Maurice Schweitzer

Maurice Schweitzer
  • Cecilia Yen Koo Professor
  • Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions
  • Professor of Management

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    3730 Walnut Street
    544 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Research Interests: behavioral decision research, deception and trust, emotions, negotiations

Links: CV, Personal Website, @ME_Schweitzer, Friend&Foe, OPEQ Exercise, Friend&Foe_Amazon, Maurice Schweitzer, Freakonomics Podcast - Episode 451: Can I Ask You A Ridiculously Personal Question?

Overview

Maurice Schweitzer is the Cecilia Yen Koo Professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on emotions and the negotiation process. He has published over 100 articles in Management, Psychology, and Economics journals and co-authored the book Friend & Foe. Maurice is the academic director of Wharton’s Executive Education program on Effective Decision Making and he teaches Advanced Negotiations in Wharton’s executive education, MBA, and undergraduate programs. Maurice has won several teaching and research awards, and he is a past president of the International Association for Conflict Management.

Google Talk

Using Humor in the Office

Is Every Lie a Sin?

CBC News – Rise in Corporate Activism

CNN – CEO Activism is on the Rise

Periscope: VW Scandal

Knowledge@Wharton: Friend & Foe

Knowledge@Wharton: Anger and Deception

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Research

  • Zhiying Ren, Eugen Dimant, Maurice Schweitzer (2023), Beyond belief: How social engagement motives influence the spread of conspiracy theories, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 104.

    Abstract: Across a pilot study and three preregistered experiments (N = 4128), we demonstrated that people knowingly shared conspiracy theories to advance social motives (e.g., to receive “likes”). In addition to accuracy, people seemed to value social engagement (e.g., “likes” and reactions). Importantly, people not only expected most conspiracy theories to generate greater social engagement than factual news, but they were also more willing to share conspiracy theories when they expected such theories, compared to factual news, to generate sufficiently greater levels of social engagement. In an interactive, multi-round, content-sharing paradigm, we found that people were very sensitive to the social feedback they received. When they received greater social feedback for sharing conspiracy theories than factual news, participants were significantly more likely to share conspiracy theories, even when they knew these theories to be false. Our findings advance our understanding of why and when individuals are likely to share conspiracy theories and identify important prescriptions for curbing the spread of conspiracy theories.

  • Zhiying Ren, Einav Hart, Emma E. Levine, Maurice Schweitzer (2022), The shared responsibility model of deception, Current Opinion in Psychology.

    Abstract: Deception scholarship has focused on deceivers and has largely conceptualized targets as passive victims. We integrate the articles in this special issue, along with a broad body of literature on deception, moral judgment, and blame, to introduce the Shared Responsibility Model of deception (SR Model). The SR Model conceptualizes deception as a social process to describe how both communicators and targets are responsible for deception. Observers’ perception of the targets’ responsibility is a function of (1) whether targets should have expected deception, (2) whether targets took preventive actions, (3) targets’ inferred motives, and (4) targets’ characteristics. The SR Model also challenges the implicit assumption that as communicators’ responsibility for deception increases, targets’ responsibility decreases. The SR Model has important implications for research on ethics, communication, and behavioral decision making.

  • Jeremy Yip and Maurice Schweitzer (2022), Norms for Behavioral Change (NBC) model: How injunctive norms and enforcement shift descriptive norms in science, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 168 (104109).

