Robb Willer

Robb Willer is a Professor of Sociology at Stanford University, with courtesy appointments in Psychology and Organizational Behavior (Graduate School of Business). As Director of the Politics and Social Change Lab and Co-Director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, he investigates political psychology, morality, status hierarchies, and polarization. His research bridges sociology, psychology, and organizational behavior to address societal challenges.

• Education: PhD (Cornell, 2006), MA (Cornell, 2004), BA (University of Iowa, 1999)

Willer’s work focuses on political polarization, moral framing, and status dynamics. He examines how threats to identity shape attitudes on war, welfare, and social issues, and how reputation systems sustain cooperation. His 2023 PNAS study shows correcting meta-perceptions reduces legislative anti-democratic behavior.

His 2025 Nature Communications paper explores LLM-generated policy persuasion, while 2022 Nature Human Behaviour research links partisan animosity to anti-democratic support. Media coverage spans New York Times, Science, and CNN.

• Scientific Awards:
  • Golden Apple Teaching Award (2009)

He leads the Strengthening Democracy Challenge, a 32,000-participant megastudy testing interventions to combat polarization. Collaborations include the Human Cooperation Laboratory at Columbia and Stanford's Computational Social Science initiatives.