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Culture and Morality Lab

People

The people behind the research

An international team studying culture and morality, from historical text corpora to fieldwork across societies. Select a profile to read more.

Portrait of Mohammad Atari

Principal Investigator

Mohammad Atari

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

Mohammad Atari is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he directs the Culture and Morality Lab. His research examines the intersection of culture, evolution, and morality: why morality binds people together, and how it can divide them into “us” versus “them.” He studies moral values and cultural change from a cultural-evolutionary perspective, combining social-psychological experimentation, fieldwork, and natural language processing. He joined UMass Amherst in fall 2023 and is a recipient of the SAGE Emerging Scholar Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

Interests: Culture · Morality · Cultural evolution · Historical psychology · Natural language processing

Full profile

Graduate Students

7
Portrait of Aanchal Setia

Aanchal Setia

PhD Candidate, Social Psychology

Studies how people navigate assigned and professional identities, belonging, and upward mobility.

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Portrait of Hector J. Sosa

Hector J. Sosa

PhD Candidate, Social Psychology

Studies educational outcomes for underprivileged students and how culture shapes their experiences.

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Portrait of Aliah Zewail

Aliah Zewail

she/her

PhD Student, Social Psychology · NSF Graduate Research Fellow

Studies the historical origins of cultural and moral values and how they become embedded in institutions and AI.

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Portrait of Roya Mohammadsadegh

Roya Mohammadsadegh

PhD Candidate, Psychological and Brain Sciences

Studies human behavior and decision-making, with a focus on agency in human–AI collaboration.

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Portrait of Fırat Şeker

Fırat Şeker

he/him

PhD Student, Social Psychology

Studies how morality and cooperation are shaped by ecological, cultural, and institutional shifts across history.

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Portrait of Ali Hajian

Ali Hajian

PhD Student, Social Psychology

Explores the relationship between morality and conflict across history and cultures.

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Portrait of Meriel Burnett

Meriel Burnett

PhD Student, Social Psychology

Studies how ecological factors shape personality, beliefs, and values over historical time.

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Undergraduate Research Assistants

2
  • Eileen Wang
  • Sumaiya Tahsin

Alumni

1

Former members of the lab and where they went next.

Portrait of Liora Morhayim

Liora Morhayim

she/her

Ph.D., Psychology of Peace & Violence

Studies the contextual factors, such as culture, that shape the effectiveness of intergroup interventions.

Now a Postdoctoral Researcher at Stockholm University

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Former Undergraduate Research Assistants

21

Undergraduate researchers who contributed to the lab's work during their time at UMass.

  • Erica Schultz
  • Gabriel Kelman
  • Julia Feldman
  • Margo Pikulska
  • Yanna Kats
  • Ana Birleanu
  • Billie Trojnor Barron
  • Nylah Trabulsi
  • Michael Damiana
  • Mya Campbell
  • Ellen Chan
  • Julia Francis
  • Rachjana Ny
  • Yassin Qouisseh
  • Rachida Sarassoro
  • Rowan Faris
  • Jason Sciacca
  • John Rowley
  • Jamie Wu
  • Tingting He
  • Destiny Charron

Lab Life

Beyond the research

Fieldwork, conferences, and a lot of shared meals, a look at life in the lab.

The Culture and Morality Lab together outside on the UMass Amherst campus in spring.
Lab members standing together on a campus lawn under budding trees.
Lab members gathered by the campus pond, with the library tower behind.
The lab sharing a meal together at a group dinner.
Lab members around the table at a group dinner.
The lab out for dinner together.

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We welcome inquiries from prospective graduate students, undergraduate research assistants, and collaborators.

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