John Cacioppo - Background

Background

Cacioppo obtained a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from The Ohio State University in 1977. He has served as the President of the Association for Psychological Science, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the Society for Consumer Psychology, and the Society for Psychophysiological Research and is currently the Chair-Elect of the Psychology Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has been elected as a Fellow in various societies including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Society of Experimental Psychologists, the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, The Royal Society of Arts, and a Distinguished Member of Psi Chi. He is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, and member of the American Psychological Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, World Innovation Foundation, International Organization of Psychophysiology, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

He has received the Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences, the Distinguished Scientific Award for an early career Contribution to Psychophysiology, an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Bard College, the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association, the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Psychophysiology from the Society for Psychophysiological Research, the Donald Campbell Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the Patricia Barchas Award from the American Psychosomatic Society, the Award for Distinguished Service on Behalf of Personality and Social Psychology from the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, the Theoretical Innovation Prize from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association, the Order of the Sons of Italy Award, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Ohio State University Department of Psychology, and the Scientific Impact Award from the Society for Experimental Social Psychology. He has been the keynote speaker at various meetings including the Festival della Scienza in Genoa, Italy and the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science. He also serves on various Boards.

In the late 1970s, Cacioppo collaborated with Richard Petty to develop the elaboration likelihood model of attitudes and persuasion and began investigations of individual differences in cognitive motivation. They also examined the social and biological influences on mind and behavior. A decade later, Cacioppo began working with Gary Berntson to pioneer a new field they called Social neuroscience. This led to an expansion of Cacioppo’s research examining how personal relationships get under the skin to affect Social cognition and emotions, personality processes, biology, and health. By employing brain scans, monitoring of autonomic and neuroendocrine processes, and assays of immune function, he found the overpowering influence of social context — a factor so strong that it can alter genetic expression in white blood cells. The work further showed how the subjective sense of social isolation (loneliness) uniquely disrupts our perceptions, behavior, and physiology, becoming a trap that not only reinforces isolation, but can lead to early death. In 2004, he and William Patrick began a collaboration that led to their book, Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection, which makes the case that social cooperation is, in fact, humanity’s defining characteristic. Cacioppo, together with Louise Hawkley, Jean Decety, Howard Nusbaum, and Gary Berntson, continue to investigate the biological mechanisms involved in social perception, interpersonal processes, cognition, emotion, and behavior.