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Sam Sommers

About

Sam Sommers is an award-winning teacher and researcher of social psychology at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. He earned his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan, and over the past decade has published dozens of articles on the topics of race and social perception, judgment and decision-making, diversity and group processes, and psychological perspectives on the U.S. legal system. His research has been covered by Good Morning America, National Public Radio, Harper's Magazine, the London Times, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post. He has testified as an expert witness on racial bias in murder trial proceedings in three states, as well as an expert on issues in eyewitness memory in several trials in Massachusetts.

In 2007 he was the first junior faculty member to win the Lerman-Neubauer Prize for Outstanding Teaching at Tufts, an award given annually to the professor judged by graduating seniors as having had "the most profound effect on them intellectually, both in and out of the classroom"; in 2009 he was elected Professor of the Year by the Tufts University Student Senate. In his free time he enjoys family trips with his wife and two daughters, hits lead-off for the vaunted Tufts Psychology softball team, and exerts far more effort than he should editing Seinfeld and Daily Show video clips for use in the classroom.

His first book, entitled Situations Matter: Understanding How Context Transforms Your World, was published by Riverhead Books (Penguin) in December 2011.

Books by Sam Sommers
Recent Posts
Social Change Via Graphic Design
Little changes can make a big difference. This is the principle underlying many a tweak to public policy or organizational procedure designed to nudge people to alter their behavior.
Why Do the Boston Marathon Bombings Make Me Feel Guilty?
Today marks the one-week anniversary of the start of a heartwrenchingly sad series of events here in Boston. Each in our own way, those of us who live in and around the city have bounced from sadness to fear to anger and back again. And as the one-week marks hits today, I’ve also found myself confronting a more surprising emotion: guilt.
Point. Click. Save this Woman's Life.
Nalini Ambady is an award-winning psychologist. She also needs your help, desperately and quickly. And all it takes you for you to provide it is a couple of simple clicks of your mouse.
Mass Emails and Mass Apathy

I’m not a bad person, I swear. I’m just busy, like most people. And like most people, give me an easy way out of adding to my to-do list, and I’ll take it...

I’m not a bad person, I swear. I’m just busy, like most people. And like most people, give me an easy way out of adding to my to-do list, and I’ll take it...

Highlight this Blog Post at Your Own Risk

"How did you study?" It’s question I often find myself asking college students during office hours when they come by to talk about a disappointing exam score or ask for suggestions for improving future performance. In thinking about this question, it's worth considering what psychological science has to say on the matter...

"How did you study?" It’s question I often find myself asking college students during office hours when they come by to talk about a disappointing exam score or ask for suggestions for improving future performance. In thinking about this question, it's worth considering what psychological science has to say on the matter...

On Newtown and the End of the World

It seemed like this would be a great week to write about the psychology of the end of the world, but that was before the horrific elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday. And then it dawned on me. Perhaps the two stories have more in common than first meets the eye, at least when it comes to the insights they offer regarding human nature.

It seemed like this would be a great week to write about the psychology of the end of the world, but that was before the horrific elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday. And then it dawned on me. Perhaps the two stories have more in common than first meets the eye, at least when it comes to the insights they offer regarding human nature.

What a Pretty Face Can’t Tell You

Just what, exactly, can we learn from a pretty face? Because despite warnings to the contrary, when we meet others we spend an awful lot of time judging books by their covers. Encounter someone attractive, and it’s hard for us to look away. But it’s even more difficult to refrain from drawing bigger-picture conclusions about what type of person we think we're dealing with.

Just what, exactly, can we learn from a pretty face? Because despite warnings to the contrary, when we meet others we spend an awful lot of time judging books by their covers. Encounter someone attractive, and it’s hard for us to look away. But it’s even more difficult to refrain from drawing bigger-picture conclusions about what type of person we think we're dealing with.

To Regift or Not to Regift, That Is the Question

It was more than 15 years ago that an episode of Seinfeld popularized the phrase "regifting," used to describe the taboo of turning an unwanted present into a gift for someone else. Now, almost two decades later, there's also published psychological research on the perceptions and emotions underlying the controversial act of the regift...

It was more than 15 years ago that an episode of Seinfeld popularized the phrase "regifting," used to describe the taboo of turning an unwanted present into a gift for someone else. Now, almost two decades later, there's also published psychological research on the perceptions and emotions underlying the controversial act of the regift...

Sex, Drugs, and Raising Kids

Anything in moderation, the saying goes. But does this wisdom apply to the decisions we make as parents?

Anything in moderation, the saying goes. But does this wisdom apply to the decisions we make as parents?