Michele J. Gelfand
Michele J. Gelfand
The John H. Scully Professor in Cross-Cultural Management and Professor of Organizational Behavior
Professor of Psychology (by courtesy), School of Humanities and Sciences
BP Faculty Fellow in Global Management for 2022–2023
Academic Area:
Research Statement
Michele Gelfand uses field, experimental, computational, and neuroscience methods to understand the evolution of culture — as well as its multilevel consequences for human groups.
Research Interests
- Cross-cultural organizational behavior
- Negotiation
- Conflict
- Diversity
Bio
Gelfand’s work has been published in many scientific outlets such as Science, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Psychological Science, Nature Human Behaviour, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Research in Organizational Behavior, Journal of Applied Psychology, Annual Review of Psychology, American Psychologist, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Current Opinion in Psychology, among others. Her work has been featured in the Washington Post, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, National Public Radio, Voice of America, Fox News, NBC News, ABC News, Harvard Business Review, The Economist, De Standard, among other outlets.
She is the author of Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire the World (Scribner, 2018) and co-editor of Values, Political Action, and Change in the Middle East and the Arab Spring (Oxford University Press, 2017), The Handbook of Conflict and Conflict Management (Taylor & Francis, 2013), and The Handbook of Negotiation and Culture (2004, Stanford University Press). She is the founding co-editor of the Advances in Culture and Psychology Annual Series and the Frontiers of Culture and Psychology series (Oxford University Press). Gelfand is the past president of the International Association for Conflict Management, past division chair of the Conflict Division of the Academy of Management, and past treasurer of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. She has received several awards, such as the 2020 Katzell Award from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the 2020 Rubin Award from the IACM, the 2020 Best Book Award from the IACM, the 2019 Award for contributions to Cultural Psychology from SPSP, the 2017 Outstanding International Psychologist Award from the American Psychological Association, the 2016 Diener Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and the Annaliese Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Academic Degrees
- PhD in Social and Organizational Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1996
Academic Appointments
- Professor of Organizational Behavior, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2021
- Professor of Psychology by courtesy, Stanford University, 2021
Awards and Honors
- Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences, 2021
- Katzell Award, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2020
- Elected Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2019
- Outstanding Contributions to Cultural Psychology Award, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 2019
- Board member, Board of Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, 2019
- Member-at-Large, Association of Psychological Science, 2019
- Distinguished Scientist-Practitioner Award, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2019
- Honorary Fellow, International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2018
- Applied Science Award for Applications of Scientific Principles to the Advancement of International Business, Institute for Cross-Cultural Management, 2018
- Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland, 2017
- Outstanding International Psychologist Award, American Psychological Association, 2017
- Most Influential Paper Award, Conflict Management Division, Academy of Management, 2017
- Invited Keynote Speaker, Canadian Psychological Association, 2017
- Research Communicator Impact Award, University of Maryland, 2016
- Invited Keynote Speaker, Association for Psychological Science, 2016
- Edward Diener Award for Contributions to Social Psychology, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 2016
- Keynote Speaker, International Congress of Psychology, Japan, 2016
- Keynote Speaker, Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, 2016
- Ernest J. McCormick Distinguished Lecturer, Purdue University, 2015
- Keynote Speaker, Emerging Markets Forum, 2014
- William A. Owens Scholarly Achievement Award for best paper published in 2013, Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology, 2014
- Fellow, Academy of Management, 2013
- Keynote Speaker, 2013 International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling, and Prediction, 2013
- Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize for best paper published 2011, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, 2012
- Anneliese Maier Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, 2011
