Peter McGraw
Encyclopedia
A. Peter McGraw is an assistant professor of Marketing and Psychology at the University of Colorado at Boulder
. His research spans the fields of judgment
and decision making
, emotion
, affect
, and mood
.
McGraw is known for his early research on expectations and emotions. In studying the emotional reactions of Olympic athletes, he finds that bronze medalists often appear happier with their accomplishment than silver medalists because silver medalists are more likely to have higher (gold medal) aspirations, whereas bronze medalists are more likely to be the dark horse and exceed their expectations .
Recently McGraw and Jonathan Levav have published work based on their theory of Emotional Accounting, which is a complement to prior research on Mental Accounting
. Emotional accounting posits that people use their feelings about money to guide how they spend it. For example, people who have negative feelings about a windfall of money, make utilitarian or virtuous expenditures in lieu of hedonic expenditures.
McGraw also conducts research related to humor. This work was inspired in part by his research on moral violations with Philip Tetlock and mixed emotions with Jeff Larsen. McGraw, along with Caleb Warren, developed the Benign Violation Theory (BVT), a general theory of humor based on evolutionary accounts of laughter and amusement. The BVT predicts that humor occurs when a person simultaneously appraises a situation as threatening to the way he or she believes the world ought to be and appraises the situation to be benign in some way.
in 2002, at which time he pursued a post-doc at Princeton University with Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman
. In 2004, he joined the faculty at the Leeds School of Business
, University of Colorado at Boulder. In 2008, he received an appointment (courtesy) in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience.
At the University of Colorado, McGraw teaches marketing and co-directs the Judgment, Emotion, Decision, and Intuition (JEDI) lab with psychology professor, Leaf Van Boven. McGraw also co-directs a virtual research lab, the Moral Research Lab (MoRL) with Daniel Bartels, and heads the Humor Research Lab (HuRL). McGraw’s research has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research
, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
, and Psychological Science
. McGraw was named a Marketing Science Institute
Young Scholar in 2007.
Outside academic pursuits, McGraw, from 2004 to 2010, served as academic coordinator, assistant coach, and associate head coach of the men’s lacrosse
team at the University of Colorado . He was the head coach of the men’s lacrosse club at Princeton University from 2002 to 2004 .
JECL investigates the interrelation between people’s judgment, emotion, and decision making, with a focus on consumer behavior and implications for public policy. The lab’s theoretical and methodological base is in social and cognitive psychology, with emphases in the interdisciplinary fields of consumer behavior, emotion, and judgment and decision making.
Moral Research Laboratory (MoRL)
MoRL is a (virtual) research laboratory that investigates the mental processes underlying morally motivated judgment and choice, with a focus on consumer behavior and implications for public policy. The lab’s theoretical base is in the interdisciplinary field of judgment and decision making, with an emphasis in social and cognitive psychology.
Humor Research Laboratory (HuRL)
HuRL is dedicated to the scientific study of humor, its precipitating factors, and consequences. The lab’s theoretical and methodological base is in the interdisciplinary fields of consumer behavior, emotion, and judgment and decision making, with an emphasis in social and cognitive psychology.
McGraw, A.P., Shafir, E., & Todorov, A. (2010). Valuing money and things: Why a $20 item can be worth more and less than $20. Management Science.
McGraw, A.P. & Warren, C. (2010). Benign violations: Making immoral behavior funny. Psychological Science.
Levav, J., & McGraw, A.P. (2009). Emotional accounting: How feelings about money influence consumer choice. Journal of Marketing Research, 46, 66-80.
McGraw, A.P., Mellers, B.A, & Tetlock, P.E. (2005). Expectations and emotions of Olympic athletes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 41, 438-446.
McGraw, A.P., & Tetlock, P.E. (2005). Taboo trade-offs, relational framing and the acceptability of exchanges. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 15, 2-15.
