Taya R. Cohen
Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Business Ethics
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Dr. Taya R. Cohen is a tenured Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Business Ethics at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. Her research cuts across disciplines to develop and rigorously test new theories about human behavior that can be applied in practice to solve difficult problems in business, law, and health care. Using theory and methods from the fields of organizational behavior, psychology, and business ethics, she investigates the cascading effects of individuals’ honesty and ethical choices on those they interact with and the organizations where they work.
Dr. Cohen publishes her work in top management and psychology journals, and is regularly featured in prominent media outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, BBC, NPR, TIME magazine, and elsewhere. She has received outstanding publication awards from the International Association for Conflict Management and from the International Society for Self and Identity. In 2020, she was recognized as one of the Best 40 Under 40 MBA Professors by Poets & Quants. She is a Past-President of the International Association for Conflict Management (IACM) and serves on editorial review boards for a number of journals in her field. Her professional service at Carnegie Mellon includes leading the interdisciplinary Center for Behavioral and Decision Research (CBDR) as one of the faculty steering committee members.
Dr. Cohen teaches graduate-level courses and executive education seminars on organizational behavior and negotiation. She co-directs the Collaboration and Conflict Research Lab (CCRL) with Dr. Laurie Weingart, where they manage an active lab of doctoral students and post-doctoral research fellows working toward advancing applied and basic research on conflict, negotiation, and moral behavior.
Dr. Cohen earned a B.A. in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to joining the faculty at Carnegie Mellon, Dr. Cohen spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow in the Dispute Resolution Research Center at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Education
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - Ph D (Social Psychology) - 2008
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - MA (Social Psychology) - 2005
- Pennsylvania State University - BA (Psychology) - 2002
Research
Organizational Behavior; Business Ethics; Social/Personality Psychology; Conflict & Cooperation; Negotiations; Moral Character; Morality & Unethical Behavior; Guilt & Shame; Workplace Deviance; Interpersonal Misconduct; Honesty
Publications
- Moral beacons: Understanding moral character and moral influence.
(author(s): E. G. Helzer, T. R. Cohen, Y. Kim, A. Iorio, B. Aven)
Journal of Personality, 2023
doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12865 - Honest behavior: Truth-seeking, belief-speaking, and fostering understanding of the truth in others
(author(s): B. Cooper, T. R. Cohen, E. Huppert, E. E. Levine, W. Fleeson)
The Academy of Management Annals 17(2), 2023
doi: https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2021.0209 - Workplace mistreatment and employee deviance: An investigation of the reciprocal relationship between hostile work environments and harmful work behaviors
(author(s): Y. Kim, T. R. Cohen, A. T. Panter)
Group & Organization Management, 2023
doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/10596011231151747 - Honest feedback: Barriers to receptivity and discerning the truth in feedback
(author(s): Nathan M. Fulham, Kori L. Krueger, Taya R. Cohen)
Current Opinion in Psychology, 2022
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101405 - Honesty among lawyers: Moral character, game framing, and honest disclosures in negotiations
(author(s): T. R. Cohen, E. G. Helzer, R. A. Creo)
Negotiation Journal, 2022
doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/nejo.12394 - The character lens: A person-centered perspective on moral recognition and ethical decision-making
(author(s): E. G. Helzer, T. R. Cohen, Y. Kim)
Journal of Business Ethics, 2022
doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-05010-z - Psychological safety in Intensive Care Unit rounding teams
(author(s): M. A. Diabes, J. N. Ervin, B. S. Davis, K. J. Rak, T. R. Cohen, L. R. Weingart, J. M. Kahn)
Annals of the American Thoracic Society, 2021
doi: https://doi.org/10.1513/AnnalsATS.202006-753OC - Difficult conversations: Navigating the tension between honesty and benevolence
(author(s): E. E. Levine, A. R. Roberts, T. R. Cohen)
Current Opinion in Psycholology 31, 2020; 38-43
