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POST-DOC
PHILIP PARNAMETS - NYU Social Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow
Philip completed his PhD in cognitive science at Lund University and has spent two years as a postdoc with the Emotion Lab at Karolinska Institutet. His research is grounded in a broad interest in the cognitive and computational mechanisms underlying preference change, decision making and learning, especially in the moral domain. In the Social Identity and Morality lab his work focuses on dynamic models of social learning about moral agents and of moral choices generally. Philip spends his spare time creating, listening or dancing to electronic music.
At NYU’s Center for Conflict and Cooperation, we conduct cutting-edge research to understand what divides and what unites us. By collaborating with scientists worldwide, as well as policymakers, organizations, and civil society, we educate the public and translate our findings into real-world solutions for issues like misinformation, polarization, intergroup hate, extremism, climate change, and technology.
Social media and morality. [pdf]
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Social Media Amplifies Moral Content. Morally and emotionally evocative content spreads widely on social media, as it captures attention and drives engagement.
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Moral Behavior Is Less Costly on Social Media. Social media lowers the barriers for moral actions such as punishment, accelerating existing moral dynamics.
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Mixed Consequences for Society. While social media can amplify outrage, status-seeking, and intergroup conflict, it also has the potential to enhance prosocial behavior, social support, and collective action.
Updating the identity-based model of belief: From false belief to the spread of misinformation. [pdf]
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Accuracy and Identity Goals Shape Beliefs. People's political beliefs and information processing are shaped by a push and pull between two competing forces: the desire to form accurate beliefs (accuracy goals) and the need to belong and uphold a positive image of the ingroup (identity goals).
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Identity Can Override Accuracy. When people prioritize social ties and belongingness to their party over accuracy, they align their beliefs with other party members rather than facts. People might believe or share false information simply because it reinforces their positive beliefs about their party, or they want to signal their party loyalty.
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Exposure and Selection Influence Beliefs. Partisan differences also arise from differences in information diet. People actively seek out and prioritize content that reinforces a positive group image.
Addressing climate change with behavioral science: A global intervention tournament in 63 countries. [pdf]
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Different Interventions Have Small But Significant Effects Globally. We compared 11 interventions on various climate mitigation outcomes from 63 countries. Overall, the different interventions had small but significant effects globally.
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No Intervention Offers Silver Bullet Solution. Different strategies worked for different outcomes (e.g., belief in climate change), but no interventions increased effortful behavior towards fighting climate change via the tree planting.
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The Effectiveness Of Intervention Varies Across Audiences. The effects of each intervention differed depending on people’s initial climate beliefs.
Polarization
Intergroup conflict, political violence, outgroup hate, and ideological extremism.
Morality
Prosocial behavior, altruism, value systems, and moral outrage.
Misinformation
Belief in and spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories.
Bias | Discrimination
Mitigating explicit and implicit bias, discrimination, and empathy gaps.
Social Media | Technology
The role of social media and technologies like generative A.I. in misinformation and polarization.
Cooperation | Cohesion
Cooperation, civic discourse, social bonds, and positive collective action.
Beyond doom and gloom, here's how to stimulate climate action.
Madalina Vlasceanu & Jay Van Bavel
February 2024, Scientific American
Why we click on stuff we know we won't like.
Steve Rathje & Jay Van Bavel
December 2023, The Boston Globe
This leadership approach can help anyone build a shared mission.
Jay Van Bavel & Dominic Packer
January 2023, Quartz
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