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ARTIcLE
Trump’s ‘Hush Money’ Payment Isn’t Illegal In Itself—Here’s Why He’s Actually On Trial
Forbes | April 12, 2024
By Alison Durkee
The $130,000 Trump and Cohen paid to silence Daniels is not actually illegal in itself: “Hush money” agreements that both parties enter into consensually, in which one party pays money to stop the other party from revealing information, are actually perfectly legal in themselves, University of Pennsylvania law professor Tess Wilkinson-Ryan told Slate.
Hush money payments can be illegal if they’re done to cover up a crime, or if it’s not a consensual agreement, such as in the case of blackmail or bribery, Wilkinson-Ryan noted.
OPINION
What Does True Consent Look Like for Consumers?
The New York Times | March 27, 2024
By Peter Coy
Tess Wilkinson-Ryan, who teaches at Penn’s Carey Law School, told me, “The puzzle that I think is super interesting is, why are we so OK with the state of affairs in which companies draft agreements that most consumers don’t and can’t read, but are binding on the consumers?”
INTERVIEW
The Fear of Playing the Fool
The Regulatory Review | February 18, 2024
By Ariel Breitman
Tess Wilkinson-Ryan discusses the role of human psychology in legal and regulatory systems.
In a discussion with The Regulatory Review, Tess Wilkinson-Ryan, the Golkin Family Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, offers her thoughts on the intersection of law, regulation, freedom of choice, and the fear of getting fooled.
ARTICLE
‘Wait, am I the fool here?’: why our fears of being scammed are corrosive and damaging
The Guardian | July 27, 2023
By Tess Wilkinson-Ryan
Is our tendency to expect the worst of people preventing us from supporting those who really need help?
In 2007, three experimental psychologists, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, coined the word ‘sugrophobia’, which would translate to something like a ‘fear of sucking’. The researchers – Kathleen Vohs, Roy Baumeister and Jason Chin – were looking to name the familiar and specific dread that people experience when they get the inkling that they’re ‘being a sucker’ – that someone is taking advantage of them, partly thanks to their own decisions. The idea that psychologists would study suckers academically seems almost ridiculous at first. But, once you start to look for it, it becomes clear that sugrophobia is not only real, it is a veritable epidemic. Its influence extends from the choices we make as individuals to the society-wide narratives that sow distrust and discrimination.
Book Review
Playing the Fool
Inside Higher Ed | May 30, 2023
By Matt Reed
A review of Fool Proof by Tess Wilkinson-Ryan.
I’ve always been a fan of “big idea” books. In my preferred style, they take a single idea and spin out its implications across a variety of contexts. Jennifer Silva’s We’re Still Here, Stephanie Kelton’s The Deficit Myth and Susan Cain’s Bittersweet all do that in their respective ways. Tess Wilkinson-Ryan’s Fool Proof is a worthy addition to the list.
ARTICLE
America’s Mothers Are Suckers. And I Say That With Love.
Slate | May 14, 2023
By Tess Wilkinson-Ryan
Mother’s Day is a celebration that inspires its purported honorees to reflect on the very nature of a consolation prize.
In 1948, Anna Jarvis died in a sanitarium in Pennsylvania after a long and fruitless campaign to excise Mother’s Day from the American calendar. She had in fact founded Mother’s Day herself four decades earlier, even convincing President Woodrow Wilson to officially proclaim a national observance on the second Sunday of every May. Soon after that success, a dismayed Jarvis began to lobby against what she saw as the deep betrayal of commercialization. “The telegraph companies with their ready-made greetings, the florists with their high-pressure campaigns and the awful prices, and the candy manufacturers and greeting card manufacturers have made a lucrative racket out of my ideas,” she complained, furious that Americans were placating their mothers with chocolates instead of respect.
Interview
Tucker Carlson Says Paying Hush Money Is Normal in America. Is That True?
Slate | March 27, 2023
By Molly Olmstead
But on Tuesday night, Tucker Carlson defended the former president thus: “Paying people not to talk about things—hush money—is ordinary in modern America.” The argument—which is tangential to this case, as what Trump is in trouble for is not the payment itself, but the way it was accounted for—had us wondering. So we called up University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law professor Tess Wilkinson-Ryan to get at the question: What’s the deal with hush money payments? Why can someone like Donald Trump just pay people off ? When does this practice cross a line?
Article
Why Student Loan Forgiveness Makes People Boiling Mad. Nobody wants to get played for a sucker.
Slate | March 9, 2023
By Tess Wilkinson-Ryan
The Supreme Court is expected to focus its decision in Biden v. Nebraska, the student loan forgiveness challenge, on the “major questions doctrine,” a contested and somewhat obscure rule that the court has recently embraced to limit the authority of executive agencies. But last week, the oral arguments in the case strayed into more familiar territory. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar was arguing for the Department of Justice on behalf of the president’s plan when Justice Neil Gorsuch started pressing her on whether student loan forgiveness is just unfair. Gorsuch suggested that the government’s argument had overlooked the “costs to other persons in terms of fairness, for example, people who have paid their loans, people who [plan] their lives around not seeking loans.”