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.07.034 - Brokering orientations and social capital: Influencing others’ relationships shapes status and trust
(author(s): N. Halevy, E. Halali, T. R. Cohen)
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 119(2) , 2020; 293-316
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000213 - A multidimensional approach to the relationship between individualism-collectivism and guilt and shame
(authors(s): I. F. Young, P. Razavi, T. R. Cohen, Q. Yang, M. Alabèrnia-Segura, D. Sullivan)
Emotion, 2019
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/emo0000689 - Intergroup conflict 2020
(author(s): N. Halevy, T. R. Cohen)
Negotiation and Conflict Management Research 12(2), 2019; 161-173
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ncmr.12148 - Reducing the stress of clinicians working in the ICU
(author(s): J. B. Seaman, T. R. Cohen, D. B. White)
JAMA 320(19), 2018; 1981–1982
doi: https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1001/jama.2018.14285 - Moral character in negotiation
(author(s): Lily Morse, Taya Cohen)
Academy of Management Perspectives 33(1), 2019; 12-25
doi: https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2017.0051 - Consumer bankruptcy stigma: Understanding the relationships with familiarity and perceived control
(author(s): Alycia Chin, Taya Cohen, Mark Lindblad)
Journal of Consumer Affairs 53, 2019; 600-629
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/joca.12206 - You can handle the truth: Mispredicting the consequences of honest communication
(author(s): Emma E. Levine, Taya Cohen)
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 147(9), 2018; 1400-1429
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000488 - Teamwork in the Intensive Care Unit
(author(s): Jennifer Ervin, Jeremy Kahn, Taya Cohen, Laurie Weingart)
American Psychologist 73, 2018; 468-477
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0000247 - Who is trustworthy? Predicting trustworthy intentions and behavior
(author(s): Emma Levine, T. Bitterly, Taya Cohen, Maurice Schweitzer)
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 115, 2018; 468-494
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000136 - Organizational nostalgia lowers turnover intentions by increasing work meaning: The moderating role of burnout
(author(s): Joost Leunissen, Constantine Sedikides, Tim Wildschut, Taya Cohen)
Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 23, 2018; 44-57
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000059 - Moral character and trustworthiness in negotiations
(author(s): T. R. Cohen)
The Negotiator’s Desk Reference, Vol 1 (A. K. Schneider and C. Honeyman, eds.)
DRI Press 1, 2017; 471-480
https://www.ndrweb.com/ - The Morality Factor: How to pick a great worker
(author(s): T. R. Cohen)
Scientific American Mind 28(1), 2017; 32-38
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-pick-a-great-worker/ - Shame and guilt
Encyclopedia of Mental Health, 2nd ed, vol. 4. (H. S. Friedman, ed.)
(author(s): Nazli Turan, Taya Cohen)
Academic Press: Waltham, MA, 2016; 144-146
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-397045-9.00067-7 - Cause or consequence? The reciprocal model of counterproductive work behavior and mistreatment
(author(s): Yeonjeong Kim, Taya Cohen, A. Panter)
Best Paper Proceedings of the 2016 meeting of the Academy of Management, 2016
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2016.238 - Guilt-Proneness is a marker of integrity and employment suitability
(author(s): Taya Cohen, Yeonjeong Kim, Kenyon Jordan, A. Panter)
Personality and Individual Differences 92, 2016; 109-112
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.12.026 - Moral character and workplace deviance: Recent research and current trends
(author(s): Yeonjeong Kim, Taya Cohen)
Current Opinion in Psychology 6, 2015; 134-138
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.08.002 - Forgive them for I have sinned: The relationship between guilt and forgiveness of others’ transgressions
(author(s): Jennifer Jordan, Francis Flynn, Taya Cohen)
European Journal of Social Psychology 45(4), 2015; 441-459
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2101 - Virtues and vices in workplace settings: The role of moral character in predicting counterproductive and citizenship behaviors, 1st edition
Handbook of Virtue Ethics in Business and Management (A. J. G. Sison, ed.)
(author(s): Lily Morse, Taya Cohen)
Springer Reference, 2015; 1-11
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6729-4_98-1 - Character traits in the workplace: A three-month diary study of moral and immoral organizational behaviors
Character: New Directions from Philosophy, Psychology, and Theology (C. B. Miller, R. M. Furr, A. Knobel, and W. Fleeson, eds.)