    Abstract: In this article, we introduce the Norms for Behavior Change model (NBC) to explain how injunctive norms coupled with enforcement promote community-level behavior change. We examine the NBC model in the context of open science. We conceptualize journal submission requirements as injunctive norms, and the shift towards open science as a profound change in descriptive norms of publishing for communities of scholars. We conducted two pilot studies and three main studies to examine the uneven adoption of open science practices across different behavioral sciences, which include Organizational Behavior (OB), Judgment and Decision Making (JDM), and psychology. In our first pilot study, we identify how actual injunctive norms about open science are particularly weak in OB because the majority of OB journals do not have explicit requirements for open science. In our second pilot study, we find that a substantial proportion of OB faculty view open science to be unhelpful for advancing the field. In Study 1, we survey OB faculty and JDM faculty, and find that OB faculty perceive injunctive and descriptive norms of publishing as less likely to include open science practices compared to JDM faculty. In Study 2, we code open science practices across OB and psychology journals in an archival data set, and demonstrate that the actual descriptive norms of publishing are less likely to adhere to open science practices in OB journals than psychology journals (where JDM researchers publish). In Study 3, we analyze an archival data set of preregistrations on aspredicted.org, and find that actual descriptive norms of open science are more likely to be adopted by experimentalists than non-experimentalists. Taken together, our work establishes the link between norms and behavioral change, and provides prescriptive advice on how to leverage injunctive norms to shift descriptive norms towards constructive community-level behaviors.

  • Zhiying Ren, Andrew Carton, Eugen Dimant, Maurice Schweitzer (2022), Authoritarian Leaders Share Conspiracy Theories to Attack Opponents, Galvanize Followers, Shift Blame, and Undermine Democratic Institutions, Current Opinion in Psychology.

    Abstract: Although many virtuous leaders are guided by the ideal of prioritizing the needs and welfare of their subordinates, others advance their self-interest at the expense of the people they purport to serve. In this article, we discuss conspiracy theories as a tool that leaders use to advance their personal interests. We propose that leaders spread conspiracy theories in service of four primary goals: 1) to attack opponents; 2) to galvanize followers; 3) to shift blame and responsibility; and 4) to undermine institutions that threaten their power. We argue that authoritarian, populist, and conservative leaders are most likely to spread conspiracy theories during periods of instability.

  • Katherine L. Milkman, Linnea Gandhi, Mitesh Patel, Heather N. Graci, Dena Gromet, Hung Ho, Joseph S. Kay, Timothy W. Lee, Jake Rothschild, Jonathan E. Bogard, Ilana Brody, Christopher F. Chabris, Edward Chang, Gretchen B. Chapman, Jennifer E. Dannals, Noah J. Goldstein, Amir Goren, Hal E. Hershfield, Alexander Hirsch, Jillian Hmurovic, Samantha Horn, Dean Karlan, Ariella Kristal, Cait Lamberton, M. Meyer, Allison H. Oakes, Maurice Schweitzer, Maheen Shermohammed, Joachim H. Talloen, Caleb Warren, Ashley Whillans, Kuldeep N. Yadav, Julian J. Zlatev, Ron Berman, Chalanda N. Evans, Rahul Ladhania, Jens Ludwig, Nina Mazar, Sendhil Mullainathan, Christopher K. Snider, Jann Spiess, Eli Tsukayama, Lyle Ungar, Christophe Van den Bulte, Kevin Volpp, Angela Duckworth (2022), A 680,000-Person Megastudy of Nudges to Encourage Vaccination in Pharmacies, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119 (6). 10.1073/pnas.211512611

    Abstract: Encouraging vaccination is a pressing policy problem. To assess whether text-based reminders can encourage pharmacy vaccination and what kinds of messages work best, we conducted a megastudy. We randomly assigned 689,693 Walmart pharmacy patients to receive one of 22 different text reminders using a variety of different behavioral science principles to nudge flu vaccination or to a business-as-usual control condition that received no messages. We found that the reminder texts that we tested increased pharmacy vaccination rates by an average of 2.0 percentage points, or 6.8%, over a 3-mo follow-up period. The most effective messages reminded patients that a flu shot was waiting for them and delivered reminders on multiple days. The top performing intervention included two texts delivered 3 d apart and communicated to patients that a vaccine was “waiting for you.” Neither experts nor lay people anticipated that this would be the best-performing treatment, underscoring the value of simultaneously testing many different nudges in a highly powered megastudy.

  • Jeremy Yip, Emma E. Levine, Alison Wood Brooks, Maurice Schweitzer (2021), Worry at work: How organizational culture promotes anxiety, Research in Organizational Behavior, 40 (100124).

