Welcome to the Empathy and Moral Psychology (EMP) Lab at Penn State University, directed by Dr. Daryl Cameron. We study the affective and motivational mechanisms involved in empathy and moral decision-making. Our lab utilizes insights and methodologies from affective science, social cognition, and moral philosophy, in order to understand how people think about and respond to pressing social and ethical situations.
Some of the particular questions we focus on include why does empathy fail in response to mass suffering and during conflicts, and what can we do about it? Why do people engage in blame and punishment, and how does outrage motivate people to engage in collective action? For short and accessible introductions to our work, check out the Penn State Research article on our approach to motivated empathy, the release about our work on empathy avoidance and mental effort, the Penn State News article about our work on moral outrage, and the article in the The Conversation about the scientific and ethical ramifications of empathy deficits. Dr. Cameron wrote about empathy and politics for the Rock Ethics Institute’s “Ask an Ethicist” column, “How important is empathy in the U.S. Presidential election?” The lab recently published a blog post about moral emotions and COVID-19 for the Social Science Research Institute’s “Insights from Experts” webpage.
We also provide students with interdisciplinary research opportunities through the Rock Ethics Institute. Through the Rock, we have organized several collaborative workshops and outreach events, including invited talks and conferences (such as the Moral Psychology Research Group conference in 2017), and the Expanding Empathy Speaker Series which has been running since 2019. Moving forward, Dr. Cameron is directing the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making, an interdisciplinary network designed to encourage collaborations across the social sciences and humanities on topics related to moral and ethical decision-making. For more details about these opportunities, please see the “Collaborations” tab above, and feel free to reach out to learn more!
Lastly, we are LOOKING FOR NEW MEMBERS! Dr. Cameron is recruiting a graduate student to start in fall 2025. Separately, the EMP Lab is hiring a part-time Research Assistant for this year to coordinate lab activities and help with the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making! For more, see here: https://psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/PSU_Staff/job/Penn-State-University-Park/Part-Time-Research-Assistant–Empathy-and-Moral-Psychology-Lab_REQ_0000058140-1…
Dr. Cameron Presents at The Most Good Conference
Dr. Cameron gave a talk titled "Expansive Empathy: Motivating Empathic Choices Across the Moral Circle" at the Most Good conference in Brooklyn, New York. More details about the conference can be found here, along with the archived live-stream of the event...
Dr. Cameron Interviewed for Scientific American
Dr. Cameron was interviewed for a piece on motivated empathy in Scientific American. The article considers the individual and societal/structural elements that shape whether we decide to empathize with others. The article covers a lot of the questions that motivate...
Dr. Cameron Interviewed by NOAA Cinematographers
Dr. Cameron was interviewed by Caitlin Bailey and Art Howard from the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) about empathy for deep-sea animals, including a panel with fellow Penn State social psychologist Dr. Janet Swim. A fascinating topic to...
Penn State News Recaps on the Consortium’s Year
The Social Science Research Institute, one of our research funding partners here at Penn State, released two news releases last year in Penn State News about the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making (https://moralconsortium.psu.edu/). Check them out below, especially...
Penn State News Release on Our AI-Empathy Conference
In April 2024, we hosted an interdisciplinary conference on empathy, morality, and AI through the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making. To learn more, check out this Penn State News release, which also covers our lab's broader interest in this topic area:...
Penn State News Story on Expanding Empathy 2024
We returned with Expanding Empathy in spring 2024, through the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making. Our sixth year running the series, including psychologists and philosophers talking about empathy and morality, this is a highlight for the EMP Lab every year. The...
Rock Ethics Institute Releases News Story on the Consortium
Check out this news story on the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making, written by EMP Lab graduate Eliana Hadjiandreou. This news story talks about some of the ideas motivating the EMP Lab and Dr. Cameron's vision for the Consortium in the years ahead....
Last EMP Lab Coffee of Spring 2024
The EMP Lab met up for one last coffee in early May. Cheers to our graduates and to a good summer!
Eliana Hadjiandreou Graduates
In early May, Eliana Hadjiandreou officially graduated from Penn State, with her Ph.D., at the commencement ceremony. Congrats, Eliana!
EMP Lab Celebrates End of Spring Semester
The EMP Lab celebrated the end of the spring semester with a hike through campus and over to Berkey Creamery. Congratulations to our graduating seniors Lauren and Emily, and to our lab/Consortium RA Clara who will all be moving on this summer!
Last EMP Lab / MASC Lab Meeting of the Semester
On Friday, we had the last joint lab meeting between our lab and Sean Laurent's Morality & Social Cognition (MASC) Lab. It was a beautiful day in sunny State College, so we decided to meet outside, and reflect on how the year had gone and where we want to go next....
Stephen Anderson Takes Marketing Position
Stephen Anderson, who graduated from the EMP Lab in spring 2024, has taken a position as Senior Manager in Marketing Science at Coherency (https://coherency.com/). Congratulations, Stephen!
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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Faruk Yalçin, M.A.
Graduate Student
Faruk Yalçin is a second-year graduate student in the EMP Lab. He received his B.A. in Psychology from Bilkent University and received his Master of Science from Sabanci University. His research interests include emotions, decision-making, and methodology. Currently, he studies how moral outrage influences information-seeking behavior in moral contexts.
Joshua Wenger, B.S.
Graduate Student
Josh Wenger joined Penn State’s Psychology PhD program and the EMP Lab in 2023. Informed and inspired by psychology and philosophy, his interests include the moral psychology of AI, self-transcendent emotions, and moral judgment. He completed his B.S. in Psychology with a Neuroscience minor at Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia.
