Dan Ariely

Dan Ariely

In Dan Ariely's first two books, both New York Times bestsellers, Predictably Irrational and The Upside of Irrationality, the behavioural economist shows how, despite best intentions, we often fail to act in our own best interests.With his third book, The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone – Especially Ourselves, Ariely has turned his attention to studying dishonesty in American culture. He has some surprising findings to share at an Assembly Series presentation at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, in Graham Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely is intrigued by the fact that humans believe they act rationally when his research indicates otherwise. In fact, not only do we humans act irrationally, we also rationalize our actions (or inactions).

With characteristic wit and revelation steeped in research, he lets us in on a secret we’ve been keeping to ourselves: Most of us think of ourselves as honest, but are we? His talk will explore how unethical behavior works in the personal, professional and political worlds, and how it affects us all, even as we think of ourselves as having high moral standards.

Since 2008, Ariely has held the James B. Duke Professorship in Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University and holds appointments in the university’s Fuqua School of Business, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, the School of Medicine and the Department of Economics. Additionally, he serves as senior fellow in Duke’s Kenan Institute for Ethics and is a member of the United Nations University International Human Dimension Programme on Global Environmental Change.

Ariely holds two doctoral degrees, in cognitive psychology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he also earned a master’s degree, and in business administration from Duke University.

Born in America, but raised in Israel, he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tel Aviv University before moving back to the United States.

In addition to publishing books, he has authored hundreds of articles in professional journals on a wide range of subjects. His presentations for TED Talks are among the most popular on the website. The list of his talks can be found here.

For more information regarding this and other Assembly Series events, visit www.assemblyseries.wustl.edu or call (314) 935-4620.