Hal Hershfield

Psychologist Hal Hershfield studies how thinking about time transforms the emotions and alters the judgments and decisions people make. His research concentrates on the psychology of long-term decision-making and how time affects people’s lives — specifically at a moment when Americans are living longer and saving less.

Hershfield says, “We’re in an interesting time to be conducting research on these topics because there are so many methodological tools available. I take the same question and try to investigate it from different angles, whether from a psychological perspective or a marketing perspective or even more of a managerial perspective. ‘What are the psychological components of saving, and how can we help people along the process of their looming retirement?’ When it helps shed light on the question, I use methods like neuroimaging, eye tracking, archival and big data analyses, and even virtual reality.”

One of Hershfield’s most well-known discoveries suggests that when people are confronted with their “future selves” they experience an emotional sense of connection that can influence long-term financial and ethical decision-making. Experiments in which some college students are shown images of their own faces digitally altered to appear 40 years older, while other students see only current, unaltered images of themselves, reveal that those who glimpse their digitally aged selves declare that they would save about 30 percent more, on average, than the students shown pictures of their current selves. “The lesson from that,” Hershfield says, “is that anything we can do that will increase how concrete and salient our future self is can help us make better decisions.”

He completed a post-doc at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and then later taught undergraduates at NYU Stern, and is now associate professor of marketing at UCLA Anderson. The business-school environment, he says, affords collaborations with larger firms as well as financial tech startups, and Hershfield is routinely approached by industry. He has been a consultant to Prudential’s “Bring Your Challenges” campaign, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Merrill Lynch, the Principal Financial Group, and many others.

In the classroom, Hershfield strives to create an inclusive environment where deep learnings are accomplished in a fun way. “Whatever teaching I do has to be enjoyable for the students and for me.” Pop culture examples abound, and provide lessons that are effective because they resonate outside specialized frameworks.

When do we finally become our future selves? Hershfield says, “It all depends on how we think about the present. People who are able to step outside of the here-and-now in a meaningful way are better able to see how the past, the present and the future are connected. My worry, though, is that people might see this research and think they need to stop enjoying the present so this future self is taken care of. But, that’s not right. You don’t want to arrive in the future with absolutely no memories of anything good! To maximize well-being, we want consumers to focus on the future, but not sacrifice happiness and meaning now.”

Areas of Expertise:

• Behavioral Decision Making
• Behavioral Economics
• Marketing
• Psychology
• Retirement
• Social Psychology

Education

• B.A. Psychology, 2001, Tufts University
• Ph.D. Psychology, 2009, Stanford University