Research

I study the motivation to give and receive in organizations. This interplay—between helping and being helped—lies at the heart of how people experience work, goal pursuit, and purpose. In studying doctors, teachers, and charity donors, I examine the psychological processes that underlie engagement in help-giving occupations and roles. I also study the motivation to receive from organizations. Building on theories of goal pursuit, I examine how to increase help acceptance by aligning organizational appeals with the ambitions of the target audiences. I prioritize policy-relevant and impactful topics that can be studied in partnership with organizations.

The Motivation to Give

Duckworth, A., et al. [incl. Brody, I.] (2025). A National Megastudy Shows that Email Nudges to Elementary School Teachers Boost Student Math Achievement, Particularly When Personalized. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 122(13), e2418616122.

Brody, I., Dai, H., Zhang, H., Zhang, D., & Li, X. The Spillover Effects of Customer No-Shows: An Attributional Model. Reject & Resubmit to Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.

Brody, I., Dai, H., Gallus, J., & Koutmeridou, K. From Warm Glow to Cold Chill: The Effect of Choice Framing on Donations. Working Paper.

  • Best Paper Award at the 2024 Academy of Management Meeting MOC Division
  • Designated a Top Paper in the 2024 Academy of Management Meeting program
  • Best Student Poster Award at the 2022 Society for Judgment and Decision Making Meeting

Brody, I., Dai, H., Gallus, J, Leuchter, R., Reiff, J., Saccardo, S., & UCLA Health Department of Medicine. Voiced and Valued: How Attributing Change to Employee Voice Affects Attitudes and Behavior. Manuscript in preparation.

Brody, I. & Wu, S. J. Changing Effort-Based Attributions for Poverty to Promote Welfare. Data collection in progress.

The Motivation to Receive

Milkman, K., et al. [incl. Brody, I.] (2022). A 680,000-person Megastudy of Nudges to Encourage Vaccination in Pharmacies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(6), e2115126119.

Brody, I., Saccardo, S., & Dai, H. (2024). One Size Does Not Fit All: Behavioral Interventions to Promote Vaccination. Costa-Font, J. & Galizzi, M. (Eds.), Behavioural Economics and Policy for Pandemics: Insights from Responses to COVID-19 (pp. 148-190). Cambridge University Press.

Brody, I.*, Dai, H.*, Saccardo, S.*, Milkman, K. L., Duckworth, A. L., Patel, M. S., & Gromet, D. M. (Forthcoming). Targeting Behavioral Interventions Based on Past Behavior: Evidence from Vaccine Uptake. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.

Brody, I., Wu, S. J., Caruso, H. M., Caruso, E. M, Bianco, S., Donatello, R., Valdivia-Perez, G., Kunst, A. R. R., & Gonzales, A. Nourishing Community: Interdependence Appeals Promote Help Acceptance. Working Paper.

*denotes equal authorship