Ethan Kross

Professor of Management & Organizations, Ross School of Business
Director, Self-Control and Emotion Laboratory
Chair, Social Psychology Area
Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan
Faculty Lead of Innovation, Eisenberg Family Depression Center

Education
PhD Columbia University 2007
BA University of Pennsylvania 2001
Biography

Ethan Kross is a Professor in the University of Michigan’s Psychology Department and Ross School of Business. He is the director of the Emotion & Self-Control Lab. His research examines how people can control their thoughts, feelings and behaviors to improve their lives. He uses a variety of tools (e.g., behavioral, diary, physiological, neuroscience, social media) to address these issues and focuses on adult, child and clinical populations.

Ethan was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude. After earning his PhD in Psychology from Columbia University, Ethan completed a post-doctoral fellowship in social-affective neuroscience to learn about the neural systems that support self-control. He moved to the University of Michigan in 2008, where he founded the Emotion & Self-Control Lab.

Ethan’s research has been published in Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, and The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, among other peer-reviewed journals. He has been interviewed on CBS Evening News, Good Morning America and NPR’s MorningEdition. His research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Harvard Business Review, USA Today, The Economist, The Atlantic, Forbes, and Time.

Ethan is the author the National and International Bestseller CHATTERThe Voice in Our Head, Why it Matters and How to Harness It, which was chosen as one of the best new books of the year by the Washington Post, CNN and USA Today and the Winning Winter 2021 selection for Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain and Dan Pink’s Next Big Idea Book Club. CHATTER  has been translated into over 40 languages.

