Kenneth K. Savitsky

Kenneth Savitsky

Professor of Psychology

413-597-2240
Wachenheim Science Center Rm 329

Education

B.A. Indiana University (1993)
Ph.D. Cornell University, Social Psychology (1997)

Areas of Expertise

Social psychology, especially egocentrism in social judgment and self-appraisal.

Scholarship/Creative Work

Publications
  • Savitsky, K., Keysar, B., Epley, N., Carter, T. J., & Swanson, A. T. (2011). The closeness-communication bias: Increased egocentrism among friends versus strangers. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 269-273.
  • Kruger, J., & Savitsky, K. (2009). On the genesis of inflated (and deflated) judgments of responsibility. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 108, 143-152.
  • Chambers, J. R., Epley, N., Savitsky, K., & Windschitl, P. D. (2008). Knowing too much: Using private knowledge to predict how one is viewed by others. Psychological Science, 19, 542-548.
  • Savitsky, K. (2008). Magic kisses and mispredictions: A review of Gilbert’s (2006) Stumbling on Happiness. Journal of Positive Psychology, 3, 76-79.
  • Savitsky, K. (2007). Egocentric bias. In R. F. Baumeister and K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Social Psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Dawson, E. C., Savitsky, K., & Dunning, D. (2006). “Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know”: Understanding people’s reluctance to obtain medical diagnostic information. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36, 751-768.
  • Savitsky, K., Van Boven, L., Epley, N., & Wight, W. M. (2005). The unpacking effect in allocations of responsibility for group tasks. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 41, 447-457.
  • Kruger, J., & Savitsky, K. (2004). The “reign of error” in social psychology: On the real versus imagined consequences of problem-focused research. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 27, 349-350.
  • Savitsky, K., & Gilovich, T. (2003). The illusion of transparency and the alleviation of speech anxiety. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 618-625.
  • Savitsky, K., Gilovich, T., Berger, G., & Medvec, V. H. (2003). Is our absence as conspicuous as we think?: Overestimating the salience and impact of one’s absence from a group. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 386-392.
  • Kassin, S., Goldstein, C. C., & Savitsky, K. (2003). Behavioral confirmation in the interrogation room: On the dangers of presuming guilt. Law and Human Behavior, 27, 187-203.
  • Epley, N., Savitsky, K., & Gilovich, T. (2002). Empathy neglect: Reconciling the spotlight effect and the correspondence bias. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 300-312.
  • Pronin, E., Kruger, J., Savitsky, K., & Ross, L. (2001). You don’t know me, but I know you: Asymmetric assessment of insight into self and other. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 639-656.
  • Savitsky, K., Epley, N., & Gilovich, T. (2001). Do others judge us as harshly as we think? Overestimating the impact of our failures, shortcomings, and mishaps. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 44-56.
  • Gilovich, T., Medvec, V. H., & Savitsky, K. (2000). The spotlight effect in social judgment: An egocentric bias in estimates of the salience of one’s own actions and appearance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 211-222.
  • Van Boven, L. D., Kruger, J., Savitsky, K., & Gilovich, T. (2000). When social worlds collide: Overconfidence in the multiple audience problem. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 619-628.
  • Epley, N., Savitsky, K., & Kachelski, R. A. (1999, Sept./Oct.). What every skeptic should know about subliminal persuasion. Skeptical Inquirer, 23, 40-45; 58.
  • Gilovich, T., Kruger, J., & Savitsky, K. (1999). Everyday egocentrism and everyday interpersonal problems. In R. Kowalski and M. Leary (Eds.), The social psychology of emotional and behavioral problems: Interfaces of social and clinical psychology (pp. 69-95). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  • Gilovich, T., & Savitsky, K. (1999). The spotlight effect and the illusion of transparency: Egocentric assessments of how we’re seen by others. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 8, 165-168.
  • Kruger, J., Savitsky, K., & Gilovich, T. (1999, March/April). Superstition and the regression effect. Skeptical Inquirer, 23, 24-29.
  • Gilovich, T., Savitsky, K., & Medvec, V. H. (1998). The illusion of transparency: Biased assessments of others’ ability to read our emotional states. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 332-346.
  • Savitsky, K., Medvec, V. H., Charlton, A. E., & Gilovich, T. (1998). “What, me worry?”: Arousal, misattribution, and the effect of temporal distance on confidence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 529-536.
  • Medvec, V. H., & Savitsky, K. (1997). When doing better means feeling worse: The effects of categorical cutoff points on counterfactual thinking and satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 1284-1296.
  • Savitsky, K., Medvec, V. H., & Gilovich, T. (1997). Remembering and regretting: The Zeigarnik effect and the cognitive availability of regrettable actions and inactions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 248-257.
  • Gilovich, T., & Savitsky, K. (1996, March/April). Like goes with like: The role of representativeness in erroneous and pseudoscientific beliefs. Skeptical Inquirer, 20, 34-40.