Emily Pronin is an American psychologist who specializes in human

self-perception Self-perception theory (SPT) is an account of attitude formation developed by psychologist Daryl Bem. It asserts that people develop their attitudes (when there is no previous attitude due to a lack of experience, etc.—and the emotional respo ...

and

decision making In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be either ra ...

. She is a professor of

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

and Public affair 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 ...

. She created and coined the terms

Bias blind spot The bias blind spot is the cognitive bias of recognizing the impact of biases on the judgment of others, while failing to see the impact of biases on one's own judgment. The term was created by Emily Pronin, a social psychologist from Princeton Uni ...

and

Introspection illusion The introspection illusion is a cognitive bias in which people wrongly think they have direct insight into the origins of their mental states, while treating others' introspections as unreliable. The illusion has been examined in psychological e ...

Biography

She was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to Irvin, a regulatory lawyer and Vivian R. Pronin an independent geriatric care manager. She received her BA from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and her PhD from

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 ...

Research

In 2002, Pronin and her colleagues initially defined the

in 2002, which is the observation that people feel they are less biassed in their judgements and conduct than the overall population, i.e., they are "blind" to their own cognitive biases. While that discovery inspired a slew of subsequent studies, no one has attempted to exactly reproduce the original tests. In 2002, Pronin's research introduced "

Naive Realism Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may ...

," highlighting how people tend to believe they have a more objective view of others while underestimating that others might see them more clearly. Pronin coined the term "

introspection illusion The introspection illusion is a cognitive bias in which people wrongly think they have direct insight into the origins of their mental states, while treating others' introspections as unreliable. The illusion has been examined in psychological e ...

" to describe the mistaken belief in own unbiased self-perception, she beliefs humans tend to think of themselves as more virtuous than they might be, while readily recognizing the faults in others. In her research on

Free will Free will is generally understood as the capacity or ability of people to (a) choice, choose between different possible courses of Action (philosophy), action, (b) exercise control over their actions in a way that is necessary for moral respon ...

Pronin explores how people perceive themselves versus others, her research shows that individuals often see their own judgments as rational and influenced by free will, while viewing others as predictable and less guided by free will.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pronin, Emily Stanford University alumni Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences alumni Yale University alumni American women psychologists Princeton University faculty Scientists from New York City American women social scientists American social psychologists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American psychologists