- Keynote Speaker, International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, Istanbul, 2011
- Best Paper Award, New Direction in Conflict Management, for Gelfand, Leslie, Keller, & De Dreu, Conflict Management Division, Academy of Management, 2010
- Elected Fellow, Association for Psychological Science, 2010
- Founder and Coeditor, Advances in Culture and Psychology, Oxford University Press, 2010
- President, International Association for Conflict Management, 2009–10
- Distinguished University Scholar-Teacher, University of Maryland, College Park, 2009
- Best Paper Award, New Directions in Conflict Management, for Fehr & Gelfand, Conflict Management Division, Academy of Management, 2009
- Best Published Article of the Year Award, for Gettman & Gelfand (2007) in the Journal of Applied Psychology, International Association for Conflict Management, 2009
- Invited Member, Forecasting Disruptive Technologies Committee, National Academy of Sciences, 2007–2009
- Invited Master Lecture on Culture, American Psychological Association, Boston, 2008
- Best Theoretical Paper Award, 20th Annual Conference of the International Association for Conflict Management, Budapest, 2007
- Visiting Professor, University of Giessen, 2007
- Elected Fellow, American Psychological Association and Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2007
- Invited Member, Committee on Opportunities in Basic Research in the Behavioral and Social Sciences for the U.S. Military, 2007
- Invited Visiting Professor, University of Giessen, 2007
- Member, Committee on Opportunities in Basic Research in the Behavioral and Social Sciences for the U.S. Military, 2007
- Invited Panelist, Department of Homeland Security and Psychology Roundtable, Washington DC, 2006
- Invited NSF Representative for the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological, and Cognitive Sciences, Capitol Hill Poster Session, Washington DC, 2006
- Distinguished Service Award, Conflict Management Division, Academy of Management, 2005
- Best Published Article of the Year Award, for Gelfand et al. (2002), Journal of Applied Psychology, International Association for Conflict Management, 2004
- Dorothy Harlow Distinguished Paper Award, Gender and Diversity Division, for paper by Raver & Gelfand, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management, Seattle, 2003
- L. L. Cummings Award for Early Career Contributions, Organizational Behavior Division, Academy of Management, Denver, 2002
- Ernest J. McCormick Award for Distinguished Early Career Contributions, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Toronto, 2002
- Lady Davis Scholarship Recipient, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 2002
- Best Published Article of the Year Award, for Gelfand & Realo (1999), Journal of Applied Psychology, International Association for Conflict Management, 2001
- Honorable Mention, Otto Klineberg Intercultural and International Relations Award, for Gelfand et al. (2001), Journal of Applied Psychology, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, 2001
- Teaching and Mentorship Award, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, University of Maryland at College Park, 2000
- Invited Visiting Scholar, The Technion, Haifa, Israel, 2000
- Best Empirical Paper Award, 11th Annual Conference of the International Association of Conflict Management, College Park, MD, 1998
- Diversity Initiative Research Award, University of Maryland at College Park, 1998
- Invited Visiting Scholar, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997
- University Research Fellowship, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1994
- Dana Scholars Award for Academic Excellence, Colgate University, 1986, 1988
- Caesar Tedaschi Scholarship Award for Academic Excellence, Colgate University, 1987
- Elected Member, Cosmos Club, Washington DC
- Elected Member, Society for Experimental Social Psychology and Society for Organizational Behavior
Publications
Journal Articles
Books
Teaching
Degree Courses
Executive Education & Other Non-Degree Programs
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Conferences, Talks & Speaking Engagements
Service to the Profession
Professional Society Membership
- Cofounder, Cultural Evolution Society
- Fellow, Academy of Management
- Elected Member, Society for Organizational Behavior
- Member, Association for Psychological Science
- Member, American Psychological Association
- Member, International Association for Conflict Management
- Honorary Fellow, International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology
- Elected Member, Society for Experimental Social Psychology
- Fellow, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
- Member, Society for Personality and Social Psychology
Editorial Boards and Reviewing
- Board Member, Personality and Social Psychology Review, present
- Board Member, Journal of Applied Psychology, present
- Board Member, Journal of Organizational Behavior, present
