Evan Polman
Biographic Data
| ID | 4100928 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Evan Polman |
| GIVEN NAMES | Evan |
| FAMILY NAME | Polman |
| SIGNATURE | POLMAN E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6317-2107 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 54 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Prototypes of Victims of Workplace Harassment
What do people think of when they think of workplace harassment? In 13 pre-registered studies with French, British, and U.S. American adult participants ( N = 3,892), we conducted a multi-method investigation into people’s social prototypes of victims of workplace harassment. We found people imagined such victims in physically, socially, psychologically, and economically different ways compared with non-victims: for example, as less attractive, m…
Nudges Increase Choosing but Decrease Consuming: Longitudinal Studies of the Decoy, Default, and Compromise Effects
Research in marketing, psychology, economics, and decision making has long examined what people choose, when people choose, and why people choose. But almost no research has examined how long people consume their choices. Here, we examined an asymmetry between choosing an option and consuming it. Under the aegis of nudges, we conducted two randomized longitudinal experiments on how long people consumed a choice that was incentivized vis-à-vis a d…
The One-Away Effect: The Pursuit of Mere Completion
A series of controlled studies found that consumers counter-normatively prefer something nearly complete over something complete. We call this phenomenon the 'one-away effect' because we find that when consumers are, for example, one stamp away from completing a punch card loyalty program, they value the card more than a completed card. This is because their valuation of the one-away card is influenced by their anticipation of merely completing t…
Improving the Generalizability of Behavioral Science by Using Reality Checks: A Tool for Assessing Heterogeneity in Participants’ Consumership of Study Stimuli
In attempting to draw bigger conclusions, researchers in psychology open their labs to more diverse groups of people. Yet even the most far-reaching theories must be tested with specific stimuli, materials, and methodology. To the extent that a study’s stimuli are familiar beyond the lab to groups of people writ large, an experiment is said to have mundane realism—a type of external validity. We propose that an experiment’s stimuli will vary in t…
Elasticity of emotions to multiple interpersonal transgressions
After an interpersonal mishap-like blowing off plans with a friend, forgetting a spouse's birthday, or falling behind on a group project-wrongdoers typically feel guilty for their misbehavior, and victims feel angry. These emotions are believed to possess reparative functions; their expression prevents future mistakes from reiterating. However, little research has examined people's emotional reactions to mistakes that happen more than once. In se…
Homo indifferencus: Effects of unavailable options on preference construction
People want what they cannot have. Yet would people still covet a forgone option when they have no initial preference for it? We examined this question in two parts by identifying five unique types of choice indifference and testing what choices people make when they have “no preference” for receiving an endowed good that subsequently becomes unavailable. First, we found that feeling indifferent among options is a common response to making decisi…
Divergent Effects of Budgeting for Gifts versus Personal Purchases
Consumers often set budgets with the goal to minimize their spending. Contrary to this traditional interpretation, our research suggests that budgets can take on a different psychological meaning depending on whether the budget is for a personal or gift purchase. Across 11 studies, we find that consumers aim to spend below their budgets for personal purchases (budget minimizing) but aim to spend the entirety of their budgets for gift purchases (b…
Effects of Gain/Loss Frames on Telling Lies of Omission and Commission
An increased focus on fake news and misinformation is currently emerging. But what does it mean when information is designated as "fake?" Research on deception has focused on lies of commission, in which people disclose something false as true. However, people can also lie by omission, by withholding important yet true information. In this research, we investigate when people are more likely to tell a lie of omission. In three studies, with tests…
Consumers Believe That Products Work Better for Others
Consumers tend to see themselves in a positive light, yet we present evidence that they are pessimistic about whether they will receive a product's benefits. In 15 studies (N = 6,547; including nine preregistered), we found that consumers believe that product efficacy is higher for others than it is for themselves. For example, consumers believe that consuming a sports drink (to satisfy thirst), medicine (to relieve pain), an online class (to lea…
Are people more selfish after giving gifts
