Tess Wilkinson-Ryan

Tess Wilkinson-Ryan serves as the Golkin Family Professor of Law and Psychology and Deputy Dean at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. Her interdisciplinary work bridges legal scholarship with psychological research, creating a distinctive approach to understanding legal decision-making processes. She holds dual appointments reflecting her work at the intersection of law and behavioral science.

Wilkinson-Ryan's research centers on the psychology of legal decision-making, with particular emphasis on how moral judgment informs legal choices in private contracts and negotiations. She employs experimental methods from psychology and behavioral economics to investigate how people's moral intuitions shape their legal behavior. Her work explores diverse topics including mortgage borrowing and default, retirement planning, contract precautions, and emotional responses to breach of contract. A recurring theme across her scholarship is the 'sucker' dynamic - how fear of exploitation influences legal behavior and societal norms.

Her publication record demonstrates remarkable productivity and interdisciplinary reach, with articles appearing in leading law reviews including University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Harvard Business Law Review, and Northwestern University Law Review. Her research shows a clear trajectory from foundational work on contract formation and breach toward broader explorations of moral psychology in legal contexts, culminating in her 2023 book 'Fool Proof: How Fear of Playing the Sucker Shapes our Selves and the Social Order -- and What We Can Do About It.'

• A. Leo Levin Award for Excellence in Teaching an Introductory Course (2012)

As Deputy Dean, Wilkinson-Ryan plays a significant administrative role while maintaining an active research agenda. Her work has generated substantial public engagement, with numerous media appearances in TIME, The Guardian, Slate, and The Washington Post discussing the psychological underpinnings of legal behavior and societal trust. Her scholarship demonstrates how empirical methods can illuminate enduring questions in legal theory, particularly regarding the psychological foundations of contract law and the moral dimensions of legal compliance.