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Aaron Sackett

Professor

  • Education
  • B.A., Psychology, St. Olaf College
    M.Phil., Social Psychology, Yale University
    M.S., Social Psychology, Yale University
    Ph.D., Social Psychology, Yale University

  • Expertise
  • Topics related to social influence and consumer behavior

  • Research Interests
  • Judgments, decision-making, social influence

Aaron Sackett, PhD, teaches in both the undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business. His expertise lies in the domain of consumer psychology and persuasion.

Broadly speaking, Sackett's research focuses on judgments, decision-making and social influence. His current projects focus on goal-setting, entrepreneurial decision-making and marketing efforts to promote civic engagement. He is passionate about doing scholarly research with positive real-world impact. Sackett's project examining ways to increase voter turnout through minimalist social influence techniques was a winner of the Knight Cities Challenge grant competition.

Sackett has published work in major journals including the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and Psychological Science. His research has received coverage in many media outlets including NPR, BBC Radio, the MIT Sloan Management Review, the New York Times and The Atlantic.

Sackett is an active reviewer for numerous scholarly journals and academic conferences in both marketing and psychology and has served as a business consultant and expert witness on topics related to social influence and consumer behavior.


  • Markle, A. B., Wu, G., White, R. J., & Sackett, A. M. (2018). Goals as reference points in marathon running: A novel test of reference-dependence.. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, (56), pp. 19-50
  • Madan, N., & Sackett, A. M. (2016). The pipeline project: Pre-publication independent replications of a single laboratory's research pipeline. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, (66), pp. 55-67
  • Sackett, A. M. (2016). Data from a pre-publication independent replication initiative examining ten moral judgment effects. Scientific Data,
  • Alexander, D. L., Sackett, A. M. (2013). If only I had the time! The impact of time salience on consumers' evaluations of product offers. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, (12), pp. 382-388
  • Molden, D. C., Hazlett, A., & Sackett, A. M. (2011). Hoping for the best or preparing for the worst? Regulatory focus and preferences for optimism and pessimism in predicting personal outcomes. Social Cognition, (29)(1), pp. 74-96
  • Sackett, A. M., Meyvis, T., Nelson, L. D., Converse, B. A., & Sackett, A. (2010). You're having fun when time flies: The hedonic consequences of subjective time progression. Psychological Science, (21), pp. 111-117
  • Armor, D. A., Massey, C., & Sackett, A. M. (2008). Prescribed optimism: Is it right to be wrong about the future?. Psychological Science, (19), pp. 329-331
  • Armor, D., & Sackett, A. M. (2006). Accuracy, error, and bias in predictions for real versus hypothetical events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, (91), pp. 583-600

  • ACR - Association for Consumer Research
  • APS - Association for Psychological Science
  • SCP - Society for Consumer Psychology
  • SJDM - Society for Judgment and Decision Making

  • Professor, University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul / Minneapolis (2021 - present)
  • Associate Professor, University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul / Minneapolis (2015 - 2021)
  • Assistant Professor, University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul / Minneapolis (2009 - 2015)