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Institution
Michigan State UniversityCurrent Position
Professor Highest Degree
Ph.D. in Psychology from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1974
Research Interests
 | Group Processes |
| Interpersonal Processes |
| Judgment/Decision Making |
| Motivation/Goal Setting |
| Psychology and Law |
| Research Methods/Assessment |
Laboratory Home Page
Courses Taught
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Norbert L. Kerr
Department of Psychology
254 Psychology Building
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan 48824
U.S.A.
Home Page
Work: (517) 355-6645
Mobile: (517) 256-8460
Fax: (517) 432-2476
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My current work focuses on five topics--group motivation gains, social dilemmas, social exclusion, juror/jury behavior, and a vaguely defined topic which we might call "how social psychologists (among others) write up their work". 1. Over 70 years ago, Otto Koehler provided evidence for intriguing group motivation gains. My colleagues and I have been working on better understanding just when and why such gains occur. 2. Our current social dilemma work has been focusing on the effectiveness of overt or subtle threats of social exclusion as a mechanism for social control in social dilemmas. 3. I've become interested in the "front end" of the sociometer--how we detect threats to our inclusionary status. We've done some work identifying the cues people use to communicate social rejection/marginalization. The next step will be to study how such cues are perceived and integrated. 4. With some colleagues in Law and Communications, I've been studying a number of questions, including a) what is the effect of allowing jurors to discuss trial evidence prior to jury deliberation?, b) does the heinousness of a crime bias juror decision making?, c) how does the mode of presentation of information (e.g., physical exhibit vs. video images) alter jurors' reactions?, and d) will juror instructions that permit juror nullification moderate juror biases? 5. I continue to be interested in what I termed HARKing (hypothesizing after the results are known; cf. Kerr, 1998). We're currently doing some archival research to document the incidence and form that such HARKing takes in psychology.
 Books:
- Baron, R. S., & Kerr, N. L. (2003). Group process, group decision, group action (2nd ed.). Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
- Kelley, H. H., Holmes, J. G., Kerr, N. L., Reis, H. T., Rusbult, C. E., & Van Lange, P. M. (2003). An atlas of interpersonal situations. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Journal Articles:
- Hertel, G., Kerr, N. L., Messe, L. A. (2000). Motivation gains in groups: Paradigmatic and theoretical advances on the Koehler effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 580-601.
- Horowitz, I. A., Kerr, N. L., Park, E. S., & Gockel, C. (2006). Chaos in the courtroom reconsidered: Emotional bias and juror nullification. Law & Human Behavior (Special Issue on Emotion and Legal Decision Making), 30(2), 163-181.
- Kerr, N. L. (1998). HARKing (Hypothesizing After the Results are Known). Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2, 196-217.
 Kerr, N. L., Boster, F., Callen, C. R., Braz, M. E., O'Brien, B., & Horowitz, I. (2008). Jury nullification instructions as amplifiers of bias. International Commentary on Evidence.
- Kerr, N. L., & Levine, J. L. (2008). The detection of social exclusion: Evolution and beyond. Group Dynamics, 12(1), 39-52.
- Kerr, N. L., MacCoun, R., & Kramer, G. P. (1996). Bias in judgment: Comparing individuals and groups. Psychological Review, 103, 687-719.
- Kerr, N. L., Messe, L. M., Seok, D., Sambolec, E., Lount, R. M., & Park, E. S. (2007). Psychological mechanisms underlying the Koehler motivation gain. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33(6), 828-841.
- Kerr, N. L., Niedermeier, K., & Kaplan, M. (1999). Bias in jurors vs. juries: New evidence from the SDS perspective. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 80, 70-86.
- Messe, L. A, Hertel, G., Kerr, N. L., Lount, R. B. Jr., & Park, E. S. (2002). Knowledge of partner's ability as a moderator of group motivation gains: An exploration of the Koehler discrepancy effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 935-946.
Other Publications:
- Kerr, N. L. (1996). "Does my contribution really matter?": Efficacy in social dilemmas. In W. Stroebe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), European Review of Social Psychology (Vol. 7). Chichester: J. Wiley.
- Kerr, N. L. (1994). Social psychology in court: The case of the prejudicial pretrial publicity. In G. G. Brannigan & M. R. Merrens (Eds.), The social psychologists. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Levine, J. M, & Kerr, N. L. (2007). Inclusion and exclusion: Implications for group processes. In A. E. Kruglanski and E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford.
- Ouwerkerk, J. W., Kerr, N. L., Gallucci, M., & Van Lange, P. A. M. (2005). Avoiding the social death penalty: Ostracism and cooperation in social dilemmas. In Williams, K. D., Forgas, J. P., & von Hippel, W. (Eds.), The social outcast: Ostracism, social exclusion, rejection, and bullying. New York: The Psychology Press.
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