Larsen, J.T., McGraw, A.P., Mellers, B.A. & Cacioppo, J. (2004). The agony of victory and thrill of defeat: Mixed emotional reactions to disappointing wins and relieving losses. Psychological Science, 15, 325-330.
McGraw, A.P., Tetlock, P.E., & Kristel, O.V. (2003). The limits of fungibility: Relational schemata and the value of things. Journal of Consumer Research, 30, 219-229.
Larsen, J.T., McGraw, A.P., & Cacioppo, J. (2001). Can people feel happy and sad at the same time? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 684-696.
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
. His research spans the fields of judgment
Judgment
A judgment , in a legal context, is synonymous with the formal decision made by a court following a lawsuit. At the same time the court may also make a range of court orders, such as imposing a sentence upon a guilty defendant in a criminal matter, or providing a remedy for the plaintiff in a civil...
and decision making
Decision making
Decision making can be regarded as the mental processes resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios. Every decision making process produces a final choice. The output can be an action or an opinion of choice.- Overview :Human performance in decision terms...
, emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
, affect
Affect (psychology)
Affect refers to the experience of feeling or emotion. Affect is a key part of the process of an organism's interaction with stimuli. The word also refers sometimes to affect display, which is "a facial, vocal, or gestural behavior that serves as an indicator of affect" .The affective domain...
, and mood
Mood
Mood may refer to:*Mood , a relatively long lasting emotional state*Grammatical mood, one of a set of morphologically distinctive forms that are used to signal modality*Mood , a city in Iran*Mood District, a district in Iran...
.
McGraw is known for his early research on expectations and emotions. In studying the emotional reactions of Olympic athletes, he finds that bronze medalists often appear happier with their accomplishment than silver medalists because silver medalists are more likely to have higher (gold medal) aspirations, whereas bronze medalists are more likely to be the dark horse and exceed their expectations .
Recently McGraw and Jonathan Levav have published work based on their theory of Emotional Accounting, which is a complement to prior research on Mental Accounting
Mental accounting
A concept first named by Richard Thaler , mental accounting attempts to describe the process whereby people code, categorize and evaluate economic outcomes....
. Emotional accounting posits that people use their feelings about money to guide how they spend it. For example, people who have negative feelings about a windfall of money, make utilitarian or virtuous expenditures in lieu of hedonic expenditures.
McGraw also conducts research related to humor. This work was inspired in part by his research on moral violations with Philip Tetlock and mixed emotions with Jeff Larsen. McGraw, along with Caleb Warren, developed the Benign Violation Theory (BVT), a general theory of humor based on evolutionary accounts of laughter and amusement. The BVT predicts that humor occurs when a person simultaneously appraises a situation as threatening to the way he or she believes the world ought to be and appraises the situation to be benign in some way.
Academic career
McGraw received his Ph.D. from The Ohio State UniversityOhio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
in 2002, at which time he pursued a post-doc at Princeton University with Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman
Daniel Kahneman
Daniel Kahneman is an Israeli-American psychologist and Nobel laureate. He is notable for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making, behavioral economics and hedonic psychology....
. In 2004, he joined the faculty at the Leeds School of Business
Leeds School of Business
The Leeds School of Business is a college of the University of Colorado at Boulder in the United States. The enrollment of 3,300 students includes undgraduates, master's candidates, and Ph.D. candidates. The college was started in 1906 when the Board of Regents created the College of Commerce...
, University of Colorado at Boulder. In 2008, he received an appointment (courtesy) in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience.
At the University of Colorado, McGraw teaches marketing and co-directs the Judgment, Emotion, Decision, and Intuition (JEDI) lab with psychology professor, Leaf Van Boven. McGraw also co-directs a virtual research lab, the Moral Research Lab (MoRL) with Daniel Bartels, and heads the Humor Research Lab (HuRL). McGraw’s research has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research
Journal of Consumer Research
The Journal of Consumer Research publishes scholarly research that covers empirical, theoretical, and methodological aspects of research on consumer behavior, spanning a broad range of fields including psychology, marketing, sociology, economics, anthropology, and communications. It is published by...
, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology is a monthly psychology journal of the American Psychological Association. It is considered one of the top journals in the fields of social and personality psychology. Its focus is on empirical research reports; however, specialized theoretical,...
, and Psychological Science
Psychological science
Psychological Science is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of the Association for Psychological Science , published by SAGE Publications. It is one of the most influential journals in psychology.-Publishings:...
. McGraw was named a Marketing Science Institute
Marketing Science Institute
Founded in 1961, the Marketing Science Institute is a corporate-membership-based organization dedicated to bridging the gap between marketing theory and business practice...
Young Scholar in 2007.
Outside academic pursuits, McGraw, from 2004 to 2010, served as academic coordinator, assistant coach, and associate head coach of the men’s lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
team at the University of Colorado . He was the head coach of the men’s lacrosse club at Princeton University from 2002 to 2004 .
Research Labs
Judgment, Emotion, and Choice Laboratory (JECL)JECL investigates the interrelation between people’s judgment, emotion, and decision making, with a focus on consumer behavior and implications for public policy. The lab’s theoretical and methodological base is in social and cognitive psychology, with emphases in the interdisciplinary fields of consumer behavior, emotion, and judgment and decision making.
Moral Research Laboratory (MoRL)
MoRL is a (virtual) research laboratory that investigates the mental processes underlying morally motivated judgment and choice, with a focus on consumer behavior and implications for public policy. The lab’s theoretical base is in the interdisciplinary field of judgment and decision making, with an emphasis in social and cognitive psychology.
Humor Research Laboratory (HuRL)
HuRL is dedicated to the scientific study of humor, its precipitating factors, and consequences. The lab’s theoretical and methodological base is in the interdisciplinary fields of consumer behavior, emotion, and judgment and decision making, with an emphasis in social and cognitive psychology.
Selected publications
McGraw, A.P., Larsen, J.T., Kahneman, D., & Schkade, D. (2010). Comparing gains and losses. Psychological Science.McGraw, A.P., Shafir, E., & Todorov, A. (2010). Valuing money and things: Why a $20 item can be worth more and less than $20. Management Science.
McGraw, A.P. & Warren, C. (2010). Benign violations: Making immoral behavior funny. Psychological Science.
Levav, J., & McGraw, A.P. (2009). Emotional accounting: How feelings about money influence consumer choice. Journal of Marketing Research, 46, 66-80.
McGraw, A.P., Mellers, B.A, & Tetlock, P.E. (2005). Expectations and emotions of Olympic athletes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 41, 438-446.
McGraw, A.P., & Tetlock, P.E. (2005). Taboo trade-offs, relational framing and the acceptability of exchanges. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 15, 2-15.
Larsen, J.T., McGraw, A.P., Mellers, B.A. & Cacioppo, J. (2004). The agony of victory and thrill of defeat: Mixed emotional reactions to disappointing wins and relieving losses. Psychological Science, 15, 325-330.
McGraw, A.P., Tetlock, P.E., & Kristel, O.V. (2003). The limits of fungibility: Relational schemata and the value of things. Journal of Consumer Research, 30, 219-229.
Larsen, J.T., McGraw, A.P., & Cacioppo, J. (2001). Can people feel happy and sad at the same time? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 684-696.
See also
- Theories of HumorTheories of humorThere are many theories of humor which attempt to explain what humor is, what social function it serves, and what would be considered humorous. It would be very difficult to explain humor to a hypothetical person who did not have a sense of humor already. In fact, to such a person humor would...
- Loss AversionLoss aversionIn economics and decision theory, loss aversion refers to people's tendency to strongly prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains. Some studies suggest that losses are twice as powerful, psychologically, as gains....
- Mental AccountingMental accountingA concept first named by Richard Thaler , mental accounting attempts to describe the process whereby people code, categorize and evaluate economic outcomes....