research

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Overall, my research examines the dynamics of strategic social interactions where individuals are motivated by both economic self-interest and impression management considerations. In particular, I am interested in how people make decisions about whether to mislead or deceive others, how they respond to others' ethical transgressions, and how they strategically communicate through nonverbal channels. I examine these issues in contexts such as negotiations, advice markets, and other interactive tasks.

ethical decision making

Profit-maximizing motives and impression management considerations can motivate people to provide others with misleading information. My research not only considers how the salience of these motives can cause people to exaggerate and tell outright lies, but also how characteristics of their targets (such as gender) can impact dishonesty.
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Relevant Research
Kray, L. J., Kennedy, J. A., & Van Zant, A. B. (2014). Not competent enough to know the difference? Gender stereotypes about women’s ease of being misled predict negotiator deception. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 125(2), 61-72.

Van Zant, A. B., & Kray, L. J. (2014). “I can’t lie to your face”: Minimal face-to-face interaction promotes honesty. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 55(1), 234-238. 

​Van Zant, A. B. Strategically overconfident (to a fault): How self-promotion motivates advisor confidence. 

JUDGING OTHERS' ETHICS

In addition to making their own ethical choices, people frequently make inferences about others' moral character. My research examines how these inferences influence evaluations of leaders and impact the negotiation process; it also considers the role of uncertainty and gender in shaping strategic decisions about whether to trust others.

​Relevant Research
Van Zant, A. B., & Moore, D. A. (2015). Leaders’ use of moral justifications increases policy support. Psychological Science, 26(6), 934-943. 

Haselhuhn, M. P., Kennedy, J. A., Kray, L. J., Van Zant, A. B. , & Schweitzer, M. E. (2015). Gender differences in trust dynamics: Women trust more than men following a trust violation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 56(1), 104-109. 

strategic NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR

Though verbal channels are the most unambiguous means of communicating information, people strategically use nonverbal channels to influence others and signal their own motives. My research finds that this has important implications for the communication of certainty, for the process of persuasion, and even for women's negotiation outcomes.

Relevant Research
Van Zant, A. B., & Berger, J. (in press). How the voice persuades. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Kray, L. J., Locke, C. C., & Van Zant, A. B. (2012). Feminine charm: An experimental analysis of its costs and benefits in negotiations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(10), 1343-1357.