📢New Preprint!📢 I argue that the norm against prejudice influences individuals to withhold certain opinions, driven by a desire to avoid being perceived as prejudiced and explore recent empirical studies that shed light on the mechanisms driving norm changes.

We think this asymmetry is vital to understanding how moral and immoral acts influence judgments and decision-making in society. Check out our paper to learn more! 5/5

We argue that this impacts culpability and punishment/reward. A career criminal and a petty thief might be seen as equally wrong. A major polluter that donates generously could seem much "better" than a smaller company causing less harm but with less to give. 4/5

When comparing two targets, our findings reveal that people tend to draw finer distinctions between levels of moral behavior (e.g., larger donations feel "much more moral") than between levels of immoral behavior (e.g., both corrupt politicians might seem "equally corrupt"). 3/5

In our latest research forthcoming in @CognitionJourn, Lishi Tan, @shankha29, and I explore these intriguing questions and uncover a surprising insight: judgments of morality and immorality are not created equal. 2/5

📢 New Paper Alert! Do you perceive a politician who takes a $5000 bribe twice as immoral as one who takes a $2500 bribe? Or a donor who donates $5000 twice as moral as someone who donates $2500? https://t.co/s9xnbzSrGP 1/5

Hi all, @Sakiera_Hudson, @gd_higginbotham & I are hiring a part-time project coordinator to help us manage the operations of the Black Social/Personality Psychology Network. Please send to interested applicants. Review begins 12/18 https://t.co/SdBpAKWJI7

Previous research shows that people sometimes view moral questions as objectively true, while other times treating them as true only relative to different perspectives. In our new paper, we present evidence that social rewards may explain this apparent inconsistency...

🎆 POSTDOC POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT🎆 Nour Kteily and I are hiring a postdoc for our new #CenterForEnlightenedDisagreement. Primary criterion is research excellence for understanding how individuals/groups can navigate conflict constructively. Due: 12/16 https://t.co/aGnPzIjLKa

Apply to the EASP Summer School at Kent University--I'll be give a guest lecture! It features 6 classes: -Conspiracies & Misinformation -Moral Psychology & AI -Social Identity & Extremism -Human-Animal Relations -Political Cognition -Close Relationships https://t.co/OGvXTBE1hu

I'm over the moon to announce a new paper from me, @matti_wilks, and @paulbloomatyale, out today (open-access) in @CognitionJourn: "Developmental changes in the perceived moral standing of robots" 🤖 (1/7)

Hi all! Maryam Kouchaki and I will be recruiting a shared lab manager through Kellogg's Behavioral Research Fellow program. Please apply and forward to interested RAs who are interested in pursuing PhDs. More info here:

If anyone has students who are potentially interested in applying for a PhD with me at the University of Kent - preferably at the intersection of moral psychology and AI - please do encourage them to get in touch with me. https://t.co/CUC6EbC0wx

To be clear: Praise can be a powerful social reward that motivates behavior. However, an understudied component of praise is how it relates to the understanding and potential maintenance of moral norms. A big thanks to @peez and Shaun Nichols!! (4/4)

Changing the perceived norm can then lead to changes to future behavior: If I get praised for donating $5, then I probably won't get blamed for only donating $4. This norm signaling has implications for moral development and group dynamics about what is seen as acceptable (3/4)

We show that people think that actions that exceed one’s duties deserve more praise than actions that simply meet one’s duties. On the flip side, praise also indicates that an action is less common, required, and expected ie less normative (2/4)

Happy to share our new paper!! Moral praise signals what is typical and expected, indicating that an action goes above the norms. Ironically, this could lead to decreases in people’s willingness to behave as prosocially in the future (1/4) https://t.co/FDYAy89J8J

🚨 Strengthening Americans’ Democratic Attitudes🚨 For the last 4 years, we crowdsourced and tested ideas for ⬇️ antidemocratic attitudes & partisan animosity. A 🧵 on all papers, published/IP @ScienceMagazine (🆕 https://t.co/F9yarhq7nx🆕), @PNASNews (2x), @NatureHumBehav (2x).

Very excited to share that the main paper from the Strengthening Democracy Challenge is out today in @ScienceMagazine! It’s been a long road to get to get to this point. 🧵👇 https://t.co/lLEeLIOJp1

Purdue is looking to hire a TT assistant professor in Philosophy of AI! Please share widely and feel free to send any questions as well! https://t.co/164cDJgFgk