Richard Wiener

Richard Wiener is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and director of the NSF-funded Legal Decision Making Research Lab, which hosts a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site. His office is located in Burnell Hall (BURN 324c) with contact via phone (402-472-1137) or email (rwiener2@unl.edu).

His research examines psychological mechanisms in legal contexts, specializing in sexual harassment perceptions across occupations, consumer credit behavior, emotion's influence on legal judgments, and memory accessibility effects. Key studies investigate how truck drivers versus nurses perceive harassment, symbolic hate's political dimensions, and bankruptcy law's psychological impacts. His work bridges experimental psychology with real-world legal applications.

Publications from 2004-2007 reveal consistent interdisciplinary output in journals like Law and Human Behavior and Journal of Experimental Psychology (Applied), often co-authored with legal scholars. Research trends emphasize empirical testing of legal decision models, with growing focus on emotional and cognitive factors in judicial outcomes.

The Legal Decision Making Research Lab conducts experimental studies on jury behavior, discrimination, and consumer law, providing structured research opportunities for undergraduates through the REU program. Current projects explore symbolic hate speech, sexual harassment precedent effects, and credit disclosure regulations.