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 think they've seen where life is headed before it gets there. For example, people are quick to conclude that things are getting worse (rather than better), that they've exhausted all possible utility from an experience (even when they haven't), and that tomorrow won't meaningfully differ from today
(even when it likely will). Ed studies when and why people reach these premature conclusions, and how encouraging people to view change from different perspectives can help them 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.