Research

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Morality

The basis of our moral identity and judgments

Read: 
Morality in our mind and across cultures and politics
Gray, K. & Pratt, S. (2024). Annual Review of Psychology, 76. 

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Bridging Divides 

Science-backed solutions for reducing political animosity

Read: 
Victimhood: The most powerful force in morality and politics
Gray, K. & Kubin, E. (2024). Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 127, 137-220.

People believe political opponents accept blatant moral wrongs, fueling partisan divides
Puryear, C., Kubin, E., Schein, C., Bigman, Y., Ekstrom, P. & Gray, K. (2024). PNAS Nexus, 3(7), 1-12.

Reducing political dehumanization by pairing facts with personal experiences
Kubin, E., Gray, K. & von Sikorski, C. (2023). Political Psychology, 44(5), 1119-1140.

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Mind Perception

How we make sense of other minds (humans, animals, machines, and God)

Read: 
Mind perception is the essence of morality
Gray, K., Young, L. & Waytz, A. (2012). Psychological Inquiry, 23(2), 101-124. 
*Winner of SPSP Theoretical Innovation Award

Do companies think and feel? Mind perception of organizations
Tang, S. & Gray, K. (2023). Cognitive Science, 47(8), 1-26.

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Religion 

Perceptions of God and how religiosity drives cultural phenomena

Read: 
Tight cultures and vengeful gods: How culture shapes religious belief
Jackson, J. C., Caluori, N., Abrams, S., Beckman, E., Gelfand, M. & Gray, K. (2021). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 150(10), 2057-2077.

The faces of God in America: Revealing religious diversity across people and politics
Jackson, J. C., Hester, N. & Gray, K. (2018). PLoS One, 13(6): e0198745. 

Doctors are seen as Godlike: Moral typecasting in medicine
Goranson, A., Sheeran, P. & Gray, K. (2020). Social Science and Medicine, 113008.

image of human hand shaking hand of automaton or robot

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

How people feel about and interact with AI programs

Read:

AI language model rivals expert ethicist in perceived moral expertise
Dillion, D., Mondal, D., Tandon, N. et al. (2025). Scientific Reports, 15, 4084.

Can AI language models replace human participants?
Dillion, D., Gu, Y, Tanden, N. & Gray, K. (2023). Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 27(7), 597-600.

Holding robots responsible: The elements of machine morality
Bigman, Y., Waytz, A., Alterovitz, R. & Gray, K. (2019). Trends in Cognitive Science, 23(5), 365-368.

See a full list of Kurt’s research papers →