Department of Sociology
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720
Telephone: (510) 643-5444
Willer@berkeley.edu
Robb Willer is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from Cornell University.
Professor Willer’s teaching and research focus on the bases of social order. One line of his research investigates the factors driving the emergence of collective action, social norms, group solidarity, altruistic behavior, and status hierarchies. In other research, he explores the social psychology of political attitudes, especially the role of fear, prejudice, and gender identity in contemporary U.S. politics. Willer’s research involves multiple empirical and theoretical methods, including laboratory and field experiments, surveys, direct observation, physiological measurement, agent-based modeling, and dynamic social network modeling.
He has published in such journals as American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Annual Review of Sociology, Social Psychology Quarterly, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, and Social Networks. His work has received paper awards from the American Sociological Association’s Mathematical Sociology and Peace, War, and Social Conflict sections. His research has received grants from the National Science Foundation and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In 2008 he was invited to be a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study.
Professor Willer’s research has received widespread media coverage including CNN, MSNBC, The Today Show, USA Today, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, Science, Harper’s, San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian, Men’s Health, The Advocate, and National Public Radio.
Professor Willer teaches several courses in social psychology at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In 2009 he received the Golden Apple Teaching award, the only teaching award given by UC-Berkeley's student body.
At Berkeley, Willer is affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley's Survey Research Center, the Institute for Personality and Social Research, the Institute of Business and Economic Research, and the Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences. He is also the Director of the Department of Sociology’s Laboratory for Social Research, a member of the Greater Good Science Center's Executive Committee, and a member of the Cognitive Science faculty. He has consulted with the Breakthrough Institute, American Environics, the Rockridge Institute, the Fetzer Institute, and the Stanford Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality.
