Michele J. Gelfand

Behind the aeronautics giant Boeing’s recent high-profile crises and scandals is a shift in its organizational culture toward greater looseness and decentralization in pursuit of profit. To get back on course, the company needs to realign all its operations with the unique demands of the aviation industry.

In a study utilizing computer simulations, researchers from University of Maryland and Stanford University showed that gossip helps disseminate information about people's reputations, allowing individuals to connect with more cooperative individuals while avoiding selfish ones. The study found that gossipers may gain an evolutionary advantage by influencing others and encouraging cooperation.

While threat-related language naturally becomes more pervasive during wars and natural disasters, it can also spread as a result of misinformation campaigns, “engagement” algorithms, and social contagion effects. Improving our understanding of the threat environment thus has become an urgent imperative.

An important lesson from the pandemic comes from a surprising source: the dodo, a flightless bird that went extinct four centuries ago.

Why Some Societies Respond to Danger Better Than Others

Our research shows how ‘tighter’ societies do better – and how the rest must learn to adapt in order to defeat the pandemic

Reopening the economy has often been framed as a partisan issue in the US. But within households, many families are having their own arguments about how lax or strict they should be about the threat of the virus.

Different mindsets about rules can lead to different behaviors.

In the fight against coronavirus, we need every advantage. America’s scientific expertise is second to none, but are U.S. cultural attitudes and tendencies our achilles heel?

It’s not just about medicine. It’s about culture.

Your partner’s intentions might be good, but the outcome often isn’t.

Across the world, voters are falling prey to leaders who appeal to their worst instincts. Why?

Words that carry weight: In a University of Maryland study, Pakistanis and Americans who read diaries from the others’ culture often came away with a more positive and tolerant perspective.

When people feel threatened, they’re more receptive to politicians who espouse xenophobic rhetoric.

Extremely rare but vivid threats often loom large in the human mind.

Dr. Gelfand answers reader questions in Behavioral Scientist's "Ask a Behavioral Scientist" series

This psychology professor and her research team argues that it’s not about remaking the company, but introducing structure without compromising on Tesla’s commitment to innovate.

While the Islamic State has claimed responsibility, the real story is a bit more complicated than that.

On Equal Pay Day, we rightly focus on how a woman would have to work over three months more in order to make what her male counterpart did last year for the same full time work — a gender pay gap that amounts to about $900 billion in annual lost earnings for women holding full-time jobs. But inequities in the workplace go far beyond wage disparity.

A book excerpt and interview with Michele Gelfand, an author and psychologist at the University of Maryland