The Empathy & Moral Psychology Lab will be at APS in Barcelona! Unfortunately, I can't be there in person. Check out @amormino.bsky.social's symposium & talk, @jokretz.bsky.social's first talk, two talks by @jdweng.bsky.social (including one on my behalf), @farvk.bsky.social's poster. A great team!
Faruk T. Yalcin
@farvk.bsky.social
Psychology PhD student @PennState | Morality, outrage, metascience
Sometimes co-authors ask me “did you see what they cited us for???” and of course I didn’t, because if you want to keep faith in humanity, you don’t look up what people cite you for, just like you don’t read comment sections.
The Penn State Empathy & Moral Psychology (EMP) Lab, Spring 2026 bloom 🌸. Conference guest @kyleflaw.com dropped in a cameo. Cheers to @amormino.bsky.social @jdweng.bsky.social @farvk.bsky.social @jokretz.bsky.social, Izzy Griffith, and our many RAs who make this a cohesive scientific collaborative
Proud advisor moment. I'm thrilled that @farvk.bsky.social & @jokretz.bsky.social were selected to receive a Democracy Research Support grant from The McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State for their co-developed project on cross-partisan empathy. Congrats! www.psu.edu/news/liberal...
McCourtney Institute awards more than $60,000 in research grants | Penn State University
Fourteen faculty and graduate students from across the College of the Liberal Arts will receive more than $60,000 in support from the McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s Research in Democracy Support...
psu.edu
Some moments from our Moral Measures workshop yesterday. A great afternoon of talks about many different aspects of methodology in the study of moral decision-making. Covered AI, cultural invariance, relational nesting, scale interpretation, and the importance of connecting to everyday morality
I'm pleased to drop the webpage for tomorrow's Consortium on Moral Decision-Making moral measures workshop. Click to see the schedule for the afternoon, including talk titles, abstracts, bios, & more. Monday March 23 from 1:30-5:00p.m. EDT, hybrid #psychscisky moralconsortium.psu.edu/events/moral...
Moral Measures Workshop - Consortium on Moral Decision-Making
This event will bring together researchers to give short talks on methodology and measurement questions in the study of moral and ethical decision-making. Although many of our conference events have f...
moralconsortium.psu.edu
This Monday, we will be holding a hybrid workshop on methodology through the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making! More details at the link, including details about how to register. Excellent talks by early career researchers at Penn State and beyond. Please attend if you are interested, and share!
Proud of my student @farvk.bsky.social for his first @spspnews.bsky.social experience and poster at #spsp2026. An excellent scholar and an amazing person to talk about and do science with! @psuliberalarts.bsky.social
For everyone going to #spsp2026 @spspnews.bsky.social in Chicago, come say hi to us! All of us in the EMP Lab will be there including @amormino.bsky.social @farvk.bsky.social @jdweng.bsky.social @jokretz.bsky.social. #socialpsych #psychscisky @psuliberalarts.bsky.social @prcpennstate.bsky.social
New publication with @dcameron.bsky.social and @minzlicht.bsky.social in @commspsychol.nature.com! www.nature.com/articles/s44... AI empathy is good, but would people actually choose to turn to AI for emotional support over a human empathizer?
People choose to receive human empathy despite rating AI empathy higher - Communications Psychology
This work explored whether people would rather choose to receive empathy from human or AI empathizers. When given the choice, participants sought human empathy, despite rating AI responses as more emp...
nature.com
As 2025 comes to a close, this seems like a year where cultivating gratitude for what went well is especially important. What stands out for me from this year is what a wonderful team we have here in the Empathy and Moral Psychology Lab. @psuliberalarts.bsky.social @ssripennstate.bsky.social 1/n
I didn't grab a photo, but it was great to spend a few hours out for coffee and brainstorming this afternoon in the middle of an Arctic blast. Such a great team, and expect some exciting things from the EMP Lab soon! @amormino.bsky.social @jdweng.bsky.social @farvk.bsky.social @jokretz.bsky.social
2nd annual EMP Lab hike to David's Vista on Jackson Trail in Rothrock State Forest. One of the best vistas near Penn State. Catching the fade of the foliage with many members of our amazing team! @psuliberalarts.bsky.social @rockethics.bsky.social
An EMP Lab congrats to @farvk.bsky.social for defending his masters thesis today, about moral outrage and information-seeking! On National Coffee Day, a coffee and curiously outraged toast! @psuliberalarts.bsky.social @ssripennstate.bsky.social @rockethics.bsky.social @prcpennstate.bsky.social
On that note, proud of my grad student @farvk.bsky.social for leading this preprint & e-letter on moral outrage & information, in response to a fascinating paper by @killianmcloughlin.bsky.social @williambrady.bsky.social @mjcrockett.bsky.social. Outrage is motivated, complex osf.io/preprints/ps...
OSF
osf.io
I am hiring a new Lab Manager to help run the NYU Center for Conflict & Cooperation. We start reviewing apps on MAY 1st and it pays over $58,000. Please share with anyone who might be interested! Please apply here: apply.interfolio.com/166620 See more details below:
New preprint with @dcameron.bsky.social and @minzlicht.bsky.social! We find that people choose to receive empathy from human over AI empathizers, despite finding AI responses superior in terms of empathy and making them feel more heard. Link: osf.io/preprints/os...
OSF
osf.io
Proud advisor moment, x2!! Yesterday I helped both @farvk.bsky.social and @jdweng.bsky.social each submit their first manuscripts as members of the EMP Lab. It was a wonderful and well-timed lab moment to end the week, worthy of celebration and savoring. What thriving team science is all about!
a group of football players are standing around a man who is holding a football and says lets go !
ALT: a group of football players are standing around a man who is holding a football and says lets go !
media.tenor.com