- Associate Editor, Social Psychological and Personality Science, March 2009–2012
- Associate Editor, Applied Psychology: International Review, 2002–2007
National Service, Committee Membership in Professional Organizations
- Board Member, National Academy of Sciences, 2018–present
- Representative-at-Large, Cultural Evolution Society, 2016–present
- Committee Member, International Association for Conflict Management, 1995–present
- Cofounder, Cultural Evolution Society, 2016
- Panelist, Graduate Proposals, National Science Foundation, 2016
- Organizer, Workshop on Cultural Evolution, Cultural Evolution Society, 2015
- Representative to Federation of Associations of the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2009–2014
- Past President, International Association for Conflict Management, 2010–2011
- President, International Association for Conflict Management, 2009–2010
- Member, Committee on Forecasting Future Disruptive Technologies, National Academy of Sciences, 2007–2009 (Invited Presenter, 2006, 2013, 2017)
- Program Chair, Representative to the American Psychological Society, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2008
- Past Division Chair, Conflict Management Division, Academy of Management, 2007–2008
- Panelist, Committee on Opportunities in Basic Research in the Behavioral and Social Sciences for the U.S. Military, National Academy of Sciences, 2007
- Division Chair, Conflict Management Division, Academy of Management, 2006–2007
- Executive Council, International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2001–2006
- Program Chair, Conflict Management Division, Academy of Management, 2004–2005
- Treasurer, International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2001–2005
- Symposium Chair, Organizational Division, International Congress for Applied Psychology, 2000–2002
- Program Chair, Cergy (Paris), France, International Association for Conflict Management, 2001
- Representative-at-Large, Conflict Management Division, Academy of Management, 2000–2001
- Local Arrangements Coordinator, College Park, Maryland, International Association for Conflict Management, 1998
- Cochair, Scientific Program Evaluation Committee, Organizational Division, International Congress for Applied Psychology, 1998
- Reviewer, Conflict Division, Organizational Behavior Division, Conflict Management Division, Academy of Management
- Reviewer, National Science Foundation
In the Media
Different mindsets about rules can lead to different behaviors.
And the cultural earthquake it’s unleashing.
It’s not just about medicine. It’s about culture.
Here are some trends to watch.
Feuds, Other Conflicts May Have Neurological Basis, Psychology Study Finds
Your partner’s intentions might be good, but the outcome often isn’t.
Across the world, voters are falling prey to leaders who appeal to their worst instincts. Why?
Words that carry weight: In a University of Maryland study, Pakistanis and Americans who read diaries from the others’ culture often came away with a more positive and tolerant perspective.
Research is starting to reveal how the urge for vengeance may have evolved, when it can be useful and what could prevent the violence it can provoke.
Dr. Gelfand answers reader questions in Behavioral Scientist's "Ask a Behavioral Scientist" series.
When people feel threatened, they’re more receptive to politicians who espouse xenophobic rhetoric.
Extremely rare but vivid threats often loom large in the human mind.
This psychology professor and her research team argues that it’s not about remaking the company, but introducing structure without compromising on Tesla’s commitment to innovate.
While the Islamic State has claimed responsibility, the real story is a bit more complicated than that.
On Equal Pay Day, we rightly focus on how a woman would have to work over three months more in order to make what her male counterpart did last year for the same full time work. But inequities in the workplace go far beyond wage disparity.
According to a new book by cultural psychologist Michele Gelfand, “Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire Our World,” much of the diversity in the way we think and act derives from a key difference—how tightly or loosely we adhere to social norms.
A book excerpt and interview with Michele Gelfand, an author and psychologist at the University of Maryland.
Research on how people make and break rules can help us understand each other.
Tragedies raise a puzzling question: what would make someone turn against their own country?
Michele Gelfand is Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland and author of an eye-opening new book on the role that culture—and specifically how strictly different cultures enforce norms—plays in our lives.
Some books stick with you, long after you’ve closed the cover.
In a study of traffic patterns, researchers at the University of California found that drivers of luxury cars were far more likely to cut off other cars than were lower status cars.
