Academic Appointments


Program Affiliations


  • Public Policy

2023-24 Courses


Stanford Advisees


  • Doctoral (Program)
    Samuel Pertl

All Publications


  • Emotions Know Best: The Advantage of Emotional versus Cognitive Responses to Failure JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DECISION MAKING Nelson, N., Malkoc, S. A., Shiv, B. 2018; 31 (1): 40–51

    View details for DOI 10.1002/bdm.2042

    View details for Web of Science ID 000417927900004

  • The Role of Hedonic Behavior in Reducing Perceived Risk. Psychological science Jia, J. S., Jia, J., Hsee, C. K., Shiv, B. 2017; 28 (1): 23-35

    Abstract

    Understanding how human populations naturally respond to and cope with risk is important for fields ranging from psychology to public health. We used geophysical and individual-level mobile-phone data (mobile-apps, telecommunications, and Web usage) of 157,358 victims of the 2013 Ya'an earthquake to diagnose the effects of the disaster and investigate how experiencing real risk (at different levels of intensity) changes behavior. Rather than limiting human activity, higher earthquake intensity resulted in graded increases in usage of communications apps (e.g., social networking, messaging), functional apps (e.g., informational tools), and hedonic apps (e.g., music, videos, games). Combining mobile data with a field survey ( N = 2,000) completed 1 week after the earthquake, we use an instrumental-variable approach to show that only increases in hedonic behavior reduced perceived risk. Thus, hedonic behavior could potentially serve as a population-scale coping and recovery strategy that is often missing in risk management and policy considerations.

    View details for DOI 10.1177/0956797616671712

    View details for PubMedID 27881710

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC5228631

  • Should you Sleep on it? The Effects of Overnight Sleep on Subjective Preference-based Choice JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DECISION MAKING Karmarkar, U. R., Shiv, B., Spencer, R. M. 2017; 30 (1): 70-79

    View details for DOI 10.1002/bdm.1921

    View details for Web of Science ID 000396497100006

  • The Role of Hedonic Behavior in Reducing Perceived Risk: Evidence From Postearthquake Mobile-App Data PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Jia, J. S., Jia, J., Hsee, C. K., Shiv, B. 2017; 28 (1): 23-35
  • Cost Conscious? The Neural and Behavioral Impact of Price Primacy on Decision Making JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH Karmarkar, U. R., Shiv, B., Knutson, B. 2015; 52 (4): 467-481
  • Can't finish what you started? The effect of climactic interruption on behavior JOURNAL OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY Kupor, D. M., Reich, T., Shiv, B. 2015; 25 (1): 113-119
  • The Product-Agnosia Effect: How More Visual Impressions Affect Product Distinctiveness in Comparative Choice JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH Jia, J. S., Shiv, B., Rao, S. 2014; 41 (2): 342-360

    View details for DOI 10.1086/676600

    View details for Web of Science ID 000339171400007

  • Interference of the End: Why Recency Bias in Memory Determines When a Food Is Consumed Again PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Garbinsky, E. N., Morewedge, C. K., Shiv, B. 2014; 25 (7): 1466-1474
  • Interference of the end: why recency bias in memory determines when a food is consumed again. Psychological science Garbinsky, E. N., Morewedge, C. K., Shiv, B. 2014; 25 (7): 1466-74

    Abstract

    The results of three experiments reveal that memory for end enjoyment, rather than beginning enjoyment, of a pleasant gustatory experience determines how soon people desire to repeat that experience. We found that memory for end moments, when people are most satiated, interferes with memory for initial moments. Consequently, end moments are more influential than initial moments when people decide how long to wait until consuming a food again. The findings elucidate the role of memory in delay until repeated consumption, demonstrate how sensory-specific satiety and portion sizes influence future consumption, and suggest one process by which recency effects influence judgments and decisions based on past experiences.

