top of page

Current Research
(October 2024)

Here in the Change Lab, we study how people navigate today's fast changing world, and how they can do it better.

​​

For a broad overview of our research program, please see:


O'Brien, E. (in press). A Flexible Threshold Theory of Change Perception in Self, Others, and The World. Psychological Review. [pdf]

 

We're currently studying questions like:

Well-being mismanagement: Causes and solutions?

​

We study well-being mismanagement—from a temporal perspective. For example, we find that people often struggle to anticipate how the old and boring can be reignited in new contexts. Interventions that entail designing new contexts thus help combat hedonic adaptation, without having to quit consumption.

​

Examples:

 

  • Hong & O'Brien (R&R, JCR). Repeatedly Soliciting Hedonic Reactions Can Exacerbate Hedonic Adaptation. [email for copy]
     

  • Winet & O'Brien (JPSP). Ending on a Familiar Note: Perceived Endings Motivate Repeat Consumption. [pdf]
     

  • Kardas, Schroeder, & O'Brien (JPSP). Keep Talking: (Mis)Understanding the Hedonic Trajectory of Conversation. [pdf]
     

  • O'Brien (JPSP). Enjoy It Again: Repeat Experiences are Less Repetitive Than People Think. [pdf]
     

  • O'Brien & Kassirer (Psych Science). People are Slow to Adapt to the Warm Glow of Giving. [pdf]
     

  • O'Brien & Roney (Psych Science). Worth the Wait? Leisure Can Be Just as Enjoyable with Work Left Undone. [pdf]
     

  • O'Brien & Ellsworth (Psych Science). Saving the Last for Best: A Positivity Bias for End Experiences. [pdf]

Impression mismanagement: Causes and solutions?

​

We study impression mismanagement—from a temporal perspective. For example, we find that people often struggle to anticipate how their present actions will "age" upon looking back at them in the future. Interventions that target actors' temporal thinking thus help people build longer-lasting reputations.

​

Examples:

 

  • O'Brien (under review, Psychological Bulletin). One's Actions "Aging Poorly": An Integrative Review and Egocentric Framework for Understanding Impression Management Errors and the Challenge of Temporal Impression Management. [email for copy]
     

  • Li, Hsee, & O'Brien (JMR). "It Could Be Better" Can Make It Worse: When and Why People Mistakenly Communicate Upward Counterfactual Information. [pdf]
     

  • Kristal, O'Brien, & Caruso (Psych Science). Yesterday's News: A Temporal Discontinuity in the Sting of Inferiority. [pdf]
     

  • Kardas & O'Brien (Psych Science). Easier Seen Than Done: Merely Watching Others Perform Can Foster an Illusion of Skill Acquisition. [pdf]
     

  • O'Brien & Kardas (JPSP). The Implicit Meaning of (My) Change. [pdf]
     

  • O'Brien (JEP:G). Mapping Out Past Versus Future Minds: The Perceived Trajectory of Rationality Versus Emotionality Over Time. [pdf]
     

  • O'Brien (Psych Science). Easy to Retrieve but Hard to Believe: Metacognitive Discounting of the Unpleasantly Possible. [pdf]

Social conflict and interpersonal misunderstandings: Causes and solutions?

​

We study social conflict and interpersonal misunderstandings—from a temporal perspective. For example, we find that people often struggle to anticipate others' change from bad pasts and potential for positive futures. Interventions that make others' change more salient thus help bridge these divides.

​

Examples:

 

  • Zaw & O'Brien (under review, OBHDP). Repeated Failures to Change Reveal a Hidden Harshness to Growth Mindset. [email for copy]
     

  • Klein & O'Brien (JPSP). Threshold Violations in Social Judgment. [pdf]
     

  • O'Brien (Psych Science). Losing Sight of Piecemeal Progress: People Lump and Dismiss Improvement Efforts That Fall Short of Categorical Change—Despite Improving. [pdf]
     

  • Klein & O'Brien (PNAS). People Use Less Information Than They Think to Make Up Their Minds. [pdf]
     

  • Klein & O'Brien (JPSP). The Power and Limits of Personal Change: When a Bad Past Does (and Does Not) Inspire in the Present. [pdf]
     

  • O'Brien & Klein (JPSP). The Tipping Point of Perceived Change: Asymmetric Thresholds in Diagnosing Improvement Versus Decline. [pdf]
     

  • Campbell, O'Brien, Van Boven, Schwarz, & Ubel (JPSP). Too Much Experience: A Desensitization Bias in Emotional Perspective Taking. [pdf]
     

  • O'Brien & Ellsworth (Psych Science). More Than Skin Deep: Visceral States Are Not Projected Onto Dissimilar Others. [pdf]

bottom of page