Our curriculum brings together theory and research from psychology, sociology, economics, and related fields to study human behavior in managerial contexts—how people use information, make decisions, and leverage human capital to make things happen.
From teamwork and how to use incentives to negotiations and how to build more effective relationships, a behavioral science MBA from Chicago Booth gives you the skills and insights to navigate complex organizational challenges and thrive in important leadership roles.
Customize your MBA education with a concentration in behavioral science by choosing four courses in this discipline. Here are just a few of the options.
In some business situations, we can make decisions analytically and “optimally.” But more often than not, we do not have the time or the information to engage in analytical decision-making, and we have to rely on our intuition and experiences to resolve important decisions. This course teaches you how to make decisions in both types of situations. With respect to the first type of situation, students will learn analytical tools and how to use them to reach optimal solutions. With respect to the second type of situation, students will discover errors “normal people” often commit when they make decisions intuitively, and how to overcome these errors and thereby become “less normal”—namely, smarter than the average person. Many topics covered are based on Nobel Prize–winning research on behavioral decision theory; it is the foundation of behavioral economics, behavioral marketing, and behavioral finance.
Managerial success requires agreement and collaboration with other people. This course is designed to be relevant to the broad spectrum of negotiation problems that are faced by managers, and to teach you the skills necessary to discover and implement optimal solutions to these problems. These skills include an understanding of the problem at hand, the other parties involved, the common biases in the judgments and decisions of negotiators, and the effective tactics of social influence.
Business undertakings, both those that are successful and those that fall short, commonly play out through people acting together. Understanding the factors that determine people's actions and interactions is therefore a critical prerequisite for being effective in the work environment. This course is about managing people—oneself and others.
This is primarily a course about ethics, but it is far from a typical ethics course. Students will not spend time discussing ethical dilemmas, or trying to decide what is right or wrong in ethical settings. Instead, students will adopt a psychological approach to understanding ethical behavior. Students will try to provide some answers to the most fundamental problem in all of ethics: Why do good people sometimes do bad things?
To see more behavioral science courses, visit our course catalog and search by concentration area for your program of interest.
Chicago Booth has some of the world’s most prominent faculty in behavioral science, including a Nobel laureate. Our professors conduct groundbreaking research, consult with companies, and bring their real-world expertise on navigating complex organizational challenges to the classroom.
John Templeton Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Neubauer Family Faculty Fellow
Jeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing and IBM Corporation Faculty Scholar
Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics
Chicago Booth Review and other publications regularly feature the research insights of Chicago Booth scholars.
Chicago Booth’s Anuj K. Shah and Sendhil Mullainathan find that while scarcity can help people focus on costs and benefits, it can also cause stress that decreases cognitive bandwidth.
Research by Chicago Booth’s Nicholas Epley and others indicates that the presence of someone’s voice is an important part of conveying their humanity.
Teenagers were more likely to choose healthy snack options after reading about how junk-food companies attract customers, according to research by Chicago Booth’s Christopher J. Bryan and others.
Faculty members at Booth are connected to some of the most important leaders across industry. Our faculty regularly invite these leading practitioners and influencers to speak to students in the Booth classroom, providing you with greater access to learn, network, and grow.
Chicago Booth MBA students have access to several interdisciplinary centers that fund faculty research, host workshops and conferences, and foster a strong research community.
The Center for Decision Research
Positioned at the forefront of behavioral science, Booth’s CDR supports cutting-edge research through on-campus and off-site behavioral laboratories, weekly workshops, and student mentoring.
Develop your skills and build a dynamic global network. As an MBA student in behavioral science at Booth, you’ll have many opportunities to get involved in research centers, student groups, competitions, and other activities.
Get involved, develop new skills, and meet new people in a wide array of student-led groups.
Pursue your interests and expand your network by joining a student-led group for Part-Time MBA students.
Test your theories and gain valuable experience in some of the world’s most prestigious competitions on campus and around the globe.