“There is a deeper cultural code driving our behavior which reflects the strength of our social norms.”
Men vastly outnumber women among sexual harassers. The reason has more to do with culture than with intrinsic maleness.
These days, it seems like the best path to political success is to become an autocrat.
Amazon’s 2017 acquisition of Whole Foods was met with a lot of fanfare. In the words of Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, the partnership was “love at first sight.” A year later, such optimism seems hard to find at Whole Foods.
My research shows that when people feel threatened they want ‘tighter’ social norms, with profound consequences for politics.
Is your organization “tight” or “loose”?
Seventeen years ago today, 9/11 brought America together. We also tightened the rules of our country dramatically.
`Psychologist Michele Gelfand’s grand unified theory of cultural “tightness.”
We spend many of our waking hours in organizations, but we rarely think about the underlying cultural DNA that is guiding our behavior at work.
Is your culture tight or loose?
ISIS filled a vital cultural need. Its leaders promised, and delivered, badly needed social order in areas reeling from disintegration.
The red state-blue state dividing line between U.S. states ignores a much deeper history and psychology that each state possesses.
Whenever a society, or individual, feels threatened, it tends to tighten up on rules.
&A deals between groups with different corporate norms can be bad news for investors.
Nations differ vastly in how much store they set by rules. Understanding why can help foster communication, cooperation and even change for the better.
Available research on economic sanctions attests to their limited effectiveness at best.
Why Are Some States "Tighter" Than Others?
When people feel threatened, they make rules and enforce the rules.
Is there something wrong with the culture at United Airlines?
Explaining faultlines in Europe.
There were many reasons to oppose President Trump’s travel ban on refugees and visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries, which is now blocked by a federal court’s temporary restraining order.
The strongest Trump supporters were those who felt that America was under grave threat.
The final debate of the 2016 presidential election campaign is Oct. 19. Four scholars suggest questions they’d like to hear addressed by the candidates.
The following report is from PolitiFact, which has partnered with NBC News to fact-check candidates during the 2016 political season.
For the past 10 months, Donald Trump has been a political enigma...What is “Trump culture,” and where is it coming from?
A warmer embrace could stop homegrown terrorism.
Tight or loose? The states vary.
Anyone who lives in Oregon knows it one of those place where you can do your own thing, right?
We are forever in search of ways to better understand the cultural differences in our country that lead us to such divergent politics.
Most people in the United States probably would agree that priorities and values can vary greatly from region to region and even state to state.
Familiarity and social ties influence our decision to intervene on behalf of others.
Bargaining is so ubiquitous that there’s an entire research community devoted to understanding how people negotiate and what methods are most likely to lead to an optimal solution.
People negotiate over everything. Where to go on vacation, how much to pay for a new car, how to merge international companies, and how to fund the government and pay the debts of the most powerful nation on the planet.
Examining more than 80,000 terrorist attacks which occurred between 1970 and 2007, researchers find that cultural values and norms which promote rigid thinking are related to a greater number of terrorist attacks or fatalities.
Research suggests that our essential differences are not economic, political, or religious. They are historical, rooted in a people’s vulnerability to war, disease, and other threats in the deep past. It’s a powerful insight, with implications for us all.
The world's largest democracy, paradoxically also has one of the highest intolerance indices.
The safer a society is, the more liberal and tolerant people are, a new study found.
A study published in this week’s edition of Science journal says cultures with a history of war, famine and ecological distress are “tight”, or less tolerant of infraction.
Israel is home to one of the four "loosest" cultures in the world, a new study has found.
A study of people from 33 nations led researchers to conclude that a given people's history of threats leads to cultural norms.
The researcher's findings reveal wide variation in the degree to which various societies impose social norms, enforce conformity and punish anti-social behavior.
Societies facing a host of dangers are more likely to have strict social norms and be intolerant of people who deviate from them.
Ukraine, Israel, Brazil and the United States are "loose" cultures.