developed a free and open-source tool (https://smartriqs.com), that allows researchers to implement real-time interaction between participants in online surveys.