Podcast
The Upside of Being Taken For A Sucker & Why Projects Are Often Late and Over-Budget
Something You Should Know | February 13, 2023
No one likes to be scammed or taken for a fool. In fact we keep our antenna up so make sure that doesn’t happen. Maybe though, we are being too vigilant. By being so skeptical and wary of situations and opportunities, we may miss out on some very rewarding ones according to Tess Wilkinson-Ryan. She is a University of Pennsylvania law professor and psychologist and author of the book Fool Proof: How Fear of Playing the Sucker Shapes Our Selves and the Social Order--And What We Can Do About It. Listen as she explains how to put the fear of being taken for a sucker into perspective and feel a lot better for doing so.
Opinion
Valentine’s Day is for fools. Which is exactly as it should be.
The Washington Post | February 13, 2023
By Tess Wilkinson-Ryan
Most people really (really, really) don’t want to feel like suckers. But Valentine’s Day is different. More so even than April 1, Feb. 14 is for suckers.
PODCAST
Tess Wilkinson-Ryan (on the sucker narrative)
Armchair Expert with Dax Shephard | February 9, 2023
Tess Wilkinson-Ryan (Fool Proof) is a law professor, moral psychologist, and author. Tess joins the Armchair Expert to discuss the concept of the sucker narrative, how she approaches teaching contract law to her students, and what societal norms are universally accepted for parenthood. Tess and Dax talk about how much responsibility is on an exploiter versus the victim of a scam, why government is held to a different standard than big business, and the thin line between scammer and sucker. Tess explains why people feel shame when they are duped, the difference in consumer protections for men and women, and the cultural bait and switch of motherhood.
Interview
Fear of scams drives your behavior in nefarious ways
Big Think | February 9, 2023
Fear of being scammed can lead us to make decisions that go against our values and goals — both as individuals and as a society.
Article
Why We Hate Being Scammed
Time Magazine | February 6, 2023
By Tess Wilkinson-Ryan
It sucks to be a sucker. Think about how many sayings we toss around that all mean that very thing: “Don’t take any wooden nickels!” “A fool and his money are soon parted.” “If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.” “There’s one born every minute.”
The message is clear (don’t let that be you!), but it’s hard advice to follow; reality can feel like a relentless gauntlet of proto-frauds and fool’s games—at home, at work, and in the news. Is crypto for chumps? Are remote workers freeloading? Is student debt forgiveness compassionate, or sensible, or a slap in the face to the suckers who already paid theirs off?
Interview
The psychology of playing the fool: Law professor Tess Wilkinson-Ryan’s new book ‘Fool Proof: How Fear of Playing the Sucker Shapes Ourselves and the Social Order―and What We Can Do About It’ explores the psychology of fools, dupes, cons, and morality.
Penn Today | February 2, 2023
Tess Wilkinson-Ryan almost didn’t publish a book at all. But when the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School professor and moral psychologist saw an email in her inbox from a literary agent with the subject line, “Introduction and book project,” Wilkinson-Ryan initially deleted it, thinking it was some kind of marketing ploy.
Article
The 13 New Books to Expand Your Mind in 2023
Granted | January 28, 2023
As much as I love escaping into fantasy, mystery, and sci-fi, the books that stick with me are the ones that give me a new take on real life. I spent part of winter break devouring the new nonfiction releases for 2023. My top picks offer ideas that are novel and useful, grounded in rigorous evidence or rich experience, packaged in writing that’s accessible and engaging.
Book Review
Fool Proof: How Fear of Playing the Sucker Shapes Our Selves and the Social Order—and What We Can Do About It
Kirkus | December 24. 2022
How to find a fruitful path between gullibility and paranoia. Wilkinson-Ryan, a professor of law and psychology, is well situated to investigate the social and personal implications of scams, cons, and tricks. The difference between being robbed and being conned is that with the latter, the victim has somehow contributed to their loss. Consequently, it generates feelings of humiliation and self-belittlement. Often, the psychological pain relates to the sense that the trust holding society together has been taken away, replaced by cynicism and suspicion. It is a potent construct, and the author explores it from a variety of perspectives.
Book Review
Fool Proof: How Fear of Playing the Sucker Shapes Our Selves and the Social Order—and What We Can Do About It
Publishers Weekly | December 19. 2022
In this persuasive debut, law professor Wilkinson-Ryan contends that the “fear of being played for a fool” can result in underappreciated negative consequences. Drawing on psychology, law, and sociology, the author explores why the fear of playing the sucker is so potent, the ways it plays out societally, and how humans can benefit from judiciously deciding “which [threats] deserve attention.”