How people choose gifts is a widely studied topic, but what happens next is largely understudied. In two preregistered studies, one field experiment, and an analysis of secondary data, we show that giving gifts has a dark side, as it can negatively affect subsequent interpersonal behavior between givers and receivers. In Study 1, we found that giving a gift to one's romantic partner changes givers' interpretation of which behaviors constitute inf…
On prospect theory, making choices for others, and the affective psychology of risk
Perceptions of Collaborations: How Many Cooks Seem to Spoil the Broth
Workers often work in groups of varying sizes, and those workers’ work is often judged by others. To examine how the two might relate, we first asked respondents to report the optimal number of collaborators for a variety of different tasks, finding substantial variability across tasks (Supplementary Study) that tracked with perceived task complexity (Study 1). Accordingly, framing a given task as more complex made people want more collaborators …
Decision making for others involving risk: A review and meta-analysis
Other People's Money: Money's Perceived Purchasing Power Is Smaller for Others Than for the Self
Nine studies find that people believe their money has greater purchasing power than the same quantity of others' money. Using a variety of products from socks to clocks to chocolates, we found that participants thought the same amount of money could buy more when it belonged to themselves versus others-a pattern that extended to undesirable products. Participants also believed their money-in the form of donations, taxes, fines, and fees-would hel…
Decision Fatigue, Choosing for Others, and Self-Construal
Past research has shown that people tend to feel depleted by their decisions. In contrast, we found people report that making decisions for others (vs. the self) is less depleting because it is more enjoyable. Our investigation thus replicated a prior finding (that decision-making is depleting), moderated it by target of decision (self vs. other), and demonstrated mediation (enjoyment). We further measured chronic focus on self or others (self-co…
Revising probability estimates: Why increasing likelihood means increasing impact
Forecasted probabilities rarely stay the same for long. Instead, they are subject to constant revision-moving upward or downward, uncertain events become more or less likely. Yet little is known about how people interpret probability estimates beyond static snapshots, like a 30% chance of rain. Here, we consider the cognitive, affective, and behavioral consequences of revisions to probability forecasts. Stemming from a lay belief that revisions s…
Effects of wrongdoer status on moral licensing
Effects of self–other decision making on regulatory focus and choice overload
A growing stream of research is investigating how choices people make for themselves are different from choices people make for others. In this paper, I propose that these choices vary according to regulatory focus, such that people who make choices for themselves are prevention focused, whereas people who make choices for others are promotion focused. Drawing on regulatory focus theory, in particular work on errors of omission and commission, I …
Why are maximizers less happy than satisficers? Because they maximize positive and negative outcomes
Although extant research suggests maximizing is related to objectively positive outcomes (e.g., job offers), I propose maximizing may be simultaneously and positively related to objectively negative outcomes (e.g., job rejections). Specifically, I argue maximizers bear more instances of positive and negative outcomes than satisficers, and that in spite of their positive outcomes—yet because of their negative outcomes—maximizers are less happy tha…
Information distortion in self-other decision making
Why are maximizers less happy than satisficers? Because they maximize positive and negative outcomes
Although extant research suggests maximizing is related to objectively positive outcomes (e.g., job offers), I propose maximizing may be simultaneously and positively related to objectively negative outcomes (e.g., job rejections). Specifically, I argue maximizers bear more instances of positive and negative outcomes than satisficers, and that in spite of their positive outcomes—yet because of their negative outcomes—maximizers are less happy tha…
Effects of self–other decision making on regulatory focus and choice overload
A growing stream of research is investigating how choices people make for themselves are different from choices people make for others. In this paper, I propose that these choices vary according to regulatory focus, such that people who make choices for themselves are prevention focused, whereas people who make choices for others are promotion focused. Drawing on regulatory focus theory, in particular work on errors of omission and commission, I …
Information distortion in self-other decision making
Other People's Money: Money's Perceived Purchasing Power Is Smaller for Others Than for the Self
Nine studies find that people believe their money has greater purchasing power than the same quantity of others' money. Using a variety of products from socks to clocks to chocolates, we found that participants thought the same amount of money could buy more when it belonged to themselves versus others-a pattern that extended to undesirable products. Participants also believed their money-in the form of donations, taxes, fines, and fees-would hel…
