In almost all aspects of life, working with others is necessary for success. When collaboration goes well, it can improve decision making and unlock organizational value. But when it goes badly, it can devolve into destructive conflict, harming relationships and performance.
My research uses theory and methods from behavioral science to identify barriers to effective collaboration and to develop communication strategies to overcome them. I ground my research in online and lab studies, complementing these methods with field experiments, archival analyses, and natural language processing techniques. I intentionally study externally valid samples, including police chiefs, national security experts, mayors, and citizens from over 85 countries. In doing so, I am committed to developing a research program that yields robust and generalizable insights.
Conflict over decision processes
During graduate school, I taught a course on managerial decision making in the California Police Chiefs Executive Leadership Institute. During class, one chief challenged the idea that ignoring sunk costs was a mistake. He argued that pivoting from prior commitments would undermine the trust he had worked so hard to build in his department. His critique sparked my curiosity and central research program. My co-authors and I have since investigated when and why observers reinforce decision-making errors in organizations—and what communication strategies are effective to maintain trust while avoiding decision errors.
Dorison, C.A. & Heller, B. (Under Review). Decision biases can be socially reinforced by experts: Evidence
from the National Football League Draft. [equal authorship]
Dorison, C.A. (R&R). When and why observers sustain decision-making errors in organizations: A Bias Reinforcement Model.
Dorison, C.A. & Charlesworth, T.E.S. (Conditionally accepted). What is rationality, who is it ascribed to, and why does it matter? Evidence from Internet text for 66 social groups and 101 occupations. [equal authorship]
Kristal, A. & Dorison, C.A. (2024). Precommitment can allow decision-makers to maintain trust when de-escalating commitment. Journal of Applied Psychology. Advance online publication. (ResearchBox)
Moore, M., Dorison, C.A., & Minson, J.A (2023). The contingent reputational benefits of selective exposure to partisan information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. (OSF)
Dorison, C.A., & Heller, B. (2022) Observers penalize decision makers whose risk preferences are unaffected by loss-gain framing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. (ResearchBox)
Dorison, C.A., Umphres, C., & Lerner, J.S. (2021) Staying the course: Decision makers who escalate commitment are trusted and trustworthy. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. (OSF)
Conflict over strongly held attitudes
In my second line of work, I seek to simultaneously extend theories of conflict and generate insights for management and leadership in the face of pressing societal challenges. This work is united with my first line of work by a focus on key themes of reputation and communication. I am especially interested in how far will individuals go to protect their group’s (rather than their own) reputation and how mis-perceptions of conflict counterparts serve as barriers to conflict resolution.
Dorison, C.A. & Kteily, N.S. (Working paper). Loyal to a fault: Misperceived reputational pressures can fuel partisan endorsement of winning at all costs.
Dorison, C.A., & Kteily, N. (2024), Group-based reputational incentives can blunt sensitivity to societal harms and benefits. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. (Researchbox)
Dorison, C.A. & Minson, J.A. (2022). You can’t handle the truth! Conflict counterparts over-estimate each other's feelings of self-threat. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. (ResearchBox) [equal authorship]
Collins, H., Dorison, C.A., Minson, J.A., & Gino, F. (2022). Under-estimating counterparts' learning goals impairs conflictual conversations. Psychological Science. (Researchbox) (OSF)
Dorison, C.A., Minson, J.A., & Rogers, T. (2019). Selective exposure partly relies on faulty affective forecasts. Cognition. (OSF)
Organization communication
Both lines of work on conflict described above reinforced to me the importance of communication in organizations. In turn, my co-authors and I have investigated not only how employees communicate with each other, but also how leaders communicate with those outside their organizations.
Dorison, C.A. & Rogers, T. (Under review). Writer shorter messages.
Wang, K., Rees, V.W., Dorison, C.A., Kawachi, I., & Lerner, J.S. (2024). The role of positive emotion in harmful health behavior: Implications for theory and public health campaigns. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Forthcoming.
