People

PI: Dr. Sean Laurent

I graduated from the University of Massachusetts and Commonwealth Honors College in 2004. At UMass, while making furniture, doing construction, and operating a kung fu school (now run by a former student!), I worked as a research assistant in Dr. Linda Isbell’s lab, then spent a year after graduation working under the supervision of Dr. Paula Pietromonaco. In 2005, I moved on to the University of Oregon, earning my PhD under the kind and patient guidance of Dr. Sara Hodges, studying topics related to empathy and perspective taking.

I received my PhD in social psychology from UO in 2010 and then worked for three years as an Assistant Lecturer in the Psychology Department at the University of Wyoming. After returning to the University of Oregon as a pro-tem instructor from 2013-2016, I joined the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was in that position from 2016-2021. Most recently (as of fall 2021), I accepted a new position within the Department of Psychology at Pennsylvania State University. In 2022, I was named a fellow of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology and an Editorial Fellow at the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Attitudes and Social Cognition. I study a variety of topics related to social cognition and morality, while also struggling to play disc golf badly and poorly maintaining this humble and far-less-than-excellent WordPress website.

Google Scholar
ResearchGate

ORCID

Current PhD Students

Iris Chung (MA) joined the MASC lab at PSU in 2023. She received her BA in psychology from the University of British Columbia and has an MA in cognitive psychology at Yonsei University. After pursuing a career in the skies as a cabin crew of Qatar Airways, Iris is now interested in prusuing questions related to moral psychology. Her current interests are focused on the dynamics of blame, praise, and free will. She is also interested in applying these concepts to artificial intelligence, especially in terms of the moral consciousness of AI as well as its human-likeness.

Da Eun Han (MA) joined the MASC lab at UIUC in 2018. She received her BS in Chinese Language and Literature, but hardly speaks Chinese, which probably led her to double major in Psychology. She received her MA in psychology at Yonsei University in South Korea. She has been working on diverse topics such as culture, moral self, praise/blame, social status, emotions, and other topics. In particular, Da Eun is interested in how people form moral judgments, what underlies moral behavior, and the relationship between morality and an internal/external focus on the self.

Although Da Eun is continuing toward her PhD at the University of Illinois, we are still working together on a number of interesting projects.

Sarah Mowrey joined the MASC lab at PSU in 2021 after receiving a BS in from Ohio State University in Psychology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Sarah is currently pursuing her PhD in social psychology and Social Data Analytics at Penn State University. They are interested in the way moral judgments affect interpersonal relationships, the connection between moral reasoning and values, and overall, the use of research to achieve social good. Sarah is currently involved in developing research regarding hypocrisy, person perception, and microaggressions.

Becca Ruger-Smith joined the MASC lab at PSU in 2022 after graduating with a BS in both Psychology and Philosophy at Bradley University. Becca has a wide range of research interests, but she is particularly interested in the factors people use when forming moral judgements of others, specifically which ones we tend to care about more than others, and how we deal with particularly complex moral conundrums. Becca’s current research is on praise, blame, and moral or immoral judgements of inactions.

Minjae Seo (MS) is a doctoral student in the social psychology program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she also works under the supervision of Dr. Dov Cohen. She completed undergraduate and masters degrees in Psychology and Political Science at Yonsei University in South Korea. She is interested in cultural universals and variations in values, moral perceptions, and behaviors. She is currently working on projects related to moral emotions, intercultural relationships, and cultural differences in immoral behaviors and perceptions of hypocrisy.

MASC Lab Manager

Clara Civiero graduated from Queen’s University located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, with a BA in Psychology. She also completed a minor in History and a Law Certificate. While at Queen’s University, she worked as a research assistant in a visual cognition laboratory, studying cognition in adults with autism. She also worked in the Hauser Lab examining the relationship between language and the use of metaphors on social cognition. She is interested in exploring how one’s belief system and personal experiences (religion, culture, etc.) influence their moral judgement. She is also interested in the role of morality in business and legal contexts such as ethical leadership, accountability, and social responsibility. She plans to pursue her PhD in social psychology.

