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Home Faculty»Tess Wilkinson-Ryan L’05, G’06, PhD’08
Tess Wilkinson-Ryan

Papers on SSRN

Tess Wilkinson-Ryan L’05, G’06, PhD’08

Golkin Family Professor; Professor of Psychology

Tess Wilkinson-Ryan L’05, G’06, PhD’08 studies the psychology of legal decision-making. Her research addresses the role of moral judgment in legal decision-making, with a particular focus on private contracts and negotiations.

She uses experimental methods from psychology and behavioral economics to ask how people draw on their moral intuitions to motivate or inform legal choices. Recent research topics include mortgage borrowing and default, retirement planning, contract precautions, and the cognitive and emotional response to breach of contract.

In 2012, Wilkinson-Ryan was awarded the A. Leo Levin Award for Excellence in Teaching an Introductory Course.

Featured Research

More Publications

Justifying Bad Deals, 169 U. PA. L. REV. 193 (2020).

Law and Psychology Grows Up, Goes Online, and Replicates, 15 J. EMPIRICAL LEG. STUD. 320 (2018) (with Krin Irvine and David A. Hoffman).

The Perverse Consequences of Disclosing Standard Terms, 103 CORNELL L. REV. 117 (2017).

The Knowledge Gap in Workplace Retirement Investing and the Role of Professional Advisors, 66 DUKE L. J. 633 (2016) (with Jill E. Fisch and Kristin Firth).

Incentives to Breach, 17 AM. L. & ECON. REV. 290 (2015).

Intuitive Formalism in Contract, 163 U. PA. L. REV. 2109 (2015)

Articles
Expecting Specific Performance, New York University Law Review (2023)
Gender and Deception: Moral Perceptions and Legal Responses, Northwestern University Law Review (2023)
A Comment on Colla and Gulati, Cheeky Contracting, Law and Contemporary Problems (2022)
Justifying Bad Deals, University of Pennsylvania Law Review (2020)
Law and Psychology Grows Up, Goes Online, and Replicates, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies (2017)
The Perverse Consequences of Disclosing Standard Terms, Cornell Law Review (2017)
The Knowledge Gap in Workplace Retirement Investing and the Role of Professional Advisors, Duke Law Journal (2016)
Incentives to Breach, American Law & Economics Review (2015)
Intuitive Formalism in Contract, University of Pennsylvania Law Review (2015)
The Common Sense of Contract Formation, Stanford Law Review (2015)
A Psychological Account of Consent to Fine Print, Iowa Law Review (2014)
Demand for Breach, Working Paper (2014)
Why Do Retail Investors Make Costly Mistakes? An Experiment on Mutual Fund Choice, University of Pennsylvania Law Review (2014)
Judging Similarity, Iowa Law Review (2014)
Wikitruth Through Wikiorder, University of Chicago Law Review (2013)
Transferring Trust: Reciprocity Norms and Assignment of Contract, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies (2012)
Legal Promise and Psychological Contract, Wake Forest Law Review (2012)
Breaching the Mortgage Contract: The Behavioral Economics of Strategic Default, Vanderbilt Law Review (2011)
Do Liquidated Damages Encourage Breach? A Psychological Experiment, Michigan Law Review (2010)
Breach Is For Suckers, Vanderbilt Law Review (2010)
Moral Judgment and Moral Heuristics in Breach of Contract, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies (2009)
The Sucker Norm, Working Paper (2009)
Negotiating Divorce: Gender and the Behavioral Economics of Divorce Bargaining, Law & Inequality (2008)
The Effect of Conflicting Moral and Legal Rules on Bargaining Behavior: The Case of Divorce, Journal of Legal Studies (2008)
Admitting Mental Health Evidence to Impeach the Credibility of a Sexual Assault Complainant, University of Pennsylvania Law Review (2005)
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Chapters
Psychology and the New Private Law in The Oxford Handbook of the New Private Law (2020)
Fiduciary Law and Psychology in The Oxford Handbook of Fiduciary Law (2019)
Conceptual foundations: a bird’s-eye view in Research Handbook on Behavioral Law and Economics (2018)
Experimental Psychology and the Law in The Oxford Handbook of Law and Economics: Methodology and Concepts (2017)
Fault in Contracts: A Psychological Approach in Fault in American Contract Law (2010)
Other
Online Essay, ‘Wait, am I the fool here?’: why our fears of being scammed are corrosive and damaging, The Guardian (2023)
Interview, Everybody plays the fool, Olson Zaltman (2023)
Online Essay, Don't let them fool you, aeon (2023)
Podcast, The Economy of Motherhood and Being Played the 'Fool' with Tess Wilkinson-Ryan, The Good Enough Mother (2023)
Online Essay, America’s Mothers Are Suckers. And I Say That With Love., Slate (2023)
Online Essay, Fool Me Once, The Pennsylvania Gazette (2023)
Interview, The totally normal but not entirely rational fear of being duped, Boston Globe (2023)
Video, Are you the sucker? Tess Wilkinson-Ryan interview, David Pakman Show (2023)
Podcast, Tess Wilkinson-Ryan on When to Play the Fool, Curious Minds at Work (2023)
Interview, Tucker Carlson Says Paying Hush Money Is Normal in America. Is That True?, Slate (2023)
Podcast, F Murray Abraham and Tess Wilkenson, The John Fugelsang Podcast (2023)
Online Essay, Why Student Loan Forgiveness Makes People Boiling Mad: Nobody wants to get played for a sucker., Slate (2023)
Op-Ed, Even more than April 1, Valentine’s Day is for fools, Washington Post (2023)
Podcast, The Upside of Being Taken For A Sucker & Why Projects Are Often Late and Over-Budget, Something You Should Know (2023)
Interview, Fear of Scams Drives Your Behavior in Nefarious Ways, Big Think: The Learning Curve (2023)
Podcast, Tess Wilkinson-Ryan (on the sucker narrative), Armchair Expert (2023)
Online Essay, Why We Hate Being Scammed, TIME (2023)
Online Essay, Fool Proof: How Fear of Playing the Sucker Shapes Our Selves and the Social Order—and What We Can Do About It, Next Big Ideas Club (2023)
Show 9 more...View all 18

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