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Icek Ajzen, emeritus professor of psychological and brain sciences in the College of Natural Sciences, is one of five recipients of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Social Sciences for “revolutionizing the way we understand and measure attitudes” with an influence that extends to “psychology, sociology, political science, education, health, economics and other areas.”

BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards recognize and reward global excellence in research and cultural creation, especially contributions that have achieved broad impact due to their originality and significance, in Social Sciences and seven other categories: Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics); Biology and Biomedicine; Information and Communication Technologies; Climate Change and Environmental Sciences; Economics, Finance and Management; Humanities; and Music and Opera. Thirty-four previous winners of the BBVA Foundation awards have later received the Nobel prize.

Ajzen received his award, a diploma and a commemorative work of art, at a ceremony celebrating the 17^th edition of the Frontiers of Knowledge Awards on June 19 in Bilbao, Spain. Also receiving the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Social Sciences for their work were Dolores Albarracín of the University of Pennsylvania, Mahzarin Banaji of Harvard University, Anthony Greenwald of the University of Washington, and Richard Petty of the Ohio State University. As part of the award, the five recipients also split 400,000 euros in prize money.

The award citation singles out the five scientists’ undisputed leadership in what is a cornerstone of social psychology: attitude theory and applications. The results of their research can help policy makers and other social agents “prevent negative societal consequences such as polarization, ethnic prejudices and unfounded stereotypes.”
 

Ajzen, who first arrived at UMass in 1971 as an assistant professor and retired in 2012 as professor and head of the social psychology program in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, developed the Theory of Planned Behavior, one of the most impactful scientific models that explain hat factors predict and modify human behavior.

“In my model, attitudes are one of the three prongs that determine behavior, alongside social influence and the means that a person has to carry it out,” Ajzen told the foundation for an article announcing the award winners published on their website. “The weight of each factor depends on the behavior you’re dealing with and the context.”

“Icek’s work demonstrates when people’s attitudes will – and will not – translate into behavior in many domains of life, such as public health, social relationships, and environment and sustainability,” says Nilanjana Buju Dasgupta, provost professor of psychological and brain sciences and director of the Institute of Diversity Sciences, who co-authored the 2015 paper “Explicit and implicit beliefs, attitudes, and intentions” with Ajzen and has also co-authored numerous papers with Banaji and Greenwald. “His work is internationally known and his advice is sought after by organizations and governments and has even been used in litigation among nations.”

Stephen Sireci, distinguished university professor and executive director of the Center for Educational Assessment in the UMass Amherst College of Education, chaired the Award in Social Sciences committee and evaluation support panel and attended the ceremony in Spain. In their announcement of the award, the foundation said of Ajzen and his fellow recipients that “The committee distinguished them for their signal contribution to predicting and understanding human behavior through the lens of attitudes, elucidating how people are persuaded and offering empirically corroborated explanations of how attitudes can be changed, in a combined body of work ‘spanning over five decades’ that continues to resonate in today’s research landscape.”
 

In regard to Ajzen, the foundation notes that in the past 40 years his model has been applied in over 2,000 research projects, ranging “from public health (the promotion of vaccination, the use of condoms to prevent AIDS or the practice of physical activity) to the environment (for example, how to encourage use of public transportation over private vehicles). The usefulness of the model is also currently being investigated in the field of technology use, specifically with regard to the transfer of private data by individuals to online apps.”

More information about the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award, including videos of an interview with Ajzen and his acceptance speech and those of his fellow award recipients, can be found on the foundation’s website.