THE DEVELOping moral values LAB
Research Projects
People
Publications
Research Projects
In the Developing Moral Values Lab, we aim to discover how morality is shaped during childhood and into adulthood.
Our moral values define us, unite us, and give meaning to our lives. Gaining a scientific understanding of how these values are acquired provides a powerful vantage point from which to make informed decisions about how to facilitate a better future. In order to contribute to this emerging understanding of the inner workings of our moral minds, the Developing Moral Values Lab conducts a range of studies with and adults and with children between the ages of 5 and 10. Some of the issues we are currently investigating include:
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VARIATIONS IN THE BOUNDARIES OF MORAL CONCERN
How and why do children and adults differ in their beliefs about which entities deserve moral consideration?
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INTELLECTUAL HUMILITY AND RECEPTIVITY TO TESTIMONY
How does an awareness of the fallibility of one's knowledge relate to patterns of selective trust?
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Evaluations of belief change
Is it considered good to change your mind in light of compelling evidence, even in intergroup contexts?
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Assessments of moral character
What does it take to consider somebody else as a good person, and what happens if they temporarily lapse?
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the roots of environmental ethics
Why do some people care deeply about the planet, while others believe that humans can exploit nature?
JOSHUA ROTTMAN, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
[Personal website]
people
Martha cooper
Project Coordinator
Martha is a recent graduate from Florida State University, where she double majored in Psychology and Philosophy. Martha is interested in questions at the intersection of social cognition and epistemology, and is currently studying the development of intellectual humility in children.
Sara Silverman
Sara is a senior from Millburn, New Jersey. She is a psychology and public health double major. On campus, she is the Co-President of Colleges Against Cancer and a member of Kappa Delta, Psi Chi, the Benjamin Rush Pre-Health Honor Society, and Phi Beta Kappa. She is also a TA for Face Perception. A fun fact about her is that she has two dogs!
LUCY NOLAN
Lucy is a sophomore from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. She is majoring in Cognitive Science and minoring in Film and Media Studies. On campus, she writes and directs marketing for the College Reporter; DJs and secretaries for the WFNM 89.1 radio station; and dances with the dance company. Two fun facts about Lucy are that she has triple citizenship and used to eat sand by the handful as a child (unrelated to the first fact).
Sierra Joseph
Sierra is a senior from Miami, Florida. She is a psychology major with a French minor. On campus, she is a member of the Rugby team, S.I.S.T.E.R.S., and Kappa Delta, a Brooks Housing Advisor, and a POSSE scholar. A fun fact about Sierra is that she met Camila Cabello at her local Starbucks!
Anja Gatzke
Anja is a freshman from Princeton, New Jersey, intending to double major in Psychology and Moral Psychology. On campus she works as an animal trainer in the Vivarium, and a tech crew member of the Green Room Theater club. A fun fact about her is that she has a twin sister who is one minute older than her!
Annaliese Heidelberger
Annaliese is a senior from Red Bank, New Jersey majoring in psychology and minoring in environmental studies. On campus, she is a member of F&M Votes and is involved in the Epilogue literary magazine. She is also a PSY100 tutor. A fun fact about her is that she has been a vegetarian her whole life and loves to cook new vegetarian recipes!
Jaylene Merino
Jaylene is a first-year student from Miami, Florida. She is a psychology major with a minor in sociology. On campus, she is the Programming Director of the First-Year Class Cabinet, Vice President of Women and Gender Minorites in STEM, and the Secretary of Mi Gente Latina. A fun fact about her is that she used to dance competitively and won a national title in 2023.
Kylie Henigan
Kylie is a sophomore from Falls Church, Virginia. She is an intended psychology major with a minor in philosophy. On campus, she is involved in a leadership program. A fun fact about her is that she has a cat living with her on campus!
Angelia Meile
Angelia is a freshman from Simsbury, Connecticut. She is an intended joint government and psychology major with an economics minor. On campus, she's involved in many musical activities such as the Chamber Singers choir and Sweet Ophelia A Cappella, and is also the social media manager of Bonchek College House as well as the treasurer of the college's John Quincy Adams Society chapter. A fun fact about her is she has about a million books on her shelves waiting to be read!
Sedona Levine
Sedona is a senior from Long Island, New York majoring in psychology and minoring in economics. On campus, she is involved in Kappa Delta and the Ware Institute and serves as Spring Arts Chair for the College Entertainment Committee. A fun fact about her is that she studied abroad in New Zealand for a semester!
Georgia Scherer
Georgia is a sophomore from Malvern, Pennsylvania majoring in Moral Psychology and Public Health. On campus, she is involved in student government, volunteers doing primate observation in the vivarium, and works in political organizing. She also runs the Philosophy @ McCaskey program. A fun fact about her is that she loves bulldogs and currently has one french bulldog.
