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Research.

As Director of the Social Behavior and Decisions Lab [SoBaD], I collaborate with graduate and undergraduate students, postdocs, and research associates at UVa and beyond to explore human behavior. Our aim is to shed light on how people pursue goals and make decisions in a social world.

Publications

*Top link goes to published article. 

[view] links to open access, pre-print, or other shareable version, if available. 

email: We do our best to share papers while observing publishers' guidelines. If you are having trouble accessing a paper for personal use, please contact our lab manager, Natalie Baumeister (npb6pa@virginia.edu). 

On the Experience of Goals: Differentiating Goal-Generic Value from Goal-Specific Value [view]

Converse, B. A., Roberts, A., Hennecke, M., & Fishbach, A. (in press). Social and Personality Psychology Compass

Supply, Demand and Polarization Challenges Facing US Climate Policies

Burgess, M. G., Van Boven, L., Wagner, G., Wong-Parodi, G., Baker, K., Boykoff, M., Converse, B. A. ... Vandenbergh, M.P. (2024). Nature Climate Change, 1-9. 

 

Psychology of Rivalry: A Social-Cognitive Approach to Competitive Relationships

Converse, B. A., Reinhard, D. A., & Austin, M. M. K. (2024). In S. M. Garcia, A. Tor, & A. Elliott (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of The Psychology and Competition, (ch. 19), Oxford University Press. 

The Value of Mere Completion

Converse, B. A., Tsang, S., & Hennecke, M. (2023). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 152, 3021-3035.

 

Making People Aware of Eco-Innovation Can Decrease Climate Despair

Neale, C., Austin, M. M. K., Roe, J., & Converse, B. A. (2023). Climatic Change176, 1-21. 

Problem Solving from a Goal-Systems Perspective

Converse, B. A. (2023). In A. Kruglanski, A. Fishbach, & C. Kopetz (Eds.), Goal Systems Theory: Psychological Processes and Applications, (ch. 10), Oxford University Press. 

People-watching and the environment: Looking for signs of hope while concern outpaces action.

Converse, B. A. & Austin, M. M. K. (2022). Current Opinion in Psychology, 43, 249-253. 

Appears in a special issue on People-Watching: Interpersonal and Prediction (eds. K. Barasz & T. Kim). 

In search of weakened resolve: Does climate-engineering awareness decrease individuals' commitment to mitigation?

Austin, M. M. K. & Converse, B. A. (2021). Journal of Environmental Psychology, 78, 1016900.

People systematically overlook subtractive changes.  [view]

Adams, G. S., Converse, B. A., Hales, A. H., & Klotz, L. E. (2021). Nature592, 258-261. 

If humans design the planet: A call for psychological scientists to engage with climate engineering.

Converse, B. A., Hancock, P., Klotz, L. E., Clarens, A. F., & Adams, G. S. (2021). American Psychologist76, 768-780.

Self-control and the reasons behind our goals.  [view]

Converse, B. A., Juarez, L., & Hennecke, M. (2019). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology116, 860-883.

The role of "prominent numbers" in open numerical judgment: Rushed decision makers choose from a limited set of numbers.

Converse, B. A. & Dennis, P. J. (2018). Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes147, 94-107.

 

Next week, next month, next year: How perceived temporal boundaries affect initiation expectations.  [view]

Hennecke, M. & Converse, B. A. (2017). Social Psychological and Personality Science8, 918-926.

 

Slow motion increases perceived intent.

Caruso, E. M., Burns, Z. C., & Converse, B. A. (2016). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113, 9250-9255.

On rivalry and goal pursuit: Shared competitive history, legacy concerns, and strategy selection.

Converse, B. A. & Reinhard, D. A. (2016). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology110, 191-213.

Jump-starting early childhood education at home: Early learning, parent motivation, and public policy.

Maloney, E. A., Converse, B. A., Gibbs, C. R., Levine, S. C., & Beilock, S. L. (2015). Perspectives on Psychological Science10, 727-732.

Investing in karma: When wanting promotes helping.

Converse, B. A., Risen, J. L., & Carter, T. J. (2012). Psychological Science23, 923-930.

Instrumentality boosts appreciation: Helpers are more appreciated while they are useful.

Converse, B. A. & Fishbach, A. (2012). Psychological Science23, 560-566. 

Identifying and counteracting temptations.

Fishbach, A. & Converse, B. A. (2011). In K. D. Vohs & R. F. Baumeister (Eds.), Handbook of Self-Regulation: Research, Theory, and Applications, 2nd Edition (pp. 242-262). Guilford. 

You're having fun when time flies: The hedonic consequences of subjective time progression.

Sackett, A. M., Meyvis, T., Nelson, L. D., Converse, B. A., & Sackett, A. L. (2010). Psychological Science21, 111-117.

Walking the line between goals and temptations.

Fishbach, A. & Converse, B. A. (2010). In R. R. Hassin, K. Ochsner, and Y. Trope (Eds.), Self Control in Society, Mind, and Brain (pp. 289-407). Oxford. 

Believers' estimates of God's beliefs are more egocentric than estimates of other people's beliefs.

Epley, N., Converse, B. A., Delbosc, A., Monteleone, G., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2009). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences106, 21533-21538.

In the mood to get over yourself: Mood affects theory-of-mind use. 

Converse, B. A., Lin, S., Keysar, B., & Epley, N. (2008). Emotion8, 725-730.

Reciprocity is not give and take: Asymmetric reciprocity to positive and negative acts.

Keysar, B., Converse, B. A., Wang, J., & Epley, N. (2008). Psychological Science19, 1280-1286.

Sharing.

We do our best to share papers while observing publishers' guidelines. If you are having trouble accessing a paper for personal use, please contact our lab manager, Natalie Baumeister (npb6pa@virginia.edu).

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