Publications

SSRN

Article

Normative Judgments and Individual Essence

By: Julian De Freitas, Kevin P. Tobia, George E. Newman and Joshua Knobe

A growing body of research has examined how people judge the persistence of identity over time—that is, how they decide that a particular individual is the same entity from one time to the next. While a great deal of progress has been made in understanding the types... View Details

Keywords: Concepts; Essentialism; Normative Factors; Persistence; True Self; Morality; Identity; Moral Sensibility; Perception

26 Feb 2015 - 28 Feb 2015
Conference Presentation

Is That All There Is to Happiness?

By: J. Phillips, C. Mott, Julian De Freitas, J. Gruber and J. Knobe

Happiness researchers have started to converge on a conception of happiness that involves some combination of high positive affect, low negative affect, and high life satisfaction. We present three studies which demonstrate that the ordinary understanding... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Happiness; Personal Characteristics

February 2025
Article

Disclosure, Humanizing, and Contextual Vulnerability of Generative AI Chatbots

By: Julian De Freitas and I. Glenn Cohen

In the wake of recent advancements in generative AI, regulatory bodies are trying to keep pace. One key decision is whether to require app makers to disclose the use of generative AI-powered chatbots in their products. We suggest that some generative AI-based chatbots... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Applications and Software; Well-being

May 2017
Article

Behavioral Processes in Long-Lag Interventions

By: Dale T. Miller, Jennifer E. Dannals and Julian Zlatev

We argue that psychologists who conduct experiments with long lags between the manipulation and the outcome measure should pay more attention to behavioral processes that intervene between the manipulation and the outcome measure. Neglect of such processes, we contend,... View Details

Keywords: Field Experiments; Interventions; Behavioral Mediation; Theories Of Change; Longitudinal Studies; Behavior; Research; Change; Theory

July 2024
Article

Chatbots and Mental Health: Insights into the Safety of Generative AI

By: Julian De Freitas, Ahmet Kaan Uğuralp, Zeliha Uğuralp and Stefano Puntoni

Chatbots are now able to engage in sophisticated conversations with consumers. Due to the ‘black box’ nature of the algorithms, it is impossible to predict in advance how these conversations will unfold. Behavioral research provides little insight into potential safety... View Details

Keywords: Autonomy; Chatbots; New Technology; Brand Crises; Mental Health; Large Language Model; AI and Machine Learning; Behavior; Well-being; Technological Innovation; Ethics

April 2024
Article

Fee Variation in Private Equity

By: Juliane Begenau and Emil N. Siriwardane

We study how investment fees vary within private-capital funds. Net-of-fee return clustering suggests that most funds have two tiers of fees, and we decompose differences across tiers into both management and performance-based fees. Managers of venture capital funds... View Details

Keywords: Pension Funds; Fee Dispersion; Search And Negotiation Frictions; Private Equity; Investment Funds

Article

Kill or Die: Moral Judgment Alters Linguistic Coding of Causality

By: Julian De Freitas, Peter DiScioli, Jason Nemirow, Maxim Massenkoff and Steven Pinker

What is the relationship between the language people use to describe an event and their moral judgments? We test the hypothesis that moral judgment and causative verbs rely on the same underlying mental model of people’s actions. Experiment 1a finds that participants... View Details

Keywords: Moral Cognition; Moral Psychology; Causative Verbs; Trolley Problem; Argument Structure; Moral Sensibility; Judgments

November 2021
Article

The Dynamics of Gender and Alternatives in Negotiation

By: Jennifer E. Dannals, Julian J. Zlatev, Nir Halevy and Margaret A. Neale

A substantial body of prior research documents a gender gap in negotiation performance. Competing accounts suggest that the gap is due either to women’s stereotype-congruent behavior in negotiations or to backlash enacted toward women for stereotype-incongruent... View Details

Keywords: Alternatives; Gender Gap; Negotiation; Gender; Performance

Article

Selfishly Benevolent or Benevolently Selfish? When Self-interest Undermines versus Promotes Prosocial Behavior

By: Julian Zlatev and Dale T. Miller

Existing research shows that appeals to self-interest sometimes increase and sometimes decrease prosocial behavior. We propose that this inconsistency is in part due to the framings of these appeals. Different framings generate different salient reference points,... View Details

Keywords: Altruism; Charitable Giving; Framing; Prosocial Behavior; Reference Points; Self-interest; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Framework; Behavior

Article

Moral Traps: When Self-serving Attributions Backfire in Prosocial Behavior

By: Stephanie C. Lin, Julian Zlatev and Dale T. Miller

Two assumptions guide the current research. First, people's desire to see themselves as moral disposes them to make attributions that enhance or protect their moral self-image: When approached with a prosocial request, people are inclined to attribute their own... View Details

Keywords: Morality; Attributions; Decision Making; Prosocial Behavior; Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Perception

2025
Working Paper

Why Most Resist AI Companions

By: Julian De Freitas, Zeliha Oğuz-Uğuralp, Ahmet Kaan Uğuralp and Stefano Puntoni

AI companion applications—designed to serve as synthetic interaction partners—have recently become capable enough to reduce loneliness, a growing public health concern. However, behavioral research has yet to fully explain the barriers to adoption of such AI and... View Details

Keywords: Generative Ai; Chatbots; Artificial Intelligence; Algorithmic Aversion; Lonelines; Technology Adoption; AI and Machine Learning; Well-being; Emotions

SSRN

October 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Case

AI and Brand Management: Promises and Perils

By: Julian De Freitas and Elie Ofek

As AI gains traction across industries, companies anticipate that AI will revolutionize both backend processes and customer-facing interactions—with brands eager to leverage AI for tailored marketing materials and automated consumer engagements. Yet, despite a dramatic... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Brands and Branding; Reputation; Technology Adoption; Competitive Advantage

Educators

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26 Apr 2020
Other Presentation

Towards Modeling the Variability of Human Attention

By: Kuno Kim, Megumi Sano, Julian De Freitas, Daniel Yamins and Nick Haber

Children exhibit extraordinary exploratory behaviors hypothesized to contribute to the building of models of their world. Harnessing this capacity in artificial systems promises not only more flexible technology but also cognitive models of the developmental processes... View Details

Keywords: Exploratory Learning Behaviors; Modeling; Artificial Intelligence; AI and Machine Learning

2019
Article

Brokerage and Brokering: An Integrative Review and Organizing Framework for Third Party Influence

By: Nir Halevy, Eliran Halali and Julian Zlatev

Brokerage and brokering are pervasive and consequential organizational phenomena. Prevailing models underscore social structure and focus on the consequences that come from brokerage—occupying a bridging position between disconnected others in a network. By contrast,... View Details

Keywords: Brokerage; Brokering; Social Interactions; Organizations; Relationships; Power and Influence; Framework

2021
Working Paper

Limits to Bank Deposit Market Power

By: Juliane Begenau and Erik Stafford

Claims about the market power of bank deposits in the banking literature are numerous and far reaching. Recently, a causal narrative has emerged in the banking literature: market power in bank deposits, measured as imperfect pass-through of short-term market rates on... View Details

Keywords: Bank Deposits; Market Power; Net Interest Margin (NIM); Banks and Banking; Interest Rates; Risk and Uncertainty

Article

AI Companions Reduce Loneliness

By: Julian De Freitas, Zeliha Oğuz-Uğuralp, Ahmet K. Uğuralp and Stefano Puntoni

Chatbots are now able to engage in sophisticated conversations with consumers in the domain of relationships, providing a potential coping solution to widescale societal loneliness. Behavioral research provides little insight into whether these applications are... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Well-being; Emotions; Applications and Software