    Abstract: Organizational culture profoundly influences how employees think and behave. Established research suggests that the content, intensity, consensus, and fit of cultural norms act as a social control system for attitudes and behavior. We adopt the norms model of organizational culture to elucidate whether organizational culture can influence how employees experience emotions. We focus on a pervasive emotion, anxiety. We propose four important pathways that link organizational culture with anxiety. First, we propose that when norm content is result-oriented, employees must strive for challenging goals with specific targets under time pressure, and are more likely to experience anxiety. Second, when norm intensity is weak, employees do not internalize norms and they engage in deviant behaviors that increase uncertainty and promote anxiety. Third, a lack of consensus about norms commonly creates conflict between factions within an organization and increases anxiety. Fourth, when there is a mismatch between employees’ values and organizational norms and values, the misfit engenders anxiety. Taken together, different features of organizational cultural norms can independently and multiplicatively influence the magnitude of anxiety, which has constructive or destructive effects on performance.

  • Polly Kang, Krishnan Anand, Pnina Feldman, Maurice Schweitzer (2020), Insincere Negotiation: Using the Negotiation Process to Pursue Non-Agreement Motives, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 89 (103981).

  • Einav Hart and Maurice Schweitzer (2020), Getting to less: When negotiating harms post-agreement performance, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 156, pp. 155-175.

  • Celia Gaertig, Emma E. Levine, Alixandra Barasch, Maurice Schweitzer (2019), When Does Anger Boost Status?, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 85 (103876).

  • Joseph Gaspar and Maurice Schweitzer (2019), Confident and Cunning: Negotiator Self-Efficacy Promotes Deception in Negotiations, Journal of Business Ethics.

Teaching

Maurice Schweitzer teaches both Negotiations and Advanced Negotiations, a course he designed and introduced at Wharton.

An Interview with Wharton Management Professor Maurice Schweitzer (Wharton Interactive)

Current Courses (Spring 2024)

  • OIDD9950 - Dissertation Preparation

    OIDD9950023 ( Syllabus )

All Courses

  • LAW5180 - Negotiations

    This course examines the art and science of negotiation, with additional emphasis on conflict resolution. Students will engage in a number of simulated negotiations ranging from simple one-issue transactions to multi-party joint ventures. Through these exercises and associated readings, students explore the basic theoretical models of bargaining and have an opportunity to test and improve their negotiation skills. Cross-listed with MGMT 691/OIDD 691/LGST 806. Format: Lecture, class discussion, simulation/role play, and video demonstrations. Materials: Textbook and course pack.

  • LGST2920 - Advanced Negotiation

    This course is designed to teach negotiation principles and to enable students to develop their negotiation skills. This course assumes familiarity with the basic negotiation concepts covered in the prerequisite for this course: Negotiations. In this course, we extend the study and practice of negotiations and we develop a deeper understanding for how specific aspects of the negotiation process (e.g., emotions, deadlines, trust violations) impact outcomes. Through course lectures, readings, and case exercises, students will develop a rich framework for thinking about the negotiation process and acquire tools for guiding the negotiation process.

  • LGST6920 - Advanced Negotiation

    This is a course the builds on the basic Negotiation course. In this course, we explore a wide range of negotiation topics from crisis and hostage negotiations, to the role of emotions including anxiety, envy and anger in negotiations, to backlash effects for women in negotiations, and the role of alcohol in negotiations. We will survey many aspects of current negotiation research, discuss historic negotiation cases, and students will participate in role-play exercises. Many of the role play exercises will involve multi-party negotiations and afford opportunities to hone skills in team-based negotiations.

  • LGST8060 - Negotiations

    This course examines the art and science of negotiation, with additional emphasis on conflict resolution. Students will engage in a number of simulated negotiations ranging from simple one-issue transactions to multi-party joint ventures. Through these exercises and associated readings, students explore the basic theoretical models of bargaining and have an opportunity to test and improve their negotiation skills. Cross-listed with MGMT 6910/OIDD 6910/LGST 8060. Format: Lecture, class discussion, simulation/role play, and video demonstrations. Materials: Textbook and course pack.

