Coye Cheshire

Coye Cheshire is a professor at the UC Berkeley School of Information. He studies sociological social psychology and group processes, with a focus in social exchange, cooperation, and trust in technology-mediated environments. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from Stanford University, and M.A. and B.A. in sociology from Stanford University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, respectively.

Current Research

I use mixed methods to examine social scientific issues of interpersonal trust, social exchange, and human motivations in technology-mediated social participation environments. My research aims to advance our understanding of the affordances and limitations of information technologies, and encourage cooperation, trust and prosocial behavior while combating distrust and misinformation. I am especially interested in trust and online harms related to health misinformation, and I am a faculty affiliate with the Wallace Center for Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health.

I apply a variety of different social psychological theories to investigate online information problems. My recent projects include: trust in online health information, affordances and limitations of searching for health information online, remediation of online harms for adolescents, fairness and sensemaking about tipping in the gig economy, and trust-building in different forms of social exchange. I strongly believe in using mixed methodological approaches to address complex research problems, including laboratory and field experiments, longitudinal and cross-sectional survey analysis, online behavioral log analysis, and in-depth qualitative interviews. My graduate courses include: social psychology in information technology, quantitative social research methods, social aspects of information, and the doctoral research and theory workshop.

Education

B.A., Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1997
M.A., Sociology, Stanford University, 1998
Ph.D., Sociology, Stanford University, 2005

What is the best thing about working at the I School?
The diversity and passion of our students. The most interesting and impactful things that I learn each and every year come from our students.

Something few people know about me
I love animals, and we have many, many pets (rescued house rabbits and cats). We also work with a few local rescues. I also love mountain biking and hiking, and I am always happy to meet students and colleagues for a hike on Mt. Diablo!