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Peter H. Ditto

Professor of Psychology & Social Behavior
Ph.D. Princeton University
Phone: 
(949) 824-8168,1844
Email: 
phditto@uci.edu
Office: 
4209 Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway
Specializations: 
social psychology, judgment and decision making, political and moral reasoning
Curriculum Vitae: 

I am interested in "hot cognition" -- the interface between passion and reason. My research examines the role of motivation and emotion in social, political, moral, medical, and legal judgment. Most generally, I have sought to explain the phenomenon of "motivated reasoning" -- how the desire to reach a particular conclusion biases the processing of information related to that conclusion. My early work examined the role such biases play in how people respond to threatening medical information (e.g., denial). More recently, my work has been focused on motivated moral reasoning, particularly how people selectively recruit general principles and factual beliefs to support desired moral conclusions. Another key focus of my current research is partisan political bias. This work examines the multiple ways that political ideology biases our political judgments and behavior. Finally, I am interested in a variety of psychological issues involved in end-of-life medical decision making. 

Web Links of Research Sites

Web Links of Interest

Selected Publications

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