Effects of wrongdoer status on moral licensing
On prospect theory, making choices for others, and the affective psychology of risk
Consumers Believe That Products Work Better for Others
Consumers tend to see themselves in a positive light, yet we present evidence that they are pessimistic about whether they will receive a product's benefits. In 15 studies (N = 6,547; including nine preregistered), we found that consumers believe that product efficacy is higher for others than it is for themselves. For example, consumers believe that consuming a sports drink (to satisfy thirst), medicine (to relieve pain), an online class (to lea…
Revising probability estimates: Why increasing likelihood means increasing impact
Forecasted probabilities rarely stay the same for long. Instead, they are subject to constant revision-moving upward or downward, uncertain events become more or less likely. Yet little is known about how people interpret probability estimates beyond static snapshots, like a 30% chance of rain. Here, we consider the cognitive, affective, and behavioral consequences of revisions to probability forecasts. Stemming from a lay belief that revisions s…
The One-Away Effect: The Pursuit of Mere Completion
A series of controlled studies found that consumers counter-normatively prefer something nearly complete over something complete. We call this phenomenon the 'one-away effect' because we find that when consumers are, for example, one stamp away from completing a punch card loyalty program, they value the card more than a completed card. This is because their valuation of the one-away card is influenced by their anticipation of merely completing t…
Why are maximizers less happy than satisficers? Because they maximize positive and negative outcomes
Although extant research suggests maximizing is related to objectively positive outcomes (e.g., job offers), I propose maximizing may be simultaneously and positively related to objectively negative outcomes (e.g., job rejections). Specifically, I argue maximizers bear more instances of positive and negative outcomes than satisficers, and that in spite of their positive outcomes—yet because of their negative outcomes—maximizers are less happy tha…
Information distortion in self-other decision making
Effects of self–other decision making on regulatory focus and choice overload
A growing stream of research is investigating how choices people make for themselves are different from choices people make for others. In this paper, I propose that these choices vary according to regulatory focus, such that people who make choices for themselves are prevention focused, whereas people who make choices for others are promotion focused. Drawing on regulatory focus theory, in particular work on errors of omission and commission, I …
Effects of wrongdoer status on moral licensing
Decision Fatigue, Choosing for Others, and Self-Construal
Past research has shown that people tend to feel depleted by their decisions. In contrast, we found people report that making decisions for others (vs. the self) is less depleting because it is more enjoyable. Our investigation thus replicated a prior finding (that decision-making is depleting), moderated it by target of decision (self vs. other), and demonstrated mediation (enjoyment). We further measured chronic focus on self or others (self-co…
Revising probability estimates: Why increasing likelihood means increasing impact
Forecasted probabilities rarely stay the same for long. Instead, they are subject to constant revision-moving upward or downward, uncertain events become more or less likely. Yet little is known about how people interpret probability estimates beyond static snapshots, like a 30% chance of rain. Here, we consider the cognitive, affective, and behavioral consequences of revisions to probability forecasts. Stemming from a lay belief that revisions s…
Other People's Money: Money's Perceived Purchasing Power Is Smaller for Others Than for the Self
Nine studies find that people believe their money has greater purchasing power than the same quantity of others' money. Using a variety of products from socks to clocks to chocolates, we found that participants thought the same amount of money could buy more when it belonged to themselves versus others-a pattern that extended to undesirable products. Participants also believed their money-in the form of donations, taxes, fines, and fees-would hel…
Perceptions of Collaborations: How Many Cooks Seem to Spoil the Broth
Workers often work in groups of varying sizes, and those workers’ work is often judged by others. To examine how the two might relate, we first asked respondents to report the optimal number of collaborators for a variety of different tasks, finding substantial variability across tasks (Supplementary Study) that tracked with perceived task complexity (Study 1). Accordingly, framing a given task as more complex made people want more collaborators …
Decision making for others involving risk: A review and meta-analysis
Are people more selfish after giving gifts
How people choose gifts is a widely studied topic, but what happens next is largely understudied. In two preregistered studies, one field experiment, and an analysis of secondary data, we show that giving gifts has a dark side, as it can negatively affect subsequent interpersonal behavior between givers and receivers. In Study 1, we found that giving a gift to one's romantic partner changes givers' interpretation of which behaviors constitute inf…
