Dr. Ashley Votruba (J.D./Ph.D.) is an Assistant Professor in the Law-Psychology Program and Social Psychology Program at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and has a courtesy appointment at the Nebraska College of Law. Dr. Votruba received her Ph.D. in social psychology from Arizona State University and her J.D. from the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law in 2017. Dr. Votruba also served as a judicial clerk for Justice Robert M. Brutinel on the Arizona Supreme Court from 2015-2016.
At UNL, Dr. Votruba is the director of the Culture, Conflict, and Law Lab and maintains an active research program examining how social perception and dispute system design influence conflict management. Her areas of expertise include cultural psychology, conflict theory, dispute system design, and civil litigation. Her current research addresses access to civil justice by examining predictors of engagement with the legal system and considering how best to design conflict resolution processes to maximize the utility of those procedures for the individuals involved. Dr. Votruba is also involved in research examining juvenile restorative justice interventions (in collaboration with the Office of Dispute Resolution) and developing mediation-based interventions for addressing family estrangement. Dr. Votruba is also a certified and active mediator and facilitator.
Select Publications
Votruba, A. M., & Tisdale, C. N. (in press). Examining Prosecutorial Decision-Making in Plea Bargaining: An Experimental Paradigm in a Community Sample. Analysis of Social Issues and Public Policy.
Blankley, K. M., Votruba, A. M., Bartz, L., & PytlikZillig, L. M. (in press). ADR is Not a Household Term: Considering the Ethical and Practical Consequences of the Public’s Lack of Understanding of Mediation and Arbitration. Nebraska Law Review, 99.
Votruba, A. M. (2020). Dividing Responsibility: The Role of the Psychology of Attribution. DePaul Law Review, 69(2), 721-756.
Votruba, A. M. & Kwan, V. S. Y. (2018). When in Rome think like a Roman: Empirical evidence and implications of temporarily adopting dialectical cognition. In J. Spencer-Rodgers & K. Peng (Eds.), The psychological and cultural foundations of dialectical thinking. Oxford: University Press.
Saks, M.J. & Votruba, A. M. (2015). " . . . and the courts have been utterly ineffective". Judges Journal, 54(3), 28-31.
Votruba, A. M. & Kwan, V. S. Y. (2015). Disagreeing on whether agreement is persuasive: Perceptions of expert group decisions, PLoS ONE, 10(3).