  • MGMT2920 - Advanced Negotiation

    This course is designed to teach negotiation principles and to enable students to develop their negotiation skills. This course assumes familiarity with the basic negotiation concepts covered in the prerequisite for this course: Negotiations. In this course, we extend the study and practice of negotiations and we develop a deeper understanding for how specific aspects of the negotiation process (e.g., emotions, deadlines, trust violations) impact outcomes. Through course lectures, readings, and case exercises, students will develop a rich framework for thinking about the negotiation process and acquire tools for guiding the negotiation process.

  • MGMT6910 - Negotiations

    This course examines the art and science of negotiation, with additional emphasis on conflict resolution. Students will engage in a number of simulated negotiations ranging from simple one-issue transactions to multi-party joint ventures. Through these exercises and associated readings, students explore the basic theoretical models of bargaining and have an opportunity to test and improve their negotiation skills. Cross-listed with MGMT 6910/OIDD 6910/LGST 8060. Format: Lecture, class discussion, simulation/role play, and video demonstrations. Materials: Textbook and course pack.

  • MGMT6920 - Advanced Negotiation

    This is a course the builds on the basic Negotiation course. In this course, we explore a wide range of negotiation topics from crisis and hostage negotiations, to the role of emotions including anxiety, envy and anger in negotiations, to backlash effects for women in negotiations, and the role of alcohol in negotiations. We will survey many aspects of current negotiation research, discuss historic negotiation cases, and students will participate in role-play exercises. Many of the role play exercises will involve multi-party negotiations and afford opportunities to hone skills in team-based negotiations.

  • OIDD2920 - Advanced Negotiation

    This course is designed to teach negotiation principles and to enable students to develop their negotiation skills. This course assumes familiarity with the basic negotiation concepts covered in the prerequisite for this course: Negotiations. In this course, we extend the study and practice of negotiations and we develop a deeper understanding for how specific aspects of the negotiation process (e.g., emotions, deadlines, trust violations) impact outcomes. Through course lectures, readings, and case exercises, students will develop a rich framework for thinking about the negotiation process and acquire tools for guiding the negotiation process.

  • OIDD2990 - Judg & Dec Making Res Im

    This class provides a high-level introduction to the field of judgment and decision making (JDM) and in-depth exposure to the process of doing research in this area. Throughout the semester you will gain hands-on experience with several different JDM research projects. You will be paired with a PhD student or faculty mentor who is working on a variety of different research studies. Each week you will be given assignments that are central to one or more of these studies, and you will be given detailed descriptions of the research projects you are contributing to and how your assignments relate to the successful completion of these projects. To complement your hands-on research experience, throughout the semester you will be assigned readings from the book Nudge by Thaler and Sunstein, which summarizes key recent ideas in the JDM literature. You will also meet as a group for an hour once every three weeks with the class's faculty supervisor and all of his or her PhD students to discuss the projects you are working on, to discuss the class readings, and to discuss your own research ideas stimulated by getting involved in various projects. Date and time to be mutually agreed upon by supervising faculty and students. the 1CU version of this course will involve approx. 10 hours of research immersion per week and a 10-page paper. The 0.5 CU version of this course will involve approx 5 hours of research immersion per week and a 5-page final paper. Please contact Professor Joseph Simmons if you are interested in enrolling in the course: jsimmo@wharton.upenn.edu

