​​Xuan Zhao 
Postdoctoral Fellow
​Center for Decision Research, ​
University of Chicago, Booth School of Business

How do we connect with other people?
​And with humanlike machines?

WHEN TWO MINDS CLICK
As a behavioral scientist, I study what helps our minds "click" and identify barriers that keep us from creating meaningful interactions. My research explores questions such as:

• Why do we often hold back from expressing sincere compliments?
• What makes it so difficult to reach out to strangers for help?
• How can we talk with someone who we disagree with and find common ground?
• What are some nonverbal cues that encourage perspective taking?

Striving for real-world applications of my research, I have designed and taught "Leading with Empathy" at the Brown Leadership Institute to examine the connections between social psychology and social innovation. And some of my research was inspired by my experiences taking acting lessons at Brown and designing workshops with improv experts from the Second City in Chicago.​

ENGAGING WITH HUMANLIKE MACHINES
I seek to understand how people engage with robots, our increasingly common social partners, and what our interactions with machines can teach us about being human. Things I have investigated so far include:

• When do people take the perspective of a robot? 
• What are the dimensions that make a robot's body look like ours? (Hint: name three!)
• How do we attribute mental capacities to robots as a function of their appearance? 
• How does correcting one's typos humanize a chatbot—and even a human—in text-based communication? 

Curious to map out the landscape of real-world robots, I have created the ABOT Database—a comprehensive image collection of real-world anthropomorphic robots. I have also examined how feeling another person's heartbeat—by holding a small device that vibrates at the rhythm of a heart—increases prosocial behaviors. Counts as a "humanlike machine", I suppose?
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OTHER THINGS ABOUT ME
My favorite quote is: "There is nothing more practical than a good theory." (Kurt Lewin)
I received my PhD in Social Psychology at Brown University, where I worked with Bertram Malle in the Social Cognitive Science Lab. I also visited the Graduate School of Business and the Department of Psychology at Stanford. I received my B.Sc. with first-class honors from Chu Kochen College, Zhejiang University and traveled around the world as part of the Semester At Sea program.
Read updates from me here.