On prospect theory, making choices for others, and the affective psychology of risk
Effects of Gain/Loss Frames on Telling Lies of Omission and Commission
An increased focus on fake news and misinformation is currently emerging. But what does it mean when information is designated as "fake?" Research on deception has focused on lies of commission, in which people disclose something false as true. However, people can also lie by omission, by withholding important yet true information. In this research, we investigate when people are more likely to tell a lie of omission. In three studies, with tests…
Consumers Believe That Products Work Better for Others
Consumers tend to see themselves in a positive light, yet we present evidence that they are pessimistic about whether they will receive a product's benefits. In 15 studies (N = 6,547; including nine preregistered), we found that consumers believe that product efficacy is higher for others than it is for themselves. For example, consumers believe that consuming a sports drink (to satisfy thirst), medicine (to relieve pain), an online class (to lea…
Improving the Generalizability of Behavioral Science by Using Reality Checks: A Tool for Assessing Heterogeneity in Participants’ Consumership of Study Stimuli
In attempting to draw bigger conclusions, researchers in psychology open their labs to more diverse groups of people. Yet even the most far-reaching theories must be tested with specific stimuli, materials, and methodology. To the extent that a study’s stimuli are familiar beyond the lab to groups of people writ large, an experiment is said to have mundane realism—a type of external validity. We propose that an experiment’s stimuli will vary in t…
Elasticity of emotions to multiple interpersonal transgressions
After an interpersonal mishap-like blowing off plans with a friend, forgetting a spouse's birthday, or falling behind on a group project-wrongdoers typically feel guilty for their misbehavior, and victims feel angry. These emotions are believed to possess reparative functions; their expression prevents future mistakes from reiterating. However, little research has examined people's emotional reactions to mistakes that happen more than once. In se…
Homo indifferencus: Effects of unavailable options on preference construction
People want what they cannot have. Yet would people still covet a forgone option when they have no initial preference for it? We examined this question in two parts by identifying five unique types of choice indifference and testing what choices people make when they have “no preference” for receiving an endowed good that subsequently becomes unavailable. First, we found that feeling indifferent among options is a common response to making decisi…
Divergent Effects of Budgeting for Gifts versus Personal Purchases
Consumers often set budgets with the goal to minimize their spending. Contrary to this traditional interpretation, our research suggests that budgets can take on a different psychological meaning depending on whether the budget is for a personal or gift purchase. Across 11 studies, we find that consumers aim to spend below their budgets for personal purchases (budget minimizing) but aim to spend the entirety of their budgets for gift purchases (b…
Nudges Increase Choosing but Decrease Consuming: Longitudinal Studies of the Decoy, Default, and Compromise Effects
Research in marketing, psychology, economics, and decision making has long examined what people choose, when people choose, and why people choose. But almost no research has examined how long people consume their choices. Here, we examined an asymmetry between choosing an option and consuming it. Under the aegis of nudges, we conducted two randomized longitudinal experiments on how long people consumed a choice that was incentivized vis-à-vis a d…
The One-Away Effect: The Pursuit of Mere Completion
A series of controlled studies found that consumers counter-normatively prefer something nearly complete over something complete. We call this phenomenon the 'one-away effect' because we find that when consumers are, for example, one stamp away from completing a punch card loyalty program, they value the card more than a completed card. This is because their valuation of the one-away card is influenced by their anticipation of merely completing t…
Prototypes of Victims of Workplace Harassment
What do people think of when they think of workplace harassment? In 13 pre-registered studies with French, British, and U.S. American adult participants ( N = 3,892), we conducted a multi-method investigation into people’s social prototypes of victims of workplace harassment. We found people imagined such victims in physically, socially, psychologically, and economically different ways compared with non-victims: for example, as less attractive, m…
Psychology (20 works) · Social Psychology (19 works) · Behavioral Health and Interventions (10 works) · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics (10 works) · Economics (7 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment (6 works) · Business (5 works) · Cognitive psychology (5 works) · Computer Science (5 works)