    View details for DOI 10.1177/0956797614534268

    View details for PubMedID 24894582

  • Does liking or wanting determine repeat consumption delay? APPETITE Garbinsky, E. N., Morewedge, C. K., Shiv, B. 2014; 72: 59-65

    Abstract

    Does liking or wanting predict the delay between consumption episodes? Although these psychological processes are correlated, we find that memory for liking, rather than wanting, determines the number of days that pass until the consumption of a food is repeated. Experiment 1 found that liking (but not wanting) for a food at the end of a consumption experience predicted how many days passed until participants wanted to consume it again. Experiment 2 showed that mitigating the decrease in liking resulting from the repeated consumption of a food eliminates its effect on delay. Together, these findings suggest that end liking has a greater influence on when people will consume a food again in the future.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.appet.2013.09.025

    View details for Web of Science ID 000329268300008

    View details for PubMedID 24104055

  • Eternal Quest for the Best: Sequential (vs. Simultaneous) Option Presentation Undermines Choice Commitment JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH Mogilner, C., Shiv, B., Iyengar, S. S. 2013; 39 (6): 1300-1312

    View details for DOI 10.1086/668534

    View details for Web of Science ID 000316003900011

  • The Lonely Consumer: Loner or Conformer? JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH Wang, J., Zhu, R. (., Shiv, B. 2012; 38 (6): 1116-1128

    View details for DOI 10.1086/661552

    View details for Web of Science ID 000301356900012

  • Are White Lies as Innocuous as We Think? JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH Argo, J. J., Shiv, B. 2012; 38 (6): 1093-1102

    View details for DOI 10.1086/661640

    View details for Web of Science ID 000301356900010

  • When Blemishing Leads to Blossoming: The Positive Effect of Negative Information JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH Ein-Gar, D., Shiv, B., Tormala, Z. L. 2012; 38 (5): 846-859

    View details for DOI 10.1086/660807

    View details for Web of Science ID 000299112100006

  • Manipulating basic taste perception to explore how product information affects experience JOURNAL OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY Litt, A., Shiv, B. 2012; 22 (1): 55-66
  • Wolves in sheep's clothing: How and when hypothetical questions influence behavior ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND HUMAN DECISION PROCESSES Moore, S. G., Neal, D. T., Fitzsimons, G. J., Shiv, B. 2012; 117 (1): 168-178
  • Food, sex and the hunger for distinction JOURNAL OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY Berger, J., Shiv, B. 2011; 21 (4): 464-472
  • In Praise of Vagueness: Malleability of Vague Information as a Performance Booster PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Mishra, H., Mishra, A., Shiv, B. 2011; 22 (6): 733-738

    Abstract

    Is the eternal quest for precise information always worthwhile? Our research suggests that, at times, vagueness has its merits. Previous research has demonstrated that people prefer precise information over vague information because it gives them a sense of security and makes their environments more predictable. However, we show that the fuzzy boundaries afforded by vague information can actually help individuals perform better than can precise information. We document these findings across two laboratory studies and one quasi-field study that involved different performance-related contexts (mental acuity, physical strength, and weight loss). We argue that the malleability of vague information allows people to interpret it in the manner they desire, so that they can generate positive response expectancies and, thereby, perform better. The rigidity of precise information discourages desirable interpretations. Hence, on certain occasions, precise information is not as helpful as vague information in boosting performance.

    View details for DOI 10.1177/0956797611407208

    View details for Web of Science ID 000294709200006

    View details for PubMedID 21515738

  • Pressure and Perverse Flights to Familiarity PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Litt, A., Reich, T., Maymin, S., Shiv, B. 2011; 22 (4): 523-531

    Abstract

    Under pressure, people often prefer what is familiar, which can seem safer than the unfamiliar. We show that such favoring of familiarity can lead to choices precisely contrary to the source of felt pressure, thus exacerbating, rather than mitigating, its negative consequences. In Experiment 1, time pressure increased participants' frequency of choosing to complete a longer but incidentally familiar task option (as opposed to a shorter but unfamiliar alternative), resulting in increased felt stress during task completion. In Experiment 2, pressure to reach a performance benchmark in a chosen puzzle increased participants' frequency of choosing an incidentally familiar puzzle that both augured and delivered objectively worse performance (i.e., fewer points obtained). Participants favored this familiar puzzle even though familiarity was established through unpleasant prior experience. This "devil you know" preference under pressure contrasted with disfavoring of the negatively familiar option in a pressure-free situation. These results demonstrate that pressure-induced flights to familiarity can sometimes aggravate rather than ameliorate pressure, and can occur even when available evidence points to the suboptimality of familiar options.

