Dominic D. P. Johnson is an Alistair Buchan Professor of International Relations at

St Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economics, politic ...

Education

He received a D. Phil. in biology from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in 2001 and a PhD in political science from the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

in 2004. Drawing on both disciplines, he researches and writes on the role of human biology and evolution in understanding the behaviour of individuals, groups, organizations, and states.

Career

Johnson held several post-doctoral fellowships in the United States prior to being hired at Edinburgh. He was a National Security Fellow at the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

2002–2003, a Science Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

2003–2004, a visiting Fellow in the Global Fellows Program of the International Institute at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

2004–2006, and a Fellow in the Society of Fellows at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, 2004–2007, where he was also a lecturer at Princeton's

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (''abbrev.'' SPIA; formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of c ...

. He was also a Society in Science Branco Weiss Fellow from 2004 to 2009.

Work

In addition to over forty articles published in academic journals and edited books, he is the author of three books. "Overconfidence and War: The Havoc and Glory of Positive Illusions" (Harvard University Press, 2004), argues that the widespread human tendency to maintain overly positive images of ourselves, of our control over events, and of the future (

positive illusions Positive illusions are unrealistically favorable attitudes that people have towards themselves or to people that are close to them. Positive illusions are a form of self-deception or self-enhancement that feel good, maintain self-esteem, or avoid d ...

), play a key role in the causes of war. "Failing to Win: Perceptions of Victory and Defeat in International Politics" (Harvard University Press, 2006), with Dominic Tierney, explores how common psychological biases generate powerful misconceptions about the success and failure of political events, altering the lessons that people learn from history. "Failing to Win" won the 2006 Best Book Award from the International Studies Association.

Awards and recognition

* 2001: 2nd prize in business plan competition, National Environment Research Council * 2004: Best PhD from Geneva University during 2002–04, Swiss Political Science Association * 2005: Overconfidence and War named an Honor Book, New Jersey Council for the Humanities * 2008: Failing to Win named Best Book in International Studies,

International Studies Association The International Studies Association (ISA) is a US-based professional association for scholars and practitioners in the field of International relations, international studies. Founded in 1959, ISA has been headquartered at the University of Con ...

* 2011: Chancellor's "Rising Star" Award, University of Edinburgh

Bibliography

Books

* * With Dominic Tierney. *

Selected articles

* Johnson, Dominic DP, and James H. Fowler. "The evolution of overconfidence." Nature 477.7364 (2011): 317–320. * King, AJ, Johnson, DDP & Van Vugt, M (2009) The origins and evolution of leadership. Current Biology 19 (19): 1591–1682. * Johnson, DDP, & Levin, SA (2009) The tragedy of cognition: psychological biases and environmental inaction. Current Science 97 (11): 1593–1603. * McDermott, R, Tingley, D, Cowden, J, Frazzetto, G. & Johnson, DDP (2009) Monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) predicts behavioral aggression following provocation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . * Johnson, DDP, McDermott, R, Barrett, ES, Cowden, J, Wrangham, R, McIntyre, MH & Rosen, SP (2006) Overconfidence in wargames: experimental evidence on expectations, aggression, gender and testosterone. Proceedings of the Royal Society (B) 273 (1600): 2513–2520. * Johnson, DDP & Bering, JM (2006) Hand of God, mind of man: punishment and cognition in the evolution of cooperation. Evolutionary Psychology 4: 219–233. * Johnson, DDP (2005) God's punishment and public goods: A test of the supernatural punishment hypothesis in 186 world cultures. Human Nature 16 (4): 410–446.

References

External links

*
Project on the Evolution of Religions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Dominic D. P. Academics of the University of Edinburgh Living people Scottish scholars and academics Alumni of the University of Oxford Fellows of St Antony's College, Oxford Harvard Fellows Columbia University fellows Princeton University fellows University of California, Los Angeles fellows Year of birth missing (living people) Stanford University postdoctoral scholars