Richard E. Petty

Biosketch

Richard E. Petty received his B.A. with high distinction in political science and psychology from the University of Virginia and his Ph.D. in psychology from the Ohio State University. Petty’s academic career began at the University of Missouri and he is currently Distinguished University Professor of psychology at Ohio State. His research, funded by NSF, NIMH, and the Templeton Foundation, focuses on the situational and individual factors responsible for changes in attitudes and behaviors. He has published nine books and over 450 journal articles and chapters which have been cited about 200,000 times. Petty is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Psychological Science, the Society for Consumer Psychology (SCP), the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), and the American Psychological Association (APA). His other honors include receipt of the Scientific Impact award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology (SESP) as well as Distinguished Scientific Contribution Awards from APA, SESP, SCP, SPSP, the Person Memory Interest Group and the Social Influence Interest Group of SPSP. He recently was awarded the social science prize from the BBVA Foundation. His editorial work consists of being Editor of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Associate Editor of Emotion, and on the editorial boards of 14 other journals. He has also been President of SPSP, the Midwestern Psychological Association, and the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology.

Research Interests

Richard E. Petty’s research focuses broadly on the situational and individual difference factors responsible for changes in beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Much of his current work (and that of the students and colleagues with whom he collaborates) is aimed at examining the implications of the Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion for understanding prejudice, consumer choices, political and legal decisions, and health behaviors. Topics of longstanding interest include: understanding the role of meta-cognitive (e.g., certainty) as well as implicit (automatic or unconscious) factors in producing attitudinal and behavioral change, resistance to change, and advocacy, the effect of racial and ethnic prejudice, stereotypes, specific emotions, and morality on social judgment and behavior; and investigating how people correct their evaluations for various factors they think may have biased their judgments (such as stereotypes they hold or emotions they are experiencing). Topics of current interest include understanding the psychological foundations of extremism, societal polarization, misinformation acceptance and correction, and the development of methods to modify deeply held opinions.