    View details for DOI 10.1177/0956797611400095

    View details for Web of Science ID 000294709000017

    View details for PubMedID 21372324

  • Dissociating Valuation and Saliency Signals during Decision-Making CEREBRAL CORTEX Litt, A., Plassmann, H., Shiv, B., Rangel, A. 2011; 21 (1): 95-102

    Abstract

    There is a growing consensus that the brain computes value and saliency-like signals at the time of decision-making. Value signals are essential for making choices. Saliency signals are related to motivation, attention, and arousal. Unfortunately, an unequivocal characterization of the areas involved in these 2 distinct sets of processes is made difficult by the fact that, in most experiments, both types of signals are highly correlated. We dissociated value and saliency signals using a novel human functional magnetic resonance imaging decision-making task. Activity in the medial orbitofrontal, rostral anterior cingulate, and posterior cingulate cortices was modulated by value but not saliency. The opposite was true for dorsal anterior cingulate, supplementary motor area, insula, and the precentral and fusiform gyri. Only the ventral striatum and the cuneus were modulated by both value and saliency.

    View details for DOI 10.1093/cercor/bhq065

    View details for Web of Science ID 000285195700009

    View details for PubMedID 20444840

  • AN EXPECTATIONS-BASED APPROACH TO EXPLAINING THE CROSSMODAL INFLUENCE OF COLOR ON ORTHONASAL OLFACTORY IDENTIFICATION: ASSESSING THE INFLUENCE OF TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL FACTORS JOURNAL OF SENSORY STUDIES Shankar, M., Simons, C., Levitan, C., Shiv, B., McClure, S., Spence, C. 2010; 25 (6): 791-803
  • An Expectation-Based Approach to Explaining the Crossmodal Influence of Color on Orthonasal Odor Identification: The Influence of Expertise CHEMOSENSORY PERCEPTION Shankar, M., Simons, C., Shiv, B., McClure, S., Spence, C. 2010; 3 (3-4): 167-173
  • An expectations-based approach to explaining the cross-modal influence of color on orthonasal olfactory identification: The influence of the degree of discrepancy ATTENTION PERCEPTION & PSYCHOPHYSICS Shankar, M., Simons, C., Shiv, B., McClure, S., Levitan, C. A., Spence, C. 2010; 72 (7): 1981-1993

    Abstract

    In the present study, we explored the conditions under which color-generated expectations influence participants' identification of flavored drinks. Four experiments were conducted in which the degree of discrepancy between the expected identity of a flavor (derived from the color of a drink) and the actual identity of the flavor (derived from orthonasal olfactory cues) was examined. Using a novel experimental approach that controlled for individual differences in color-flavor associations, we first measured the flavor expectations held by each individual and only then examined whether the same individual's identification responses were influenced by his or her own expectations. Under conditions of low discrepancy, the perceived disparity between the expected and the actual flavor identities was small. When a particular color--identified by participants as one that generated a strong flavor expectation--was added to these drinks (as compared with when no such color was added), a significantly greater proportion of identification responses were consistent with this expectation. This held true even when participants were explicitly told that color would be an uninformative cue and were given as much time as desired to complete the task. By contrast, under conditions of high discrepancy, adding the same colors to the drinks no longer had the same effect on participants' identification responses. Critically, there was a significant difference in the proportion of responses that were consistent with participants' color-based expectations in conditions of low as compared with high discrepancy, indicating that the degree of discrepancy between an individual's actual and expected experience can significantly affect the extent to which color influences judgments of flavor identity.