Current MASC Lab Affiliates, Contributors, and Collaborators

Ronnie Riley joined the PSU social program in 2023 and is working with Reginald Adams. She received her undergraduate degree in biology at the University of Puget Sound, where she conducted research on the mirror neuron system. After graduating, Ronnie spent several years working a diverse array of jobs from wolf ecology research technician to middle school science teacher. During this time, she tangentially worked with Dr. Paige Lloyd at the Social Detection Lab at University of Denver, studying perceptions of pain expressions across target races. She is currently interested in studying the mechanisms and contexts for evaluating authenticity and moral judgements in social situations through the MASC and SVIP labs.

Fernando Sanchez Hernandez (MS) is a PhD student in developmental psychology at UIUC, working under the supervision of Dr. Dan Hyde. He is particularly interested in understanding mechanisms of moral cognition such as agency perception, mental state attribution, and negativity bias.

Josh Wenger joined PSU’s Psychology PhD program in 2023 after graduating from Eastern Mennonite University with a BS in Psychology and minor in Neuroscience. He works primarily with Daryl Cameron in the Empathy and Moral Psychology Lab where he is broadly interested in the intersection of psychology and philosophy. His past work involves judgments of moral responsibility, free will, and partisanship. Josh currently holds broader interests in what psychology can contribute to the discussion of virtue and the Good Life.

Faruk Yalcin is a social psychology PhD student at Penn State, working under the supervision of Dr. Daryl Cameron starting in 2023. He is interested in how empathy and moral judgments interact. Currently, he is especially interested in studying how people evaluate the morality of revenge, and the relationship between moral character and empathy.

Past MASC Lab Students

Dr. Liz Lozano was one of the first students who joined my lab in 2016. In 2019, she joined Dr. R Chris Fraley’s lab to study topics related to donor conception. Liz graduated in 2021 (Congratulations, Liz!!) and is now in a faculty position at California Northstate University.

Jieming (Lois) Li joined the MASC lab while completing a master’s degree in psychological science at UIUC. Lois and I worked together on topics related to disgust and moral judgments. Currently, Lois is pursuing a second master’s degree in speech-language pathology at Dalhousie University.

Chas Monge joined the MASC lab while completing a master’s degree in psychological science at UIUC. Chas is interested in topics such as moral outrage in online spaces. Currently, he is completing a PhD in communications from The Ohio State University.

Dr. Shoko Watanabe (Webpage) was the second of my first two students at UIUC, having joined the same year as Dr. Lozano. After I moved on to PSU, Shoko continued developing a fascinating new line of research on teleology and the problem of evil with Dr. Dov Cohen, which was the basis of her dissertation. Recently, Shoko successfully defended that dissertation (I was happy to be one of the people on that committee) and has begun a postdoctoral position at the University of Birmingham with Dr. Carissa Sharp (a former alum of Dr. Sara Hodges’ lab and a friend from those years). Congratulations on the successful defense, Dr. Watanabe, and on the new position!

Drew Weiner joined the MASC Lab in 2017 at UIUC, earning a masters degree in the (then) new Master’s in Psychological Science program. He was admitted to the PhD program in Fall 2019, but in 2021, Drew decided to leave academia to pursue other interests. We all wish him well as he continues on in the next chapter of his life!

Past MASC Lab Affiliates, Collaborators, and Contributors

Jun-Yeob Kim (MS) (also one of the first students admitted to the MPS program and admitted to the PhD program in 2019) studies Industrial/Organizational psychology under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Newman. He is interested in exploring the ways that people’s personality traits and characteristics, such as gender and culture, influence their perceptions of leaders.

Dr. Brandon Reich (PhD) (Webpage) earned his doctorate in Marketing at the University of Oregon, where he focused on consumer psychology. Originally, I met Brandon while he was a graduate student, and we worked together to develop a number of ideas. We still enjoy collaborating today! Brandon is currently on the faculty at Portland State University. Brandon’s overarching area of research centers around ethics (questions of right and wrong) in consumer spaces.

Dr, Shiyu Yang recently graduated from the Gies College of Business at UIUC, where she earned her PhD in organizational behavior. Congratulations, Shiyu!! She recently moved from a faculty position at Texas A&M International University to a new one at San Francisco State University. You can read about her interestng research here.

Undergraduate Research Assistants

The MASC lab is always interested in recruiting new undergraduate research assistants at Penn State University, particularly if they are considering social psychology as a career! If interested in applying, please see the Join Us! page.