Latest Faculty News & Research
Investigating cognitive and motivational proximal outcomes in a randomized clinical trial of writing about the future self to reduce drinking
Authors
Lindgren, K. P., Baldwin, A. S., Kross, E., Ramirez, J. J., Tristao, T., Peterson, K. P., Teachman, B. A., Wiers, R., Neighbors, C.
Published Date
04/2024
Authors
Lindgren, K. P., Baldwin, A. S., Kross, E., Ramirez, J. J., Tristao, T., Peterson, K. P., Teachman, B. A., Wiers, R., Neighbors, C.
Source
Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research
From the Laboratory to Daily Life: Preliminary Evidence That Self-Distancing Training Buffers Vulnerable Individuals Against Daily Rumination and Depression Over Time
Authors
Orvell, A., Bruehlman - Senecal, E., Vickers, B., Kross, E., & Aydu k, O.
Published Date
2023
Authors
Orvell, A., Bruehlman - Senecal, E., Vickers, B., Kross, E., & Aydu k, O.
Source
Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice
Volume
10
Issue
2
Pages
164-180
Learning the rules of the game: The role of generic “you” and “we” in shaping children’s interpretations of norms.
Authors
Orvell, A., Elli, G., Umscheid, V., Simmons, E., Kross, E., Gelman, S.A.
Published Date
2023
Authors
Orvell, A., Elli, G., Umscheid, V., Simmons, E., Kross, E., Gelman, S.A.
Source
Child Development
Volume
94
Issue
1
Pages
159-171
Maturing Out: Between- and Within-Persons Changes in Social-Network Drinking, Drinking Identity, and Hazardous Drinking Following College Graduation
Authors
Lindgren, K., Baldwin, S., Peterson, K., Ramirez, J.J., Teachman, B., Kross, E., Wiers, R., & Neighbors, C.
Published Date
2023
Authors
Lindgren, K., Baldwin, S., Peterson, K., Ramirez, J.J., Teachman, B., Kross, E., Wiers, R., & Neighbors, C.
Source
Clinical Psychological Science
Volume
11
Issue
1
Pages
23-39
Self-Reflection at Work: Why it Matters and How to Harness its Potential and Avoid its Pitfalls
Authors
Kross, E., Ong, M, & Ayduk, O.
Published Date
2023
Authors
Kross, E., Ong, M, & Ayduk, O.
Source
Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior
Volume
10
Pages
441-464
Sense of purpose and strategies for coping with anxiety across adulthood
Authors
Pfund, G., Strecher, V., Kross, E., & Hill, P.L.
Published Date
08/2023
Authors
Pfund, G., Strecher, V., Kross, E., & Hill, P.L.
Source
The Journal of Gerontopsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry
Sensory emotion regulation
Authors
Rodriguez, M., & Kross, E.
Published Date
2023
Authors
Rodriguez, M., & Kross, E.
Source
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Volume
27
Issue
4
Pages
379-390
Writing About the Future Self to Shift Drinking Identity: An Experimental Investigation
Authors
Lindgren, K. P., Baldwin, S. A., Kross, E., Ramirez, J. R., Peterson, K. P. , Tristao, T., Teachman, B. A., Wiers, R. A., & Neighbors, C.
Published Date
10/2023
Authors
Lindgren, K. P., Baldwin, S. A., Kross, E., Ramirez, J. R., Peterson, K. P. , Tristao, T., Teachman, B. A., Wiers, R. A., & Neighbors, C.
Source
Alcohol
Volume
116
Issue
3
Pages
35-45
An Event-Related Potential Investigation of Distanced Self-Talk: Replication and Comparison to Detached Reappraisal
Authors
Webster, C., Berg, M., Kross, E., & Moser, J.
Published Date
2022
Authors
Webster, C., Berg, M., Kross, E., & Moser, J.
Source
International Journal of Psychophysiology
Volume
177
Pages
122-132
Distanced self-talk increases rational self-interest.
Authors
Gainsburg, I., Sowden, W.J., Drake, B., Harrold, W., & Kross, E.
Published Date
2022
Authors
Gainsburg, I., Sowden, W.J., Drake, B., Harrold, W., & Kross, E.
Source
Scientific Reports
Volume
12
Issue
1
Pages
511
Do social network sites influence well-being? The extended active-passive model
Authors
Verduyn, P. & Kross, E.
Published Date
2022
Authors
Verduyn, P. & Kross, E.
Source
Current Directions in Psychological Science
Volume
31
Issue
1
Pages
62-68
How Spanish speakers express norms using generic person markers
Authors
Salvador, C., Orvell, A., Kross, E., & Gelman, S.
Published Date
2022
Authors
Salvador, C., Orvell, A., Kross, E., & Gelman, S.
Source
Scientific Reports
Volume
12
Issue
1
Pages
5016
What “you” and “we” say about me: How small shifts in language reveal and empower fundamental shifts in perspective
Authors
Orvell, A., Gelman, S. A., & Kross, E.
Published Date
2022
Authors
Orvell, A., Gelman, S. A., & Kross, E.
Source
Social and Personality Psychology Compass
Volume
16
Issue
5
Pages
e12665
Examining emotional tool use in daily life
Authors
Weidman, A. C.,& Kross, E.
Published Date
2021
Authors
Weidman, A. C.,& Kross, E.
Source
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Volume
120
Issue
5
Pages
1344–1366
Talking to yourself - you’ve got a friend in you
Authors
Kross, E.
Published Date
01/2021
Authors
Kross, E.
Source
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Volume
0
Issue
0
Pages
0
What we would (but shouldn’t) do for those we love: Universalism versus Partiality in Responding to Others’ Moral Transgressions
Authors
Soter, L., Berg, M., Gelman, S., & Kross., E.
Published Date
2021
Authors
Soter, L., Berg, M., Gelman, S., & Kross., E.
Source
Cognition
Volume
217
Issue
1
Pages
104886
Why being introspective is a double-edged sword
Authors
Kross, E.
Published Date
02/2021
Authors
Kross, E.
Source
Los Angeles Times
Volume
0
Issue
0
Pages
0
Why Venting When You Have Problems Feels Good—and Why It Doesn’t Work
Authors
Kross, E.
Published Date
04/2021
Authors
Kross, E.
Source
Education Week
Volume
0
Issue
0
Pages
0
Distanced self-talk changes how people conceptualize the self.
Authors
Gainsburg, I., & Kross, E.
Published Date
2020
Authors
Gainsburg, I., & Kross, E.
Source
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Volume
88
Issue
1
Pages
103969
Distanced self-talk enhances goal pursuit to eat healthier.
Authors
Furman, C. R., Kross, E., & Gearhardt, A. N.
Published Date
2020
Authors
Furman, C. R., Kross, E., & Gearhardt, A. N.
Source
Clinical Psychological Science
Volume
8
Issue
2
Pages
366-373
When Facebook and finals collide: Procrastinatory social media usage predicts enhanced anxiety.
Authors
Sternberg, N., Luria, R., Vickers, B., Kross, E., & Sheppes, G
Published Date
2020
Authors
Sternberg, N., Luria, R., Vickers, B., Kross, E., & Sheppes, G
Source
Computers in Human Behavior
Volume
109
Issue
1
Pages
106358
Handbook of Emotion Regulation, Third Edition
Authors
Kross, & Ayduk, O.
Published Date
2023
Authors
Kross, & Ayduk, O.
Source
Guilford Press
Distancing: What it is, How it Works, and Where to Go Next
James J. Gross and Brett Ford
Handbook of Emotion Regulation, Third Edition
Authors
Gueverra, D., Kross, E., & Moser, J.
Published Date
2023
Authors
Gueverra, D., Kross, E., & Moser, J.
Source
Guilford Press
Harnessing Placebo Effects to Regulate Emotions
James J. Gross and Brett Ford
Applications of Social Psychology
Authors
Kross, E & Cazaubon, S
Published Date
2020
Authors
Kross, E & Cazaubon, S
Source
Routledge
How does social media influence people’s emotional lives?
J.P. Forgas, W.D. Crano, and K. Fiedler
Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It
Authors
Ethan Kross
Published Date
2021
Authors
Ethan Kross
Source
New York, NY: Crown