(author(s): Taya Cohen, A. Panter)
Oxford University Press: New York, NY, US, 2015
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190204600.003.0007 - Moral character: What it is and what it does
(author(s): Taya Cohen, Lily Morse)
Research in Organizational Behavior 34, 2014; 43-61
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2014.08.003 - Avoiding the agreement trap: Teams facilitate impasse in negotiations with negative bargaining zones
(author(s): Taya Cohen, G. Leonardelli, Leigh Thompson)
Negotiation and Conflict Management Research 7(4), 2014; 232-242
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ncmr.12038 - Moral character In the workplace
(author(s): Taya Cohen, A. Panter, Nazli Turan, Lily Morse, Yeonjeong Kim)
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 107(5), 2014; 943-963
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037245 - 'I’d only let you down': Guilt proneness and the avoidance of harmful interdependence
(author(s): Scott Wiltermuth, Taya Cohen)
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 107(5), 2014; 925-942
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037523 - The national debt in the 2012 presidential election
(author(s): Alycia Chin, Taya Cohen)
Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy 14, 2014; 105-122
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/asap.12046 - Mental models at work: Cognitive causes and consequences of conflict in organizations
(author(s): Nir Halevy, Taya Cohen, Eileen Chou, J Katz, A Panter)
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 40(1), 2014; 92-110
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167213506468 - Agreement and similarity in self-other perceptions of moral character
(author(s): Taya Cohen, A. Panter, Nazli Turan, Lily Morse, Yeonjeong Kim)
Journal of Research in Personality 47, 2013; 816-830
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2013.08.009 - Predicting counterproductive work behavior from guilt proneness
(author(s): Taya Cohen, A Panter, Nazli Turan)
Journal of Business Ethics 114, 2013; 45-53
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1326-2 - Interindividual-Intergroup discontinuity in the Prisoner's Dilemma Game: How common fate, proximity, and similarity affect intergroup competition
(author(s): Chester Insko, Tim Wildschut, Taya Cohen)
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 120, 2013; 168-180
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2012.07.004 - Guilt proneness and moral character
(author(s): Taya Cohen, A. Panter, Nazli Turan)
Current Directions in Psychological Science 21(5), 2012; 355-359
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0963721412454874 - Short horizons and tempting situations: Lack of continuity to our future selves leads to unethical decision making and behavior
(author(s): Hal Hershfield, Taya Cohen, Leigh Thompson)
Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes 117, 2012; 298-310
doi https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2011.11.002 - Status conferral in intergroup social dilemmas: Behavioral antecedents and consequences of prestige and dominance
(author(s): Nir Halevy, Eileen Chou, Taya Cohen, Robert Livingston)
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 102(2), 2012; 351-366
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0025515 - Introducing the GASP scale: A new measure of guilt and shame proneness
(author(s): Taya Cohen, Scott Wolf, A. Panter, Chester Insko)
Journal of Personality And Social Psychology 100(5), 2011; 947-966
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0022641 - Metacognition in teams and organizations
Social metacognition (P. Brinol & K. G. DeMarree, eds.)
(author(s): Leigh Thompson, Taya Cohen)
Psychology Press: New York, NY, 2011; 283-302
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203865989 - Temporal biases and debiasing in program evaluation: Planning the future and assessing the past
Social psychology and evaluation: The past, the present, and possible futures (M. M. Mark, S. I. Donaldson and B. Campbell eds.)
(author(s): L. Sanna, A. Panter, Taya Cohen, L. Kennedy)
Guilford Press: New York, NY, 2011; 166-186 - The reduction of intergroup conflict
Encyclopedia of peace psychology (D. J. Christie, ed.)
(author(s): Taya Cohen, Chester Insko)
Wiley-Blackwell: Hoboken, NJ, 2011
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470672532.wbepp058 - When are teams an asset in negotiations and when are they a liability?
Research on Managing Groups and Teams: Negotiation and Groups(author(s): Taya Cohen, Leigh Thompson)
Emerald Group Publishing 14, 2011; 3-34
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/S1534-0856(2011)0000014004 - People in glass houses avoid throwing stones: The relationship between guilt and forgiveness
(author(s): J. Jordan, F. Flynn, Taya Cohen)
Best Paper Proceedings of the 2011 meeting for the Academy of Management, 2011
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2011.65869755 - Buffering against the emotional impact of pain: Mood clarity reduces depressive symptoms in older adults
(author(s): Lindsay Kennedy, Taya Cohen, A. Panter, B. DeVellis, R. DeVellis, T. Yamanis, J. Jordan)
Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology 29, 2010; 975-987
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2010.29.9.975 - Competitive group interactions: Why they exist and how to overcome them
The Handbook for Working with Difficult Groups(author(s): Taya Cohen, Brian Meier, Verlin Hinsz, Chester Insko)
Jossey-Bass, 2010; 223-236 - Conflict resolution
The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology, vol 1, 4th ed. (I. B. Weiner & W. E. Craighead, eds.)
