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Alice M. Isen

[Note: Professor Alice Isen died on February 29, 2012, in Philadelphia. Social Psychology Network is maintaining this profile for visitors who wish to learn more about Professor Isen's work.]

Professor Isen’s research concerns the influence of affect on social interaction, thought processes, and decision making, including applications to consumer behavior, organizational behavior, medical decision making, doctor-patient interaction, risk preference, and self-control. Current interests also include social cognitive neuroscience. She has been a member of the executive committee of the Society for Consumer Psychologyand the Society for Experimental Social Psychology. She has taught at the University of Maryland, Ohio State, and the University of Michigan, and has been a visiting scholar at Stanford University. She has published extensively and is the co-author (with A. H. Hastorf) of Cognitive Social Psychology and (with B. Moore) of Affect and Social Behavior. She has been editor of Motivation and Emotion and on the editorial boards of ten journals in her fields.

Primary Interests:

  • Applied Social Psychology
  • Emotion, Mood, Affect
  • Health Psychology
  • Helping, Prosocial Behavior
  • Interpersonal Processes
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Life Satisfaction, Well-Being
  • Motivation, Goal Setting
  • Neuroscience, Psychophysiology
  • Organizational Behavior
  • Social Cognition
  • Applied Social Psychology
  • Emotion, Mood, Affect
  • Health Psychology
  • Helping, Prosocial Behavior
  • Interpersonal Processes
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Life Satisfaction, Well-Being
  • Motivation, Goal Setting
  • Neuroscience, Psychophysiology
  • Organizational Behavior
  • Social Cognition

Journal Articles:

  • Ashby, F. G., Isen, A. M., & Turken, A. U. (1999). A neuropsychological theory of affect and its influence on cognition. Psychological Review, 106, 529-550.
  • Carnevale, P. J. D., & Isen, A. M. (1986). The influence of positive affect and visual access on the discovery of integrative solutions in bilateral negotiation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 37, 1-13.
  • Erez, A., & Isen, A. M. (2002). The influence of positive affect on the components of expectancy motivation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 1055-1067.
  • Estrada, C. A., Isen, A. M., & Young, M. J. (1997). Positive affect facilitates integration of information and decreases anchoring in reasoning among physicians. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 72, 117-135.
  • Isen, A. M., Daubman, K. A., & Nowicki, G. P. (1987). Positive affect facilitates creative problem solving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 1122-1131.
  • Isen, A. M., & Geva, N. (1987). The influence of positive affect on acceptable level of risk: The person with a large canoe has a large worry. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 39, 145-154.
  • Isen, A. M., Niedenthal, P., & Cantor, N. (1992). An influence of positive affect on social categorization. Motivation and Emotion, 16, 65-78.
  • Isen, A. M., & Reeve, J. (2005). The influence of positive affect on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: Facilitating enjoyment of play, responsible work behavior, and self-control. Motivation & Emotion, 29, 297-325.
  • Isen, A. M., Rosenzweig, A. S., & Young, M. J. (1991). The influence of positive affect on clinical problem solving. Medical Decision Making, 11, 221-227.
  • Isen, A. M., Shalker, T. E., Clark, M., & Karp, L. (1978). Affect, accessibility of material in memory, and behavior: A cognitive loop? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 1-12.
  • Mellers, B. A., Haselhuhn, M. P., Tetlock, P. E., Silva, J. C., & Isen, A. M. (2010). Predicting behavior in economic games by looking through the eyes of the players. Journal of Experimental Psychology:General, 139(4), 743-755.
  • Pyone, J. S., & Isen, A. M. (2011). Positive affect, intertemporal choice, and levels of thinking: Increasing consumers willingness to wait. Journal of Marketing Research, 48, 532.

Other Publications:

  • Dovidio, J. F., Gaertner, S. L., Isen, A. M., Rust, M., & Guerra, P. (1998). Positive affect, cognition, and the reduction of intergroup bias. In C. Sedikides, J. Schopler, & C. A. Insko (Eds.), Intergroup cognition and intergroup behavior (pp. 337-366). Mahway, NJ: Erlbaum.
  • Isen, A. M. (2009). A role for neuropsychology in understanding the facilitating influence of positive affect on social behavior and cognitive processes. In C. R. Snyder & S. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology. New York: Oxford.
  • Isen, A. M. (2008). Positive affect and decision processes: Some recent theoretical developments with practical implications. In C. F. R. Haugdvedt, P. H. Herr, & F. R. Kardes (Eds.), Handbook of Consumer Psychology. New York: Erlbaum.
  • Isen, A. M. (2008). Some ways in which positive affect influences decision making and problem solving. In M. Lewis, J. M. Haviland-Jones, & L. Feldman-Barrett (Eds.), Handbook of Emotions (3rd ed., 548-573). New York: Guilford.
  • Isen, A. M. (2000). Positive affect and decision making. In M. Lewis & J. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of Emotions (2nd ed., pp. 417-435). New York: Guilford.
  • Isen, A. M., & Erez, A. (2007). Some measurement issues in the study of affect. In A. D. Ong & M. H. M. Van Dulmen (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Methods in Positive Psychology. New York: Oxford.

Last edited by profile holder: December 30, 2010
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