Wang, K., Goldenberg, A., Dorison, C.A., Miller, J., Lerner, J.S., Gross, J.J., & 100+ others (2021). A global test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nature Human Behaviour. (OSF)
Dorison, C.A., Wang, K., Rees, V., Kawachi, I., Ericson, K.M.M., & Lerner, J.S. (2020). Sadness, but not all negative emotions, heightens addictive substance use. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (OSF)
My research uses theory and methods from behavioral science to identify barriers to effective collaboration and to develop communication strategies to overcome them. I ground my research in online and lab studies, complementing these methods with field experiments, archival analyses, and natural language processing techniques. I intentionally study externally valid samples, including police chiefs, national security experts, mayors, and citizens from over 85 countries. In doing so, I am committed to developing a research program that yields robust and generalizable insights.
Conflict over decision processes
During graduate school, I taught a course on managerial decision making in the California Police Chiefs Executive Leadership Institute. During class, one chief challenged the idea that ignoring sunk costs was a mistake. He argued that pivoting from prior commitments would undermine the trust he had worked so hard to build in his department. His critique sparked my curiosity and central research program. My co-authors and I have since investigated when and why observers reinforce decision-making errors in organizations—and what communication strategies are effective to maintain trust while avoiding decision errors.
Dorison, C.A. & Heller, B. (Under Review). Decision biases can be socially reinforced by experts: Evidence
from the National Football League Draft. [equal authorship]
Dorison, C.A. (R&R). When and why observers sustain decision-making errors in organizations: A Bias Reinforcement Model.
Dorison, C.A. & Charlesworth, T.E.S. (Conditionally accepted). What is rationality, who is it ascribed to, and why does it matter? Evidence from Internet text for 66 social groups and 101 occupations. [equal authorship]
Kristal, A. & Dorison, C.A. (2024). Precommitment can allow decision-makers to maintain trust when de-escalating commitment. Journal of Applied Psychology. Advance online publication. (ResearchBox)
Moore, M., Dorison, C.A., & Minson, J.A (2023). The contingent reputational benefits of selective exposure to partisan information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. (OSF)
Dorison, C.A., & Heller, B. (2022) Observers penalize decision makers whose risk preferences are unaffected by loss-gain framing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. (ResearchBox)
Dorison, C.A., Umphres, C., & Lerner, J.S. (2021) Staying the course: Decision makers who escalate commitment are trusted and trustworthy. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. (OSF)
Conflict over strongly held attitudes
In my second line of work, I seek to simultaneously extend theories of conflict and generate insights for management and leadership in the face of pressing societal challenges. This work is united with my first line of work by a focus on key themes of reputation and communication. I am especially interested in how far will individuals go to protect their group’s (rather than their own) reputation and how mis-perceptions of conflict counterparts serve as barriers to conflict resolution.
Dorison, C.A. & Kteily, N.S. (Working paper). Loyal to a fault: Misperceived reputational pressures can fuel partisan endorsement of winning at all costs.
Dorison, C.A., & Kteily, N. (2024), Group-based reputational incentives can blunt sensitivity to societal harms and benefits. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. (Researchbox)
Dorison, C.A. & Minson, J.A. (2022). You can’t handle the truth! Conflict counterparts over-estimate each other's feelings of self-threat. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. (ResearchBox) [equal authorship]
Collins, H., Dorison, C.A., Minson, J.A., & Gino, F. (2022). Under-estimating counterparts' learning goals impairs conflictual conversations. Psychological Science. (Researchbox) (OSF)
Dorison, C.A., Minson, J.A., & Rogers, T. (2019). Selective exposure partly relies on faulty affective forecasts. Cognition. (OSF)
Organization communication
Both lines of work on conflict described above reinforced to me the importance of communication in organizations. In turn, my co-authors and I have investigated not only how employees communicate with each other, but also how leaders communicate with those outside their organizations.
Dorison, C.A. & Rogers, T. (Under review). Writer shorter messages.
Wang, K., Rees, V.W., Dorison, C.A., Kawachi, I., & Lerner, J.S. (2024). The role of positive emotion in harmful health behavior: Implications for theory and public health campaigns. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Forthcoming.
Wang, K., Goldenberg, A., Dorison, C.A., Miller, J., Lerner, J.S., Gross, J.J., & 100+ others (2021). A global test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nature Human Behaviour. (OSF)
Dorison, C.A., Wang, K., Rees, V., Kawachi, I., Ericson, K.M.M., & Lerner, J.S. (2020). Sadness, but not all negative emotions, heightens addictive substance use. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (OSF)