Samantha (Sam) Cappello joined the MASC lab in 2023 as a first-year PSU student studying psychology and criminology. Sam plans to study forensic or social psychology in graduate school. In her free time, she enjoys baking (yum!) and exploring nature. Right there with you!

Katie Evans is a criminology and psychology major who plans on attending graduate school for social psychology. She is interested in how people perceive others via intersectionality and also morality in “criminal” settings. During her free time, she enjoys playing soccer at Penn State and watching movies.

Joe Freeston joined the MASC lab in 2023 as a second-year psychology major. He plans to attend graduate school and is considering social psychology as a career. Joe likes traveling, exploring, and hanging out in low-key areas with friends. He hopes to gain insight into social psychology during his time in the MASC lab.

Zoe Greggs is majoring in psychology and minoring in sociology, and enjoys a) being with friends, b) animals (especially dogs), c) anything true crime, and d) reading. Zoe hopes to join a forensic psychology program after graduation.

Julianne Guerin joined the MASC lab as a first-year majoring in psychology. Julianne enjoys being a member of the Pride of the Lions Pep Band and spending time with her friends. Julianne intends to pursue a graduate degree in psychology after graduating.

Ava Hofmann joined the MASC lab in 2022 as a junior double majoring in Psychology and Sociology. Outside of classes, Ava enjoys listing to and making music, reading, and hanging out with friends. After graduating from Penn State, they hope to continue their education in social psychology.

Claudia Musser joined the MASC lab while a Junior at PSU. While studying for her Bachelor of Science in Psychology, she enjoys cooking, spending time with friends, and listening to music. She is also a campus ambassador for the women’s networking organization and part of the philanthropic and sisterhood committees for her Greek life organization. She is very invested in her work and excited to be a member of such an intriguing lab!

Aron Navarrete-Jiminez joined our lab as a third-year undergraduate studying psychology and criminology. Soon after entry at PSU, Aron started getting further academic and work experience in a part-time position with the PSU IT service desk (and our lab). He would like to study forensic or social psychology in graduate school, investigating how criminal/deviant behaviors and cognitions develop.

Alejandro (Alex) Olper joined the lab as a third-year psychology major who plans to minor in Labor and Human Relationships. He is considering social psychology as a career (particularly after his time at PSU!). One of his interests is in how friendships that are made (and retained) during early adolescence differ from those made in early to middle adulthood, and in comparing these relationships in terms of satisfaction, expectations, and leniency.

Emma Pulkowski joined the MASC lab as a second year majoring in psychology and sociology. She aspires to go to law school after graduation (and wouldn’t be the first MASC lab RA to do so!), which helps drive her interest in applying psychosocial research within the domain of the law. Beyond academics, Emma likes to read, plan events for Penn State’s Student Philanthropy Network, and support students in her role as a teaching assistant.

Stephanie Radin joined the MASC lab as a Second-year Psychology major. After her undergraduate studies at Penn State, she plans to go to graduate school for social psychology, with the intention of becoming a school psychologist. Stephanie is currently interested in how children use their feelings and thoughts to rationalize their maladaptive behaviors in certain situations. She also wants to investigate projection, and how people assign to others how they feel about themselves.

Former UIUC Undergraduate Research Assistants

My deepest thanks to all of the undergraduate students who have done so much amazing work for all of us in the MASC lab, but have now moved on to bigger and better things, such as internships, teaching jobs, and of course, graduate school. We appreciate everything you did when you were with us, and wish you all the best in your bright futures!

Grace Bai, Olivia Benge, Kiley Breen, Alyssa Castronovo, Ariana Daneshbodi, Austin Eichhorn, Natalia Fic, Hailey Gaba, Suryaa Gupta, Colin Hardman, Sean Kirchman, Koh Kobayashi, Giovana Mete, Lucy Park, Pranav Pamidighantam, Leslie Pardo, Priyanka Patel, Isabella Portelli, Duoduo Qi, Jessica Resnick, Matt Saxsma, Emma Schwartz, Aboorva Sivasankaran, Saheli Sheth, Jessica Vega, and Carol (Yi) Zhou.

Lab Pizza Party Photos

We planned to be at a park, but the weather held us back. So we had our first official PSU post-year pizza party in the psychology building, in 2023. Good times. : D

May, 2021: Our smaller, ourdoor, post-worst-part of COVID-19 (but not really) in the US before Delta, then Omnicron pizza party, right before my eastward move to PSU.