PhD Joint Program in Psychology and Business
In our joint PhD program, you will have the freedom to conduct research on topics that matter to you—whether that means focusing on specific questions in psychology or taking an interdisciplinary approach.
In recent years, our doctoral students have studied topics as diverse as the effect of language on adherence to social norms, the intuitive jurisprudence of punishment, and the consequences of perceived legitimacy for governance.
Overseen jointly by the Behavioral Science dissertation area at Chicago Booth and UChicago’s Department of Psychology, the Joint PhD Program in Psychology and Business connects social, cognitive, and organizational psychologists across Booth and the university.
Our Distinguished Behavioral Science and Psychology Faculty
This interdisciplinary program brings together behavioral science and psychology faculty who will teach you, advise you, mentor you, and guide your course of study and research.
Department of Psychology Faculty
See the Full List of Psychology Faculty
Behavioral Science Faculty
A Network of Support
Chicago Booth is home to several groundbreaking research centers that offer funding for PhD students while connecting them with peers and researchers from Booth and around the world.
Center for Decision Research
The Center for Decision Research (CDR) is devoted to the study of how individuals form judgments and make decisions. Researchers at the center examine the processes by which intuition, reasoning, and social interaction produce beliefs, judgments, and choices.
Spotlight on Research
Chicago Booth Review frequently highlights the work of PhD students and faculty in psychology and business.
How to Be Happy without Earning More
Abundance does not equate to happiness, according to researchers at Chicago Booth and elsewhere.
How to Be Happy without Earning More
Why We Should Teach People How to Lie
Chicago Booth’s Emma Levine and Carnegie Mellon’s Taya R. Cohen find that it’s better to be dishonest in some situations.
Why We Should Teach People How to Lie
Humanity Is Carried on the Voice
The presence of someone’s voice is a vital component of interpersonal understanding, writes Chicago Booth’s Nicholas Epley.
Humanity Is Carried on the VoiceThe PhD Experience at Booth
Juliana Schroeder, PhD ’15, talks about her research into how people convey their mental capacity to others.
Juliana Schroeder, ’15: 00:11
I was always interested in the way that we interact with those around us, and the way that we judge them, and how we make decisions, but I was interested in it from sort of a really broad social science perspective, both psychology and economics, and then, when I came to Chicago Booth, I met Nick Epley right away who's a professor here, and he got me really interested in this specific topic. This is research about how people convey their mental capacity to others. Most people think that if someone can see them, they might appear smarter.
Juliana Schroeder, ’15: 00:46
We don't find any evidence of that. We find that it carries through the voice. We think that being able to hear someone's voice, being able to hear them speak is humanizing in some way. It kind of conveys their mental capacities. We've been looking at what are the paralinguistic cues that mediate the fact, and it seems that variance and pitch is important. There could be boundary conditions to this effect. There might be certain accents that convey less intelligence, so we're looking at the Southern drawl, for example. That is one in particular in the U.S. that seems to be associated with less intelligence.
Juliana Schroeder, ’15: 01:22
There might be other ways of speaking and aspects in someone's speech, like vocal fray, that could convey less intelligence as well. Working with Nick Epley on this project has been a really fantastic experience. He has been so supportive. We would meet every single week and discuss ideas. I feel extremely lucky to be at Chicago Booth. It's been such an incredible place with incredible resources to do research. When I do research, I think about what would be an interesting psychological idea, so how do we perceive others that can have an application in terms of who gets jobs.
Juliana Schroeder, ’15: 02:01
But, it can also have applications in terms of conflict, in terms of humanization, all sorts of different aspects. And so, being able to do basic research here, and having the resources available in this study pool, the funding for that, it's just incredible.
Program Expectations and Requirements
The Stevens Program at Booth is a full-time program. Students generally complete the majority of coursework and examination requirements within the first two years of studies and begin work on their dissertation during the third year.
For details, see General Examination Requirements by Area in the Stevens Program Guidebook below.
How to Apply
To apply to the Joint Program in Psychology and Business through Chicago Booth, apply online for admission to the Behavioral Science dissertation area. Once admitted to Booth, you may apply to the joint program at any time during your first two years of study.