Throughout my career as a social psychologist my interests have centered on how people form judgments, beliefs, impressions and attitudes and what consequences this has for their interpersonal relations, their interaction in groups and their feelings about various "out groups". In connection with these interests I have formulated a theory of lay epistemics (Kruglanski, 1989) that specified how thought and motivation interface in the formation of subjective knowledge.

The work on lay epistemics has branched in several directions the major which were (1) research on epistemic motivations, need for cognitive closure in particular (2) a unified conception of the parameters of human judgment that offers an integrative alternative (known as the "unimodel") to previous theorizing in a variety of social judgment domains (having to do with persuasion, stereotyping, attribution, and statistical reasoning among others), (3) a "motivation as cognition" research program that resulted in our recent theory of goal systems.

My interest in motivation has also led to a fruitful collaboration with Tory Higgins on (4) the regulatory mode theory in which we distinguish between two fundamental aspects of self-regulation having to do with "locomotion" (encapsulated in the "just do it" dictum) and "assessment" (representing a concern with "doing the right thing").

My interest in goals, belief formation, and group processes has led to my involvement in the social psychology of terrorism. I have been writing and teaching a yearly seminar on this topic, looking at issues such as individual and organizational aspects of terrorism, terrorism as a tool of minority influence, suicidal terrorism and other related topics. I have also been member of various panels of the National Academy of Science devoted to the social/psychological aspects of terrorism. As of January 10, 2004 I have been appointed as a co-director of a Center of Excellence for Research on the Behavioral and Social Aspects of Terrorism and Counterterrorism, established at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Primary Interests:

Culture and Ethnicity
Intergroup Relations
Interpersonal Processes
Judgment and Decision Making
Motivation, Goal Setting
Organizational Behavior
Person Perception
Personality, Individual Differences
Persuasion, Social Influence
Political Psychology
Prejudice and Stereotyping
Social Cognition

Culture and Ethnicity
Intergroup Relations
Interpersonal Processes
Judgment and Decision Making
Motivation, Goal Setting
Organizational Behavior
Person Perception

Personality, Individual Differences
Persuasion, Social Influence
Political Psychology
Prejudice and Stereotyping
Social Cognition

Research Group or Laboratory:

Kruglanski Research Team
Interactive Map

Books:

Journal Articles:

Jost, J. T., Glaser, J., Kruglanski, A. W., & Sullaway, F. J. (2003). Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 129(3), 339-375.
Jost, J. T., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2002). Estrangement of social constructionism and experimental social psychology: A tale of a rift and prospects for reconciliation. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6, 168-187.
Kruglanski, A. W. (2001). That "vision thing": Theory construction in social and personality psychology at the edge of the new millenium. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 871-875.
Kruglanski, A. W., & Fishman, S. (2009). Psychological factors in terrorism and counterterrorism: Individual, group, and organizational levels of analysis. Social Issues and Policy Review, 3(1), 1-44.
Kruglanski, A. W., & Mayseless, O., (1990). Classic and current social-comparison research: Expanding the perspective. Psychological Bulletin,108, 195-208.
Kruglanski, A. W., Shah, J. Y., Pierro, A., & Mannetti, L. (2002). When similarity breeds content: Need for closure and the allure of homogeneous and self-resembling groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 648-662.
Kruglanski, A. W., & Webster, D. M. (1996). Motivated closing of the mind: "Seizing" and "freezing." Psychological Review, 103(2), 263-283.
Shah, J. Y., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2002). Priming against your will: How goal pursuit is affected by accessible alternatives. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 368-382.

Arie Kruglanski
Department of Psychology
University of Maryland--College Park
College Park, MD 20742
United States

Phone: (301) 405-5918
Fax: (301) 314-9566