Ewa J. Szymanska, M.A.

Research

My research looks at the interplay of reasoning and moral intuitions in consumer decision making and in voters' attitudes towards public policies. In my studies, I focus on the subjective perceptions of self-interest, group interest (in a multi-group context), and moral concern, and their impact on political attitudes. My research builds upon (1) experimental studies of decision making in hypothetical situations, (2) consumer behavior research, and (3) the evolutionary approaches.

Parochial cooperation

Charitable giving

Consumer behavior in the marketplace of meaning

Evolutionary psychology

Parochial cooperation:

People often cooperate in multi-group social dilemmas, even when sacrificing their self-interest hurts the out-group ("others") more than it benefits the in-group ("us"). My present research explores the features of parochial cooperation, focusing on the nationalistic type of an in-group favoritism.

In my current study, I employ social dilemma (1-group) and layered social dilemma (2-group) experimental paradigms to investigate the moderators of parochialism in consumers' attitudes towards imported goods. I strive to determine whether the types of manipulations that worked previously in the minimal-group lab experiments also prove effective in manipulating the attitudes of individuals in the context of global economy.

Charitable giving:

This line of research is aimed at identifying cognitive biases in charitable donations. (principal investigator: Jon Baron)

Consumer Behavior in the marketplace of meaning:

Emergence of the marketplace of meaning, defined by Tony Pigott as the consumers' inner need for engagement in social issues such as fair trade or preservation of the natural environment, presents today's businesses with new possibilities, which include identifying and managing social issues that could be successfully incorporated in the marketing schema.

In my research, I would like to integrate findings on moral judgment with theories of consumer choice to understand consumer reactions to moral attributes of consumer products.

Evolutionary psychology:

I am interested in developing evolutionary approaches to my central question of an interplay between moral intuitions and reasoning in people's judgments. Be sure to visit the Penn Laboratory for Experimental Evolutionary Psychology (PLEEP) for more information on the potential of evolutionary theory in psychological science.

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