John Wiley & Sons, Inc: Hoboken, NJ, 2010; 390-391
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470479216.corpsy0219 - How communication increases interpersonal cooperation in mixed-motive situations
(author(s): Taya Cohen, Tim Wildschut, Chester Insko)
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 46, 2010; 39-50
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.09.009 - Moral emotions & unethical bargaining: The differential effects of empathy and perspective taking in deterring deceitful negotiation
Journal of Business Ethics 94, 2010; 569-579
doi; https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0338-z - Relative deprivation and intergroup competition
(author(s): Nir Halevy, Eileen Chou, Taya Cohen, Gary Bornstein)
Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 13, 2010; 685-700
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1368430210371639 - Shame proneness and guilt proneness: Toward the further understanding of reactions to public and private transgressions
(author(s): Scott Wolf, Taya Cohen, A. Panter, Chester Insko)
Self and Identity 9, 2010; 337-362
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15298860903106843 - Attitudes toward stereotypical versus counterstereotypical gay men and lesbians
(author(s): Taya Cohen, Deborah Hall, J. Tuttle)
Journal of Sex Research 46, 2009; 1-8
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224490802666233 - Do groups lie more than individuals? Honesty & deception as a function of strategic self-interest
(author(s): Taya Cohen, Brian Gunia, Sun Young Kim-Jun, J. Murnighan)
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 45, 2009; 1321-1324
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.08.007 - Reducing intergroup conflict through the consideration of future consequences
(author(s): Scott Wolf, Taya Cohen, J. Kirchner, A. Rea, R. Montoya, Chester Insko)
European Journal of Social Psychology 39, 2009; 831-841
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.592 - Renting to owning: An exploration of the theory of planned behavior in the homeownership domain
(author(s): Taya Cohen, Mark Lindblad, J. Paik, R. Quercia)
Basic & Applied Social Psychology 31, 2009; 376-389
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01973530903316971 - War and peace: Possible approaches to reducing intergroup conflict
(author(s): Taya Cohen, Chester Insko)
Perspectives on Psychological Science 3, 2008; 87-93
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6916.2008.00066.x - Group morality and intergroup relations: Cross-cultural and experimental evidence
(author(s): Taya Cohen, R. Montoya, Chester Insko)
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 32, 2006; 1559-1572
doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0146167206291673
Working Papers
- The dynamic model of disenchantment: When magic becomes myth: A dynamic process model of disenchantment with work. (2023)
(author(s): D. Kamran-Morley, C. R. Leana, T. R. Cohen) - Predicting monitoring failures using the HEXACO framework: The effects of honesty-humility and agreeableness. (2023)
(author(s): L. Morse, T. R. Cohen) - Interviewing for moral character. (2023)
(author(s): Y. Kim, T. R. Cohen, A. T. Panter)
Awards and Honors
- Best 40 Under 40 Professors (2020) from Poets & Quants
https://poetsandquants.com/2020/04/29/2020-best-40-under-40-professors-taya-cohen-carnegie-mellon-tepper/?pq-category=business-school-news - International Association for Conflict Management - Outstanding Article Award (honoring an article that advances conflict management theory and practice, and which has made a significant and lasting contribution to the field over the previous two years) (2016)
- Tepper School of Business - Finalist for the George Leland Bach Excellence in Teaching Award (2016)
- Carnegie Bosch Institute at the Tepper School of Business - Carnegie Bosch Junior Faculty Chair (2015)
- Tepper School of Business - Finalist for the George Leland Bach Excellence in Teaching Award (2014)
- Tepper School of Business - Finalist for the Lave-Weil Best Paper Prize at the Tepper School of Business for the best paper on problem solving, in contrast to theorem proving (2013)
- Tepper School of Business - Xerox Junior Faculty Chair (2012)
- International Society for Self & Identity - Best Paper Award (2009)
University Service
- Center for Behavioral & Decision Research, Steering Committee (2014 - present)
- Institutional Review Board, Board Member, (2011 - present)
- Committee Member, Tepper Healthcare Initiative, Tepper School of Business (2021 - present)
- Committee Member, Masters Educational Affairs Committee (2020 - present)
- Committee Member, Marketing Advisory Committee (2020 - present)
Professional Activities
- President, International Association for Conflict Management (2020 - 2022)
- Advisory Council of Past Presidents, International Association for Conflict Management (2022 - present)
- Chair, Publications Committee, International Association for Conflict Management (2022 - present)
- Member, Negotiation Data Repository Committee, International Association for Conflict Management (2020 - present)
- Member, Future of Negotiation and Conflict Management Research Task Force, International Association for Conflict Management (2020)
- At-Large Board Member, International Association for Conflict Management (2014 - 2016)
Editorial Review Board Member
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes (2012 - 2020; 2022 - present)
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (2013 - 2014; 2021 - present)
- Negotiation and Conflict Management Research (2021 – present)
- Negotiation Journal (2020 – present)
- European Journal of Personality (2020 – present)
- Self & Identity (2016 - present)