PIPER CARWILE
Piper is a junior from Eugene, Oregon pursuing a joint major in anthropology and BFB. On campus, she is a member of the climbing club. A fun fact about her is that she has 500 digits of pi memorized!
PUBLICATIONS
A few sample publications, which report findings from data collected in the Developing Moral Values Lab, are below. The asterisks signify undergraduate coauthors. For a complete list, please visit Prof. Rottman's personal website.
{PDF} White, C. J. M., Schaller, M., Abraham, E.*, & Rottman, J. (2022). Navigating between punishment, avoidance, and instruction: The form and function of responses to moral violations varies across adult and child transgressors. Cognition, 223, 105048.
{PDF} DeJesus, J. M., Gerdin, E., Venkatesh, S., & Rottman, J. (2021). Considering uncontaminated food as an early-emerging and previously ignored disgust elicitor. Emotion, 21(7), 1522–1536.
{PDF} Rottman, J., Zizik, V.*, Minard, K.*, Young, L., Blake, P. R., & Kelemen, D. (2020). The moral, or the story? Changing children’s distributive justice preferences through social communication. Cognition, 205, 104441.
{PDF} Rottman, J., Johnston, A. M., Bierhoff, S.*, Pelletier, T.*, Grigoreva, A. D.*, & Benitez, J.* (2020). In sickness and in filth: Developing a disdain for dirty people. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 196, 104858.
Lab alumni
Elizabeth Abraham ’20; Sam Bellersen ’21; Josie Benitez ’18; Sydney Bierhoff ’18; Colleen Boggs, '22; Leslie Botey ’18;
Gregory Case ’18; Lauren Chen '23; Skylynn Coble, '23; Cristina Conde ’23; Jayda Cole '25; Tenny-Ann Dandy ’23;
Chandrakant Dhanraj ’20: Ipeknaz Erel ’18; Zoe Favilla, '23; Mary Fouad, '24; Caitlin Geller, '23; Rachel Gerb ’18;
Linned Gomez ’20; Heather Greenebaum ’18; Anastasiia Grigoreva ’20; Kat Gunther, '23; Emily Kapner ’21;
Nina Kegelman ’21; Nicole Kolmstetter ’21; Justin Lanzilotti, '25; Caroline Lawrence ’18; Mira Lerner ’20; Julianna Lynch ’19;
Xinyu Lu ’20; Zhuoying Lyu ’19; Maritza Marquez, '23; Kelly Minard ’21; Sophi Mitchell ’19; Kelsey Nason ’20; Prsni Patel ’20;
Taisha Pelletier ’18; Nithya Ramaswamy ’22; Raluca Rilla, '23; Lilian Rodriguez ’21; Stylianos Syropoulos ’18;
Caroline Stolfi ’19; Zachary Walden ’16; Julia Weber, '23; Maya Workowski ’21; Xinjie Zhao ’19; Valerie Zizik ’19
Independent study students
Sam Bellersen ’21: "Korsgaard and Lugones: Social Conditions and Constraints"
Josie Benitez ’18: "Conceptualizing Socioeconomic Status: Children's Essentialist Thinking About Differentially Advantaged SES Categories"
Olivia Brick ’24: "“Navigating the Autonomy-Beneficence 'Conflict': Does Perspective-Taking Improve Assessments of Willing Amputees?”
Teresa Flanagan ’18 (co-mentored with Dr. Lauren Howard): "What Will the Robot Do?: A Psychological, Philosophical, and Technological Study on Children’s Attribution of Free Will"
Rebecca Glass (née Branovan) ’17: "Gossip and Well-Being on College Campuses"
Anastasiia Grigoreva ’20: "Does 'No' Mean No if She is a Sex Robot? Assessments of Sexual Consent Violation Impermissibility in the Case of Sex Robots"
Nina Kegelman ’21: "Who’s Right, Who’s Wrong? Truth and Racial Reckoning in a Divided United States"
Isaac Kelly ’24: "Fuzzy Handcuffs: Social Media Infringes on Autonomy via Inconspicuous Behavioral Interventions"
David Leibowitz ’22: "Does Identification with Animals Influence Convergent Beliefs on Human and Animal Nature?"
Mira Lerner '20: "The Burden of Climate Action: How Environmental Responsibility is Impacted by Socioeconomic Status"
Julia Madaio ’21: "Monotheistic Religions and their Relationship to the Moral Foundations Theory"
Anna Markovitz ’18: "Analysis of Sexual Consent Perception"
Alexander Moog ’16: "The Moral Circle, Emotions, and Moral Foundations"
Nithya Ramaswamy '22: "Why do Beings Matter? A Study on Children's Perceptions of Existential Worth"
Stylianos Syropoulos '18: "The Creation and Validation of the Perceived Safety Scale"