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Piercarlo Valdesolo
Graduate Student
Department of Psychology, 125-NI
Northeastern University
Boston, MA 02115 USA
(617) 373-8541 (office)
(617) 373-8714 (fax)
valdesolo.p@neu.edu

Advisor: David DeSteno

Research

My interests fall under the general umbrella of emotion research, with a specific focus on the role of affective processes in moral decision making. The new wave of research in moral psychology represents a shift away from traditional rational models of morality, and towards a more comprehensive dual-process model. My past research has added to the growing body of work in this field, using the methodologies of emotion research to examine the process as well as the contextual sensitivity of moral judgments. My current research focuses on the experience of empathy, with an aim towards disambiguating the nature of the affective response generated at the sight or thought of a moral transgression. What do we feel when we encounter injustice or suffering? And when, and via what mechanisms, are we motivated to act prosocially? Which components of this response vary according to target and context and which, if any, remain stable? I hope to answer these questions using an integrated approach drawing from research in social psychology, cognitive psychology, experimental philosophy, and affective science.