I am broadly interested in how our decisions are affected by the environment in which they are made. How do power, competition and social challenge interact with individual differences in testosterone to guide behavior in bargaining contexts and risk-taking? How is self-control affected by competition and what role do fluctuations in testosterone play in this relationship? How is decision-making affected by stress and changes in cortisol? What are the neural underpinnings of decision-making and emotion regulation? My research examines the interplay between social contexts and biology in shaping decisions and behaviors.

Primary Interests:

Emotion, Mood, Affect
Evolution and Genetics
Judgment and Decision Making
Organizational Behavior
Social Cognition

Emotion, Mood, Affect
Evolution and Genetics
Judgment and Decision Making

Organizational Behavior
Social Cognition

Journal Articles:

Denson, T. F., Ronay, R., von Hippel, W., & Schira, M. M. (2013). Risk for aggression: Endogenous testosterone and cortisol modulate neural responses to induced anger control. Social Neuroscience, 8, 165-177.
Ronay, R., & Carney, D. R. (2013). Testosterone’s negative relationship with empathic accuracy and perceived leadership ability. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4, 92-99.
Ronay, R., & Galinsky, A.D. (2011). Lex Talionis: Testosterone and the law of retaliation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 702-705.
Ronay, R., Greenaway, K., Anicich, E. M., & Galinsky, A. D. (2012). The path to glory is paved with hierarchy: When hierarchical differentiation increases group effectiveness. Psychological Science, 23, 669-677.
Ronay, R., & Kim, D-Y (2006), Explicit and implicit gender differences in risk- taking: A socially facilitated phenomenon. British Journal of Social Psy- chology, 45, 397-419.
Ronay, R., & von Hippel, W. (2010). Power, testosterone and risk-taking: The moderating influence of testosterone and executive functions. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 23, 439-526.
Ronay, R., & von Hippel, W. (2010). The presence of an attractive woman elevates testosterone and physical risk taking in young men. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 1(1), 57-64.

Other Publications:

von Hippel, W., & Ronay R. (2009) Executive functions and self-control. In J. P. Forgas, R. Baumeister & D. Tice (Eds.), The Psychology of Self-Regulation. New York: Psychology Press.

Courses Taught:

Applied Psychology
Intercultural Psychology
Introduction to Evolutionary Psychology
Leadership and Organizations
Managerial Negotiations

Applied Psychology
Intercultural Psychology
Introduction to Evolutionary Psychology

Leadership and Organizations
Managerial Negotiations

Richard Ronay
Department of Social and Organizational Psychology
VU University Amsterdam
Van der Boechorststraat 1
1081 BT Amsterdam
The Netherlands