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POST-DOC
PHILIP PARNAMETS - NYU Social Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow
Philip completed his PhD in cognitive science at Lund University and has spent two years as a postdoc with the Emotion Lab at Karolinska Institutet. His research is grounded in a broad interest in the cognitive and computational mechanisms underlying preference change, decision making and learning, especially in the moral domain. In the Social Identity and Morality lab his work focuses on dynamic models of social learning about moral agents and of moral choices generally. Philip spends his spare time creating, listening or dancing to electronic music.
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New York University
Director: Jay Van Bavel
MEET OUR TEAM
Thank you for your interest in the Social Identity & Morality Lab!
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We have lab meetings every Friday. Please contact us if you are interested in attending lab meetings or presenting your research. If you are interested in joining the lab, please see the Join Us page for more information.
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PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
JAY VAN BAVEL is a Professor of Psychology & Neural Science at New York University, an affiliate at the Stern School of Business in Management and Organizations, and Director of the Social Identity and Morality Lab. To read Jay's official bio in full, go to his NYU home page. Here is his unofficial bio:
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After giving up on his dream to become a professional hockey player, Jay became the first person in his family to graduate from college. It took him three years of his undergraduate degree before he realized that research was conducted at universities (despite attending the third-largest research university in Canada). After his first year of graduate school at the University of Toronto, Jay's Ph.D. advisor (Ken Dion) tragically passed away and he was orphaned until a new assistant professor (Wil Cunningham) adopted him. A year later, his new advisor was poached by The Ohio State University and Jay moved to Columbus, Ohio as a visiting scholar. Jay completed most of his Ph.D. requirements (orals, proposal, etc) in various hotel lobbies during the annual SPSP convention since it was the only time and place he could get all his committee members in the same room. In his first year as an assistant professor, Jay had ten papers and three grants rejected and zero publications. His son and daughter were born in his first two years as a faculty member and ensured that he maintained the appearance and intellectual capacity of a zombie until he went up for tenure.
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RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
ANNI STERNISKO : Research Associate
Anni Sternisko is the executive director of the NYU Center for Conflict and Cooperation. She obtained her Ph.D. in social psychology from New York University and her B.A. from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich. She is interested in the social dynamics of conspiracy theory beliefs, polarization, and ideology. Anni has used her expertise to advise organizations on information campaigns, depolarization programs, and non-violent communication training. She also serves as an Expert Affiliate with the United Nations Team of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, which holds permanent consultative status at the U.N. In this role, she has worked on issues such as environmental injustice, data-driven policy making, and sustainable development.
POSTDOC
STEVE RATHJE : NYU Social Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow
Steve Rathje is an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in the Social Identity and Morality Lab. His research is funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Templeton World Charity Foundation, and the Russell Sage Foundation. He received his PhD from the University of Cambridge (Trinity College) as a Gates Cambridge Scholar, and he received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Stanford University. Steve studies intergroup conflict and the spread of (mis)information online and offline. He explores how these topics interact with emerging technologies, such as social media and artificial intelligence. He uses a variety of methods in his work, including computational social science, digital field experiments, and multi-site global studies.
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POSTDOC
RAUNAK PILLAI : NYU Social Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow
Raunak Pillai is an incoming postdoctoral researcher. He received his BA in Neuroscience in 2019 from Vanderbilt University and will receive his PhD in Psychological Sciences from Vanderbilt in 2024, working with Dr. Lisa Fazio. His research aims to understand why people believe and share misinformation and identify optimal ways to deliver corrections. In grad school, he focused on the cognitive processes (i.e., memory, decision-making, language processing) involved in these issues. At the Social Identity and Morality Lab, he will continue examining these questions by integrating perspectives from cognitive and social psychology. Outside the lab, he enjoys cooking, tennis, and playing the guitar.
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POSTDOC
LAURA K. GLOBIG : NYU Social Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow
Laura is a postdoctoral researcher with the Social Identity and Morality Lab. She received her PhD from University College London and was a visiting scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research examines the neural and computational basis of motivated cognition, with the goal of applying the insights obtained from this work to design interventions that reduce biased information-processing and thus aid in reducing the spread of misinformation online. At the Social Identity and Morality Lab, she continues to adopt a multi-modal approach to help address real world issues, such as the spread of misinformation, polarization, and climate change.
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POSTDOC
CLAIRE ROBERTSON : NYU Social Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow
Claire is an incoming postdoctoral researcher, appointed jointly in the Social Identity and Morality Lab at NYU and at the Rotman School of Business at University of Toronto. She completed her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at NYU in 2024. Her research focuses on intergroup conflict, in particular on political polarization. She has examined how people’s evolved predisposition towards negativity and moral threats leads to overexposure of intergroup hostility online, contributing to pluralistic ignorance and false polarization between groups. She has also examined misinformation and conspiracy theory belief. She uses a wide array of methods in her research, including natural language processing, big data analysis, global mega-study collaborations, and computational cognitive modeling. When she’s not in the lab, you can find her wandering through the amazing farmers markets in NYC, trying new restaurants with her friends, or reading anything she can get her hands on.
