Jake Teeny received a B.S. in both Psychology and Philosophy from Santa Clara University, before attaining his M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Ohio State University. Presently, a Donald P. Jacob Scholar and Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, he broadly researches the science of attitudes and persuasion, striving to answer questions like:
- What makes a personal message, advertisement, or recommendation more persuasive?
- What leads people to spread word of mouth about an idea, product, politician, or otherwise?
- How do our thoughts about our thoughts influence our evaluations and behaviors?
In researching these (and multiple other) topics, he has published empirical studies both in top-tier psychology and marketing journals; he has written reviews on influential behavioral research; and he has provided theoretical frameworks in academic chapters for conceptualizing the study of our opinions and beliefs.
Beyond his scholarly pursuits, Jake also spreads the findings of behavioral research to a broader audience, primarily, through his longtime blog, Everyday Psych. On it, he shows how to apply fascinating and cutting-edge psychological and consumer research to enhancing everyday life. He has also written on these topics for other outlets, such as Psychology Today, the educational website Highbrow, and the international introductory psychology textbook, Noba.
In addition to his work conducting and translating science, Jake also regularly writes and publishes creative fiction. With dozens of short stories and screenplays published in various literary magazines (like The Saturday Evening Post) and nationally renowned writing competitions (like Short Story America), Jake continues to actively transform the daydreams in his head into entertaining stories that comprise a wide variety of genres and forms.