Current Projects

Moral Action and Positive Emotions: Acting prosocially makes people happy. Is this because it helps people feel moral? If so, do the emotional benefits of acting morally extend to behavior based on any moral principle? I am currently exploring these questions with support from the Connaught Fund at the University of Toronto.

Social Development of Moral Diversity: Scholars have written at length about the evolutionary bases of morality and moral development in children, but much of this work pre-defines morality as primarily concerned with prosocial caring and fairness. Less work has examined how social experiences can lead to a diversity of moral values. Together with a small team of graduate students, I am examining how experiences at home and at school during adolescence lead to a variety of moral beliefs and values in adulthood. We also explore how these experiences are patterned by larger social structures. This project is funded by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

You can also get a sense for what I am working on--including one-off papers--by looking at my most recent C.V. under the heading "Manuscripts (In Preparation)."