    View details for DOI 10.3758/APP.72.7.1981

    View details for Web of Science ID 000284449900024

    View details for PubMedID 20952794

  • Lusting While Loathing: Parallel Counterdriving of Wanting and Liking PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Litt, A., Khan, U., Shiv, B. 2010; 21 (1): 118-125

    Abstract

    We show how being "jilted"-that is, being thwarted from obtaining a desired outcome-can concurrently increase desire to obtain the outcome, but reduce its actual attractiveness. Thus, people can come to both want something more and like it less. Two experiments illustrate such disjunctions following jilting experiences. In Experiment 1, participants who failed to win a prize were willing to pay more for it than those who won it, but were also more likely to trade it away when they ultimately obtained it. In Experiment 2, failure to obtain an expected reward led to increased choice, but also negatively biased evaluation, of an item that was merely similar to that reward. Such disjunctions were exhibited particularly by individuals low in intensity of felt affect, a finding supporting an emotional basis for relative harmonization of wanting and liking. These results demonstrate how dissociable psychological subsystems for wanting and liking can be driven in opposing directions.

    View details for DOI 10.1177/0956797609355633

    View details for Web of Science ID 000274507300019

    View details for PubMedID 20424032

  • Unraveling Priming: When Does the Same Prime Activate a Goal versus a Trait? JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH Sela, A., Shiv, B. 2009; 36 (3): 418-433

    View details for DOI 10.1086/598612

    View details for Web of Science ID 000269564400007

  • The "Shaken Self": Product Choices as a Means of Restoring Self-View Confidence JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH Gao, L., Wheeler, S. C., Shiv, B. 2009; 36 (1): 29-38

    View details for DOI 10.1086/596028

    View details for Web of Science ID 000265388900003

  • The effects of insula damage on decision-making for risky gains and losses SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE Weller, J. A., Levin, I. P., Shiv, B., Bechara, A. 2009; 4 (4): 347-358

    Abstract

    Several lines of functional neuroimaging studies have attributed a role for the insula, a critical component of the brain's emotional circuitry, in risky decision-making. However, very little evidence yet exists as to whether the insula is necessary for advantageous decision-making under risk, specifically decisions involving uncertain gains and losses. The present study uses a risky decision-making task with lesion patients and healthy controls to investigate the effects of focal insula damage on risk-taking to achieve gains and to avoid losses. Compared to healthy controls, insula lesion patients showed an altered decision-making pattern in domains involving both risky gains and risky losses. Specifically, insula damage was associated with insensitivity to differences in expected value between choice options. Additionally, patients made significantly fewer risky choices than healthy adults in the gain domain. In conjunction with earlier findings, these results suggest that risky decision-making is dependent on the integrity of a neural circuitry that includes several brain regions known to be critical for the experience and expression of emotions, namely the insula, amygdala, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. However, each neural region seems to provide a distinct contribution to the overall process of decision-making.

    View details for DOI 10.1080/17470910902934400

    View details for Web of Science ID 000267371900006

    View details for PubMedID 19466680

  • The Blissful Ignorance Effect: Pre- versus Post-action Effects on Outcome Expectancies Arising from Precise and Vague Information JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH Mishra, H., Shiv, B., Nayakankuppam, D. 2008; 35 (4): 573-585

    View details for DOI 10.1086/591104

    View details for Web of Science ID 000260877800002

  • A bite to whet the reward appetite: The influence of sampling on reward-seeking behaviors JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH Wadhwa, M., Shiv, B., Nowlis, S. M. 2008; 45 (4): 403-413
  • Nonconscious goals and consumer choice JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH Chartrand, T. L., Huber, J., Shiv, B., Tanner, R. J. 2008; 35 (2): 189-201

    View details for DOI 10.1086/588685

    View details for Web of Science ID 000257524900001

  • Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Plassmann, H., O'Doherty, J., Shiv, B., Rangel, A. 2008; 105 (3): 1050-1054