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POSTDOC
TOBIA SPAMPATTI : NYU Social Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow
Tobia Spampatti is an incoming a postdoctoral researcher, funded by the Mobility Postdoc grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation. He will be receiving his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Geneva, and he received his Master of Science in Social Cognition from University College, London. Tobia studies the cognitive, social and affective psychological factors that influence how people process information and disinformation, and how they subsequently shape beliefs, emotions, and decisions. At the Social Identity and Morality Lab, he will focus on how online climate (dis)information affect climate-relevant psychological and behavioral outcomes, which psychological factors explain their online spread, and how this knowledge can improve interventions against disinformation​.
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POSTDOC
RÉMI THÉRIAULT : NYU Social Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow
Rémi Thériault obtained his BA Psychology and MSc Psychiatry from McGill University, Montréal, Québec. His undergraduate research focused on the mind-body connection through the placebo effect and the malleability of the sense of embodiment. His Master’s research explored psychological strategies to increase empathy and reduce intergroup prejudice, such as taking others’ perspective using virtual reality technology. His doctoral research at UQAM investigated ways to boost altruism and reduce aggression through loving-kindness. Rémi’s current research at the lab aims to test the effects of reading non-fiction books on social identities, intergroup ties, depolarization, and moral character.
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LAB MANAGER
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SARAH MUGHAL: Lab Manager
Sarah is a Junior Laboratory Associate in the Social Identity and Morality Lab and the Collective Cognition Lab at NYU. She received her BA and MA in Psychology at NYU, so she often finds herself accidentally walking into Bobst library instead of lab if she hasn’t had her coffee yet. Her research interests include how in-group norms form on social media, discrimination and bias in AI/ML methods, and how psychiatric disorders like ADHD or anxiety affect social interactions and experiences online. Outside of lab, Sarah can be found writing in museums, marathoning video games, or meticulously crocheting tiny socks for plushies.
PHD STUDENT
DANIELLE GOLDWERT: NYU Social Psychology Ph.D. Student
Danielle received her B.A. in Psychology and Studio Art from the University of Miami in 2021 and then worked part-time as a research specialist in the Princeton University Behavioral Science for Policy Lab for two years. She began her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at NYU in 2022, where she conducts research at the intersection of social psychology and global climate change. Her primary advisor is Madalina Vlasceanu, and she collaborates with the Social Identity and Morality Lab to investigate how psychological, sociopolitical, and cultural factors influence public perception and behavior towards climate change, and how this understanding can drive more effective climate action. Outside of the lab, Danielle is passionate about painting, rock climbing, backpacking, and stop motion animation.
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PHD STUDENT
KAREENA DEL ROSARIO: NYU Social Psychology Ph.D. Student
Kareena received her B.A. from San Francisco State University and worked at UCSF as the lab manager for Wendy Berry Mendes prior to beginning her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at NYU. Kareena is broadly interested in studying the effects of emotion and moral judgment on dyadic and group interactions. Her primary advisor is Tessa West and she collaborates with the Social Identity & Morality Lab to explore the physiological underpinnings of moral emotion. In her free time, Kareena enjoys reading magical realism and trying out new restaurants.
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POSTDOC
ALEXANDRA WORMLEY : Postdoctoral Scholar
Alexandra Wormley is a PhD candidate at Arizona State University and an incoming post-doctoral fellow at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on the intersection of ecology, culture, and religion. When not in the lab, Alexandra builds miniature dollhouses and fosters rescue dogs.
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Shubhdip Kundlas
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Yanxi Lu
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Joyce Haddad
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Natalya Rezza
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Rebecca Romano
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Rachel Wong
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Nalinda Wanikpun
Research Assistants
LAB ALUMNI
To see a full list of lab alumni and their current positions, see this spreadsheet.
Former Postdoctoral Fellows
Kim Doell, Lab Director, University of Konstanz
Philip Pärnamets, Senior Research Specialist, Karolinska Institutet
Victoria Spring, Associate Editor, Nature Reviews Psychology
Andrea Pereira, Data and Research Manager, Child Helpline International; Lead Scientist, minds ge
Peter Mende-Siedlecki, Professor, University of Delaware
Shona Tritt, Faculty Lecturer, University of Toronto
Sharareh Noorbaloochi, Vice President, Goldman Sachs
Oriel FeldmanHall, Professor, Brown University
Geraldine Coppin, Professor, University of Geneva
Andreas Kappes, Professor, City University of London
Christian Kaul, Chief Operating Officer, Stillfront Group
Tobias Brosch, Professor, University of Geneva
Madalina Vlaseacnu, Associate Professor, Stanford University
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Former Primary Ph.D Students
Elizabeth Harris, Researcher, Analysis and Response Toolkit for Trust Initiative
Diego Reinero, Postdoc, University of Pennsylvania
Billy Brady, Professor, Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management
Jennifer Ray, Learning and Talent Measurement Manager, Takeda Pharmaceutical Center
Julian Wills, Quantitative User Researcher, Google
Leor Hackel, Professor, University of Southern California
Jenny Xiao, Professor, University of Washington-Tacoma
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Former Secondary Ph.D Students
Rachel Leshin, Postdoc, Princeton University
Kate Thorson, Professor, Barnard College
Daniel Yudkin, Senior Advisor, More in Common
Rima-Marie Rahal, Researcher, Tilburg University
Ana Gantman, Professor, City University of New York-Brooklyn College
Hannah Nam, Professor, Stony Brook University
Yael Granot, Assistant Professor, Smith College
Lisa Chalik, Professor, Yeshiva University
Amy Krosch, Professor, Cornell University
Kyle Ratner, Professor, University of California-Santa Barbara
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Former Affiliates and Visiting Scholars
Paulo Boggio, Professor, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie
Chiara Jutzi, PhD Candidate, Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg
Anna Greenburgh, Postdoctoral Researcher, King's College London
Jesper Rasmussen, Postdoctoral Researcher, Aarhus University
Clara Pretus, Professor, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
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Former MA Students
Ke Fang, PhD student, Stanford University
Simran Kaur, Survey Research Analyst, Cornell University
Nicole Nowotny, Executive Assistant, Radius Ventures, LLC
Nick Ungson, Visiting Asst. Professor, Albright College
Alea Skwara, PhD Student, University of California-Davis
Yogesh Raut, Social & Personality Psychologist & Writer (& Jeopardy winner!)
