Alex Koch

Alex Koch is an Associate Professor of Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. His research centers on social cognition, focusing on biased evaluation and open-ended impression formation to understand how individuals differentiate or seek similarities in social interactions.

• Education: Undergraduate at University of Heidelberg; Ph.D. in Psychology from University of Cologne; postdoctoral work at University of Cologne
• Research Focus: Integrates psychological mechanisms (motivation, affect, cognition) with ecological factors (information distribution) to explain social evaluations
• Key Findings: Proposes the 'good is more alike than bad' explanation for valence asymmetry and challenges traditional models of group stereotypes by incorporating ideological beliefs
• Collaborative Approach: Engages in adversarial collaborations to refine competing research programs and enhance model specificity
• Teaching: Offers courses on negotiation strategies, organizational management, and behavioral science workshops

Alex's work appears in top-tier journals like Psychological Science, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Trends in Cognitive Sciences, emphasizing ecological validity and cross-contextual analysis. He advocates for open-ended methodologies and systemic approaches to social perception.