Welcome to the Self and Social Judgment Lab!

The Self and Social Judgment lab is directed by Dr. Joyce Ehrlinger.

Dr. Ehrlinger's research explores the processes that underlie judgments about the self and one’s environment. She is particularly fascinated by self-perception and, as such, most of her work is aimed at understanding the sources of accuracy and error in self-judgments. Through her primary line of research, she have systematically explored why individuals often have little insight into how well they have performed on tasks. Her interest in self-insight extends to understanding how individuals come to believe that their own judgments are objective but the judgments of others are clouded by their goals and motives. [more information]

Beyond self-judgments, Dr. Ehrlinger is also fascinated by judgments of one’s environment and, in particular, predictions about future consequences. Thus, her secondary line of research explores how a single-minded focus on the consequences one intends can blind individuals to alternative consequences. Many well-meaning acts have backfired, sparking strings of unintended and unwanted consequences. Her work reveals a psychological contributor to the failure to foresee unintended consequences and identifies means of guarding against this single-minded focus to bring about better judgment. [more information]