Amit Kumar
Biography
Amit Kumar is assistant professor of marketing at the University of Delaware’s Lerner College of Business & Economics. He was previously assistant professor of marketing and psychology at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He received his Ph.D. in social psychology from Cornell University and his A.B. in psychology and economics from Harvard University.
Professor Kumar’s research focuses on the scientific study of happiness and has been featured in popular media outlets such as The Atlantic, Bloomberg, Business Insider, CNBC, CNN, Forbes, Fortune Magazine, Harvard Business Review, Hidden Brain, The Huffington Post, National Geographic, The New York Times, NPR, Oprah Daily, Scientific American, Time Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, among others.
His scholarly work has been published in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Current Directions in Psychological Science, Current Opinion in Psychology, Emotion, The Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, The Journal of Consumer Psychology, The Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin and Psychological Science.
He has been recognized as a prestigious MSI Young Scholar, an honor awarded to a select few scholars the Marketing Science Institute views as future leaders in marketing academia. He has also been honored as a fellow of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology. His teaching resulted in him being named one of the best undergraduate business professors by Poets & Quants. His service to the field has included serving as co-chair of forums and roundtables for the Association for Consumer Research conference and as a member of the editorial review board for The Journal of Consumer Research. For more information about Professor Kumar, visit his personal webpage.
Education
- Ph.D. in social and personality psychology, Cornell University
- A.B. in psychology and economics, Harvard University
Select Publications
- Kardas, M., Kumar, A., & Epley, N. (2024). Let it go: How exaggerating the reputational costs of revealing negative information encourages secrecy in relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 126(6), 1052-1083.
- Kumar, A., Mann, T. C. & Gilovich, T. (2024). The aptly buried “I” in experience: Experiential purchases promote more social connection than material purchases. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 37(2), e2376.
- Epley, N., Kumar, A., Dungan, J., & Echelbarger, M. (2023). A prosociality paradox: How miscalibrated social cognition creates a misplaced barrier to prosocial action. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 32(1), 33-41.
- Kumar, A., & Epley, N. (2023). A little good goes an unexpectedly long way: Underestimating the positive impact of kindness on recipients. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 152(1), 236-252.
- Kumar, A., & Epley, N. (2023). Undersociality is unwise. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 33(1), 199-212.
- Kumar, A., & Epley, N. (2023). Understanding undersociality: Intentions, impressions, and interactions. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 33(1), 221-225.
- Kumar, A. (2022). The unmatchable brightness of doing: Experiential consumption facilitates greater satisfaction than spending on material possessions. Current Opinion in Psychology, 46, 101343.
- Kardas, M., Kumar, A., & Epley, N. (2022). Overly shallow? Miscalibrated expectations create a barrier to deeper conversation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 122(3), 367-398.
- Kumar, A. (2022). Some things aren’t better left unsaid: Interpersonal barriers to gratitude expression and prosocial engagement. Current Opinion in Psychology, 43, 156-160.
- Kumar, A. & Epley, N. (2021). It’s surprisingly nice to hear you: Misunderstanding the impact of communication media can lead to suboptimal choices of how to connect with others. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 150(3), 595-607.
- Kumar, A. & Epley, N. (2020). Type less, talk more. Harvard Business Review.
- Kumar, A., Killingsworth, M.A., & Gilovich, T. (2020). Spending on doing promotes more moment-to-moment happiness than spending on having. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 88, 103971.
- Epley, N. & Kumar, A. (2019). How to design an ethical organization. Harvard Business Review, May-June 2019, 144-150.
- Kumar, A. & Epley, N. (2018). Undervaluing gratitude: Expressers misunderstand the consequences of showing appreciation. Psychological Science, 29(9), 1423-1435.
Awards & Honors
- Best Undergraduate Business Professor, Poets & Quants, 2024
- Research Reboot Award for Accelerating Research and Scholarship, UT Austin Provost’s Office, 2023
- University of Texas at Austin McCombs Research Excellence Grant, 2019, 2022
- American Marketing Association Sheth Faculty Fellow, 2022
- Fellow, Society of Experimental Social Psychology, 2021
- Marketing Science Institute Young Scholar, 2021
- University of Chicago Center for Decision Research Independent Research Grant, 2017
- Society of Experimental Social Psychology Dissertation Award Finalist, 2016
- Cornell University John S. Knight Fellowship, 2014
- Judgment and Decision-Making SPSP Pre-Conference Travel Award, 2013, 2014
- Fellow and Travel Award, Summer Institute in Social and Personality Psychology, 2013
- Cornell University Travel Grant, 2012, 2013, 2014
- Cornell Psychology Department Small Research Grant, 2011
- National Science Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellow, 2011-2015
- Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard University, 2008
Curriculum Vitae
Download Amit Kumar’s CV (PDF)