Robb Willer
Professor | Stanford University
About
Robb Willer is a Professor of Sociology, Psychology, and Business at Stanford University where he is Director of the Polarization Social Change Lab and Co-Director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.
Willer’s research focuses on addressing critical societal challenges through rigorous scientific methods and practical applications. Working across the fields of social psychology, sociology, political science, organizational behavior, and cognitive science, he aims to develop actionable solutions in
three main areas: pathways to healthy democracy, strategies for social change, and rapid application of social science to emerging technologies and current events.
In his democracy research, Willer explores interventions to reduce political division, encourage democratic engagement, and build consensus around structural reforms. Notable projects include the Strengthening Democracy Challenge and the Structural Democratic Reforms Project.
Willer investigates social change strategies and techniques used by both influential elites and grassroots movements to shape public attitudes on issues like economic inequality, racial and gender bias, and climate change. This includes pioneering techniques like moral reframing, which reshapes public discourse and broadens coalitions for progressive social change.
Willer also rapidly applies cutting-edge social science to pressing societal problems, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on motivating vaccination through behavioral science insights. He explores how large language models (LLMs) can be leveraged for social good, including enhancing public service delivery and improving emotional well-being.
Willer employs a diverse range of methods, including survey and field experiments, computational analysis of large datasets, natural language processing, fMRI, social network analysis, and various quasi-experimental methods, Willer collaborates with partners to pilot and scale interventions, driving his research to practical implementation.
Willer has consulted for, or partnered with, a wide range of organizations, including the White House COVID-19 Response Team, the U.S. Surgeon General, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, ideas42, and two presidential campaigns.
Willer has published broadly in sociology, social psychology, organizations, political science, and general science journals, including Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Human Behaviour, American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, Annual Review of Sociology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Science, Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, and elsewhere.
Willer’s writing on political persuasion, polarization, democracy, elections, and other topics has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, Scientific American, The Los Angeles Times, and Vox. He has appeared on The NBC Nightly News, Fox News, PBS Newshour, Morning Joe, 20/20, and NPR. His research has been covered globally by more than 100 media outlets including The Today Show, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time Magazine, Science Magazine, NPR, and the BBC.
Willer’s 2017 TED talk “How to Have Better Political Conversations” has been viewed over 2.9 million times. He lectures globally to corporate, governmental, and other audiences - including appearances at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Twitter, Meta, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. For speaking engagements, he is represented by The Lavin Agency.
Before coming to Stanford, Willer was a professor at the University of California, Berkeley where his class “Self and Society” was the highest enrollment and top-reviewed class at the university. In 2009, he was the sole recipient of the “Golden Apple,” the only teaching award given by the UC-Berkeley student body.
Willer earned a PhD and an MA in Sociology from Cornell University and a BA in Sociology from the University of Iowa. Before becoming an academic, Willer worked as a dishwasher, line cook, construction worker, pizza delivery man, and a mover, among other things. He grew up in Kansas and South Carolina.