Dan Ariely

Dan Ariely was born to Yoram and Dafna Ariely in New York City while his father studied at Columbia University and was raised in Israel during his childhood and adolescence. As a late teenager in Israel, he suffered a severe accident during a youth-movement activity that caused third-degree burns over a large portion of his body; prolonged hospitalization and painful treatments there strongly influenced his interest in human behavior, pain, and the delivery of unavoidable treatments, which he later turned into research questions in behavioral science. Ariely studied at Tel Aviv University, initially in physics and mathematics before switching to philosophy and psychology and ultimately concentrating on psychology, earning his undergraduate degree in 1991. He then earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and subsequently completed a second Ph.D. in business administration at Duke University in 1998, studying with and influenced by scholars in judgment and decision-making including Daniel Kahneman. Ariely joined Duke University where he became the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics and a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight, conducting laboratory and field experiments on topics such as pain, self-control, dishonesty, social preferences, and the psychology of money and markets. He has articulated the view that people make systematic, predictable mistakes (irrationalities) and has developed applied interventions and nudges to improve decisions in health, finance, and public policy. Ariely is the author of multiple New York Times bestselling books including Predictably Irrational and other popular works that translate academic findings into accessible advice for the public and organizations. He has delivered widely viewed TED talks, consulted with businesses and governments, and co-founded ventures applying behavioral science to products and services, reflecting his interest in social impact and scaling behavioral solutions.