Timothy D. Wilson Ph.D.

About

Timothy D. Wilson is Sherrell J. Aston Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and is an internationally known researcher in the areas of self-knowledge, happiness, social cognition, and using social psychological principles to solve personal and social problems. At the University of Virginia he won an All University Outstanding Teacher Award and the Distinguished Scientist Award. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.

Wilson is the author of Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change (Little, Brown) and Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious (Harvard University Press). The author Malcolm Gladwell said, "There are few academics who write with as much grace and wisdom as Timothy Wilson. I thought his last book Strangers to Ourselves was a masterpiece. Redirect is more than its equal."

Books by Timothy D. Wilson Ph.D.

Recent Posts

Experiment Now

Viva Behavioral Science

Gary Gutting, a professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, questioned the value of the social sciences, in a piece on the Opinionator blog of the New York Times ("How Reliable are the Social Sciences?"). He has been criticized, and rightly so, for his broadsided attack on entire disciplines.

Scared Crooked

Not only is the Scared Straight program ineffective, it may increase criminal behavior.

Affirm Yourself

A self-affirmation exercise involves writing about an area of your life that you particularly value. Research shows that this simple exercise can have beneficial effects, particularly when people are dealing with threats in their lives.

We Are What We Do

Penn State, Abuse Victims, and the Power of Narrative

Orphan Innovations

Testing, Testing

Empirical tests of the effectiveness of psychological interventions have long been undervalued by policy makers. Too often, programs are put into place (e.g., to prevent drug use or improve parenting) that are ineffective. Meanwhile, psychological science is discovering approaches that really do work.

How Can We Help When Johnny Can’t Read?

What is the best way to help children who have problems with reading comprehension? There are dozens of reading programs out there and you would think we would know the answer to this question by now.

When Cameron Diaz Lights Up, Do Teenagers Start Smoking?

When a movie star lights up a cigarette in the movies, does it really make teenagers more likely to smoke? And if so, what can we do about it?