  • OIDD3990 - Supervised Study

    This course number is currently used for several course types including independent studies, experimental courses and Management & Technology Freshman Seminar. Instructor permission required to enroll in any independent study. Wharton Undergraduate students must also receive approval from the Undergraduate Division to register for independent studies. Section 002 is the Management and Technology Freshman Seminar; instruction permission is not required for this section and is only open to M&T students. For Fall 2020, Section 004 is a new course titled AI, Business, and Society. The course provides a overview of AI and its role in business transformation. The purpose of this course is to improve understanding of AI, discuss the many ways in which AI is being used in the industry, and provide a strategic framework for how to bring AI to the center of digital transformation efforts. In terms of AI overview, we will go over a brief technical overview for students who are not actively immersed in AI (topic covered include Big Data, data warehousing, data-mining, different forms of machine learning, etc). In terms of business applications, we will consider applications of AI in media, Finance, retail, and other industries. Finally, we will consider how AI can be used as a source of competitive advantage. We will conclude with a discussion of ethical challenges and a governance framework for AI. No prior technical background is assumed but some interest in (and exposure to) technology is helpful. Every effort is made to build most of the lectures from the basics.

  • OIDD6910 - Negotiations

    This course examines the art and science of negotiation, with additional emphasis on conflict resolution. Students will engage in a number of simulated negotiations ranging from simple one-issue transactions to multi-party joint ventures. Through these exercises and associated readings, students explore the basic theoretical models of bargaining and have an opportunity to test and improve their negotiation skills. Cross-listed with MGMT 6910/OIDD 6910/LGST 8060. Format: Lecture, class discussion, simulation/role play, and video demonstrations. Materials: Textbook and course pack.

  • OIDD6920 - Advanced Negotiation

    This is a course the builds on the basic Negotiation course. In this course, we explore a wide range of negotiation topics from crisis and hostage negotiations, to the role of emotions including anxiety, envy and anger in negotiations, to backlash effects for women in negotiations, and the role of alcohol in negotiations. We will survey many aspects of current negotiation research, discuss historic negotiation cases, and students will participate in role-play exercises. Many of the role play exercises will involve multi-party negotiations and afford opportunities to hone skills in team-based negotiations.

  • OIDD9000 - Foundations of Dec Proc

    The course is an introduction to research on normative, descriptive and prescriptive models of judgement and choice under uncertainty. We will be studying the underlying theory of decision processes as well as applications in individual group and organizational choice. Guest speakers will relate the concepts of decision processes and behavioral economics to applied problems in their area of expertise. As part of the course there will be a theoretical or empirical term paper on the application of decision processes to each student's particular area of interest.

  • OIDD9920 - Conflict Mgmt Seminar

    This seminar exposes students to the central issues in conflict management research. This course covers both analytic and behavioral perspectives of conflict management, and describes how the field has developed. Through discussions of theory and empirical research, the course aims to develop a foundation for understanding the extant literature and how common methodological tools have shaped the types of questions conflict management scholars have investigated - and neglected.

Awards and Honors

  • Best Conference Empirical Paper, International Association for Conflict Management, 2015
  • Finalist for the Exeter Prize in Experimetnal Economics, 2012 Description

    Pope, D. & Schweitzer, M. Is Tiger Woods loss averse? Persistent bias in the face of experience, competition, and high stakes. American Economic Review

    This paper was one of five finalists for the 2012 Exeter Prize for the best paper published in the previous year in Experimental Economics, Behavioral Economics, and Decision Theory.

  • IACM, Best Conference Paper with a Student as First Author, 2010 Description

    Brooks, A. & Schweitzer, M. (2011). Can Nervous Nelly negotiate? How anxiety causes negotiators to make low first offers, exit early, and earn less profit. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 115(1), 43-54.

    This paper won the Best Conference Paper with a Student as First Author Award at the International Association for Conflict Management Conference, 2010.

  • Excellence in Teaching Award for MBA Teaching, Wharton School, 2010
  • Best Paper Award for the Conflict Management Division at the Academy of Management Conference, 2008 Description

    The paper (co-authored with Francesca Gino) is “In the Mood for Advice: The Influence of Emotions on Advice Taking.”

  • Best Empirical Paper Award in Conflict Management, AoM, 2003 Description

    Dunn, J. & Schweitzer, M. (2005). Feeling and believing: The influence of emotion on trust. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88

    This paper won the Best Empirical Paper Award in the Conflict Management Division at the Academy of Management, August 2003. A short version of this paper was published in the Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, August 2003.

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