Joe Arvai

About

Dr. Joe Árvai is the Dana and David Dornsife Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Southern California's Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. His research focuses on improving critical thinking, judgment, and decision-making capabilities, particularly in contexts involving risk and uncertainty, where individuals confront tradeoffs across social, economic, and environmental objectives. He investigates how instinctive judgment and decision-making are biased by unchecked emotions and motivated reasoning, with a primary emphasis on environmental issues and sustainability. His work involves conducting applied research with a lab of post-doctoral scholars and graduate students to better understand how people make judgments and decisions about environmental risks and sustainability. This research aims to develop tools and approaches that enhance decision quality by aligning individuals' values and objectives with their judgments and choices. Dr. Árvai's research spans a broad spectrum of contexts, including environmental risk management, consumer choice, and policy-making. He is also a frequent advisor to government, business, and NGOs, having served on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chartered Science Advisory Board and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Environmental Change and Society. Additionally, he is a Senior Researcher at the Decision Science Research Institute…

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Business
• Social psychology
• Waste management
• Chemistry
• Applied psychology
• Agricultural science
• Agricultural economics
• Environmental science
• Economics

Selected publications

• Risk Perception: Reflections on 40 Years of Research

  Risk Analysis · 2020 · 431 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Numerous studies and practical experiences with risk have demonstrated the importance of risk perceptions for people's behavior. In this narrative review, we describe and reflect upon some of the lines of research that we feel have been important in helping us understand the factors and processes that shape people's risk perceptions. In our review, we propose that much of the research on risk perceptions to date can be grouped according to three dominant perspectives and, thus, approaches to stu…

  PublisherDOI

• Limited effects of exposure to fake news about climate change

  Environmental Research Communications · 2020-08-01 · 49 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract The spread of ‘fake news,’ information that mimics credible reporting in format but not in content or intent, poses potential threats to public health and democracy by misinforming citizens. Understanding whether and how fake news influences individuals’ policy-relevant beliefs and decisions is needed to inform policies and practices to address it. In a preregistered experiment, we ask how exposure to fake climate news casting doubt on the existence of climate change influences individu…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Paging Dr. JARVIS! Will people accept advice from artificial intelligence for consequential risk management decisions?

  Journal of Risk Research · 2021-08-04 · 36 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Artificial intelligence (AI), a branch of computer science based upon algorithms that can analyze data and make decisions autonomously, is becoming increasingly prevalent in the technology that powers modern society. Relatively little research has examined how humans modify their judgments in response to their interactions with AI. Our research explores how people respond to different types of risk management advice received from AI vs. a human expert in two contexts where AI is commonly deploye…

  PublisherDOI

• Don't say “vegan” or “plant-based”: Food without meat and dairy is more likely to be chosen when labeled as “healthy” and “sustainable”

  Journal of Environmental Psychology · 2023-12-11 · 30 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Consumer acceptance of products from carbon capture and utilization

  Climatic Change · 2021-05-01 · 30 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Resource management in developing countries: Improving decisions by uncovering hidden objectives and confronting difficult tradeoffs

  NSF · $395k · 2009–2012

• DRRC/Collaborative Research: Emergency Management in Rural America: Decision-Makers Use of Climate Science in Flood Planning and Management

  NSF · $102k · 2011–2015

Frequent coauthors

• Douglas L. Bessette

  22 shared

• Robin Gregory

  University of British Columbia

  19 shared

• Robyn S. Wilson

  19 shared

• Caitlin Drummond

  Arizona State University

  19 shared

• Lauren Lutzke

  Penn Center for AIDS Research

  14 shared

• Michael Siegrist

  ETH Zurich

  14 shared

• Alex Segrè Cohen

  14 shared

• Victoria Campbell-Árvai

  11 shared

Awards & honors

• Fellow (or Equivalent) of National Society in Discipline, So…

Similar researchers at University of Southern California

• David J. Bottjerh-83
• John Heidelbergh-74
• Karla Heidelbergh-34