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Gráinne Fitzsimons

George C. Lamb, Jr. University Distinguished Professor
Fuqua School of Business

Overview


Gráinne M. Fitzsimons the  George C. Lamb, Jr. University Professorship of Business Administration at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and an associate professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. Professor Fitzsimons received her Ph.D. in Psychology from New York University in 2004, and was on the faculty in the Marketing area at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Psychology faculty of the University of Waterloo in Canada, where she held a Canada Research Chair, before joining Fuqua in 2010.

Her research expertise is in the psychology of human social behavior, especially in selfregulation and interpersonal relationships. Her work has been published in numerous top academic journals such as the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and Psychological Science. Her research has also been discussed in many popular press outlets such as NPR, CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, and Wall Street Journal.

Professor Fitzsimons received two early career awards: The Caryl E. Rusbult Young Investigator Award, from the Relationship Researchers Interest Group, for her early contribution to the field of interpersonal relationships, and the SAGE Young Scholar Award, from the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology, for her early contribution to the broader field of social psychology.

At Fuqua, Dr. Fitzsimons teaches the core Daytime MBA course in Leadership, Ethics, and Organizations, and an advanced elective course in Negotiations.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


George C. Lamb, Jr. University Distinguished Professor · 2021 - Present Fuqua School of Business
Professor of Business Administration · 2017 - Present Fuqua School of Business
Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience · 2017 - Present Psychology & Neuroscience, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

In the News


Published July 3, 2023
Research Finds Social-Class Bias Can Lead to Hiring Discrimination
Published March 16, 2022
How to Stay Motivated – Or Make Peace Without It
Published April 14, 2020
Duke Awards 29 University Distinguished Professorships

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Recent Publications


Interdependence in shared goal pursuit among established and impromptu dyads: Expectations, allocation, and performance

Journal Article Frontiers in Social Psychology · January 1, 2025 Introduction: Transactive goal dynamics theory asserts that interdependent partners have opportunities and motivation to learn about each other's idiosyncratic skills and interests in goal pursuit, producing enhanced system-level knowledge and performance. ... Full text Cite

Tying the value of goals to social class.

Journal Article Journal of personality and social psychology · October 2023 Although everyone strives toward valued goals, we suggest that not everyone will be perceived as doing so equally. In this research, we examine the tendency to use social class as a cue to understand the importance of others' goals. Six studies find eviden ... Full text Cite

Interpersonal consequences of conveying goal ambition

Journal Article Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · September 1, 2022 Setting ambitious goals is a proven strategy for improving performance, but we suggest it may have interpersonal costs. We predict that relative to those with moderately ambitious goals, those with highly ambitious goals (and those with unambitious goals) ... Full text Cite
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Education, Training & Certifications


New York University · 2004 Ph.D.
McGill University (Canada) · 1999 B.A.