Justin (Duke) Lieberknecht, Associate Vice President of Marketing, American Homes 4 Rent
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Former Lab Managers
Yifei Pei, Lab Manager, Yale University
Katie Brown, TBD
Sarah Grevy Gotfredsen, MS Student, Columbia University
Sophie (Wharton) Smith, Insight Analyst, LinkedIn
Jillian Swencionis, PhD, Postdoc, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
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Former Honors Thesis Students
Rachel Tang, TBD [lab mentor: Victoria Spring]
Sarah Grevy Gotfredsen, MS Student, Columbia University [lab mentor: Diego Reinero & Philip Pärnamets]
Jena Sohn, TBD [lab mentor: Philip Pärnamets]
Anna Balchunas, Writer/Editor, Development Office, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center [lab mentor: Diego Reinero]
Stephanie Leung, PsyD Student, Pace University [lab mentor: Billy Brady]
Jonathan Rosenthal, MD Student, NYU School of Medicine [lab mentor: Leor Hackel]
Jayson Dorsett, Research Specialist, University of Pennsylvania [lab mentor: Jennifer Ray]
Bosi Chen, PhD Student, San Diego State University / University of California-San Diego [lab mentor: Leor Hackel]
Jessica Dubin, Chemistry Teacher, Brooklyn Frontiers High School [lab mentor: Daniel Yudkin]
Julia Schaus [lab mentor: Jenny Xiao]
Natasha Thalla, PhD, UX Researcher, Facebook [lab mentor: Daniel Yudkin]
Leslie Berntsen, PhD, Lecturer, University of Southern California [lab mentor: Amy Krosch]
Bram Schumer, JD, Lawyer, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP [lab mentor: Jay Van Bavel]
Ian Kurth, Senior Associate, Alta Capital Group [lab mentor: Jay Van Bavel]
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Former RAs
Alejandro Calvo, Honors Student, Lawrence Ian Reed lab, New York University
Anees Goparaju
Armon Dadvand
Christina Capozzoli
Kinda Shammas
Lily Hafez
Shamauri Rivera
Yishu Lu
​​Diána Hughes
Yara Kyrychenko, PhD student, Cambridge
Anastasiia Korolevskaia, Honors Student, Lawrence Ian Reed lab, New York University
Christy Cheng
Cheryl Man, incoming MS Student, Cornell University
Andrew Gruber
Lauren Hyoseo Yoon, Undergraduate, Northwestern University
Cara Reschke, Associate UX Researcher, Match.com
Bayla Zohn
Natasia Pelowski
Maggie Liu
Sahar Hafezi
Brienna Carter, Undergraduate, Yale University
Matt Leipzig, Research Assistant, Stanford University
Prianka Koya, PhD student, UCLA
John Andrew Chwe, PhD Student, NYU
Yi Zhang, PhD Student, University of Southern California
Zoe Kleiman, Neuroendocrine Unit Research Intern, Massachusetts General Hospital
Simone Van Taylor, Research Network Program Associate, Harmony Labs
Jino Kwon, MA Student, New York University
Emily Korf, Research Assistant, CSP
Suraiya Allidina, PhD Student, University of Toronto
Dominic Burkart, Software Engineer/Scientist
Mikaela Kane, MsEd Student, Hunter College
Siri Loken, MD Student, University of California-Irvine School of Medicine
Ashley Castro, PhD Student, DePaul University
Xi Shen, PhD Student, Cornell University
Shreyas Ganesh, Senior Analyst, Hearts & Science
Marc Simon, The Trevor Project
Meslissa Huang
Eugene Jaw, Senior Data Associate, Publicis Sapient
Poorvi Iyer, PhD Student, London School of Economics
Melanie Corwin, Digital Crisis Services Coordinator, The Trevor Project
Ryan Salim, PhD Student, St. John's University
Nick Ichien, Graduate Student, University of California-Los Angeles
Heba Allam