Jonathan Haidt

Biography

Jonathan David Haidt is an American social psychologist and author born in 1963. He is a professor of business and society and holds the Thomas Cooley Chair in Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business. His research focuses on the psychology of morality and moral emotions.

Haidt's contributions include moral foundations theory, which explains moral reasoning through innate modules shaped by biological and cultural evolution. The theory was subsequently developed to explore how differing moral priorities relate to political orientations. His current research applies moral psychology to business ethics.

His popular psychology books include The Happiness Hypothesis, The Righteous Mind, and The Coddling of the American Mind. These works address ancient philosophy and modern science, moral politics, and issues involving polarization, mental health, and college culture. In The Anxious Generation, published in 2024, he argues that smartphones and overprotective parenting have reshaped childhood and increased mental illness. Some of his conclusions and methods are controversial.

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