This group focuses on three interrelated research themes: Trust, emotion, and cooperation.
Life is filled with social situations that pose challenges – situations in which people can help versus harm, cheat versus cooperate, or behave aggressively versus affectionately. Broadly speaking, social psychology aims to better understand the aspects of the mind that lead people to choose between these types of conflicting options. Our group contributes to this goal by taking advantage of broad, interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives, including but not limited to those guided by the evolutionary sciences. We adopt diverse and informative methods (e.g., agent-based modeling; cross-cultural comparisons). And we value open, transparent science. We aim to be on the cutting edge of theoretical developments within (and beyond) social psychology, and to apply these developments to uncovering new knowledge on topics ranging from how and why people avoid infectious disease, endorse conspiracy theories, maintain versus dissolve romantic partnerships, and engage in costly actions that contribute to group or society welfare.
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