Ed O'Brien is a Professor of Marketing at Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business.
Trained as an experimental social psychologist, Ed works at the intersection of time, happiness, and judgment and decision making, with particular interests in how people perceive change in themselves and others, think about the past and future, and enjoy the present.
His research explores why people so often draw conclusions about change while it is still unfolding. For example, people are quick to conclude that things are getting worse (rather than better), that they've gotten all they can out of an experience (even when they haven't), and that tomorrow will mostly look like today (even when it
won't). Ed studies when and why people reach these premature conclusions, and how viewing change from different perspectives can help people make happier decisions.
Ed is the recipient of the SPSP Daniel M. Wegner Theoretical Innovation Prize, the APS Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions, the APS Rising Star Award, the ISCON Early Career Award, and the SPSP Sage Young Scholar Award. He has been named a Best 40 Under 40 MBA Professor by Poets & Quants.
Before joining OSU, Ed worked at the University of Chicago, completed his doctoral studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, earned his undergraduate degree from Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, and was born and raised in New Jersey.