    Abstract

    Despite the importance and pervasiveness of marketing, almost nothing is known about the neural mechanisms through which it affects decisions made by individuals. We propose that marketing actions, such as changes in the price of a product, can affect neural representations of experienced pleasantness. We tested this hypothesis by scanning human subjects using functional MRI while they tasted wines that, contrary to reality, they believed to be different and sold at different prices. Our results show that increasing the price of a wine increases subjective reports of flavor pleasantness as well as blood-oxygen-level-dependent activity in medial orbitofrontal cortex, an area that is widely thought to encode for experienced pleasantness during experiential tasks. The paper provides evidence for the ability of marketing actions to modulate neural correlates of experienced pleasantness and for the mechanisms through which the effect operates.

    View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.0706929105

    View details for Web of Science ID 000252647900041

    View details for PubMedID 18195362

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC2242704

  • Neural correlates of adaptive decision making for risky gains and losses PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Weller, J. A., Levin, I. P., Shiv, B., Bechara, A. 2007; 18 (11): 958-964

    Abstract

    Do decisions about potential gains and potential losses require different neural structures for advantageous choices? In a lesion study, we used a new measure of adaptive decision making under risk to examine whether damage to neural structures subserving emotion affects an individual's ability to make adaptive decisions differentially for gains and losses. We found that individuals with lesions to the amygdala, an area responsible for processing emotional responses, displayed impaired decision making when considering potential gains, but not when considering potential losses. In contrast, patients with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, an area responsible for integrating cognitive and emotional information, showed deficits in both domains. We argue that this dissociation provides evidence that adaptive decision making for risks involving potential losses may be more difficult to disrupt than adaptive decision making for risks involving potential gains. This research further demonstrates the role of emotion in decision competence.

    View details for Web of Science ID 000250806900007

    View details for PubMedID 17958709

  • Emotions, decisions, and the brain JOURNAL OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY Shiv, B. 2007; 17 (3): 174-178
  • The role of emotion in decision making: A cognitive neuroscience perspective CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Naqvi, N., Shiv, B., Bechara, A. 2006; 15 (5): 260-264
  • Decision neuroscience 6th Triennial Invitational Choice Symposium Workshop on Endogencous Preferences Shiv, B., Bechara, A., Levin, I., Alba, J. W., Bettman, J. R., Dube, L., Isen, A., Mellers, B., Smidts, A., Grant, S. J., McGraw, A. P. SPRINGER. 2005: 375–86
  • Ruminating about placebo effects of marketing actions JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH Shiv, B., Carmon, Z., Ariely, D. 2005; 42 (4): 410-414
  • Placebo effects of marketing actions: Consumers may get what they pay for JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH Shiv, B., Carmon, Z., Ariely, D. 2005; 42 (4): 383-393
  • Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die: Effects of mortality salience and self-esteem on self-regulation in consumer choice JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH Ferraro, R., Shiv, B., Bettman, J. R. 2005; 32 (1): 65-75
  • Investment behavior and the negative side of emotion PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Shiv, B., Loewenstein, G., Bechara, A., Damasio, H., DAMASIO, A. R. 2005; 16 (6): 435-439

    Abstract

    Can dysfunction in neural systems subserving emotion lead, under certain circumstances, to more advantageous decisions? To answer this question, we investigated how normal participants, patients with stable focal lesions in brain regions related to emotion (target patients), and patients with stable focal lesions in brain regions unrelated to emotion (control patients) made 20 rounds of investment decisions. Target patients made more advantageous decisions and ultimately earned more money from their investments than the normal participants and control patients. When normal participants and control patients either won or lost money on an investment round, they adopted a conservative strategy and became more reluctant to invest on the subsequent round; these results suggest that they were more affected than target patients by the outcomes of decisions made in the previous rounds.

    View details for Web of Science ID 000229425100004

    View details for PubMedID 15943668

  • The influence of consumer distractions on the effectiveness of food-sampling programs JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH Nowlis, S. M., Shiv, B. 2005; 42 (2): 157-168