PETER DESCIOLI
Research Interests My research aims to understand how the human mind uses principles of strategy to solve problems in the social world. I have been focusing on moral condemnation, especially the functions of third party judgment, moralistic punishment, and moral impartiality. I have also been working on friendship, looking at how people distribute loyalties across close friends (friend ranking) and how people try to obscure their loyalties (rank masking). More recently, I have started thinking about the psychology of ownership.
Publications DeScioli, P., & Kurzban, R. (2009). Mysteries of morality. Cognition, 112, 281-299. [pdf] DeScioli, P., & Kurzban, R. (2009). The alliance hypothesis for human friendship. PLoS ONE, 4, e5802. [pdf] Kurzban, R., & DeScioli, P. (2008). Reciprocity in groups: Information-seeking in a public goods game. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38, 139-158. [pdf] DeScioli, P. (2008). Beyond selfish and selfless [Review of Moral sentiments and material interests by H. Gintis, S. Bowles, R. Boyd, and E. Fehr (Eds.)]. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 67, 524-528. [pdf] DeScioli, P., & Kurzban, R. (2008). Cracking the superhero's moral code. In R. Rosenberg (Ed.), The Psychology of Superheroes (pp.245-259). Dallas, TX: BenBella Books. [amazon] Kurzban, R., DeScioli, P., & O'Brien, E. (2007). Audience effects on moralistic punishment. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28, 75-84. [pdf] DeScioli, P. (2007). Peering underneath the hood of morality [Review of Moral minds by M. D. Hauser]. Evolutionary Psychology, 5, 306-312. [pdf] DeScioli, P., & Kurzban, R. (2007). The games people play. In S. Gangestad & J. Simpson (Eds.), Evolution of Mind: Fundamental Questions and Controversies (pp. 130-136). New York: Guilford. [pdf ] [amazon] In Press Weisbord, R. K., & DeScioli, P. (in press). The effects of donor standing on philanthropy: Insights from the psychology of gift-giving. Gonzaga Law Review. [draft] DeScioli, P. (in press). Heavy hearts and heads held high - A review of Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds [by Steven Vogel]. Evolution and Human Behavior.
Unpublished Manuscripts DeScioli, P., Bruening, R., & Kurzban. R. (in prep.). The omission effect and the design of moral psychology. Kurzban, R., & DeScioli, P. (in prep.). Adaptationist punishment in humans. [draft] DeScioli, P., Asao, K., & Kurzban. R. (in prep.). Beyond harm: Omissions and byproducts across moral domains. DeScioli, P., Gilbert, S., & Kurzban, R. (in prep.). The indelible victim in moral cognition.
Invited Talks Kurzban, R., & DeScioli, P. (2009, May). Adaptationist Morality. Plenary Address, Human Behavior and Evolution Society Conference, Fullerton, CA. DeScioli, P. (2009, January). The Alliance Hypothesis for Human Friendship. Chapman University, Economic Science Institute. [video] DeScioli, P. (2008, December). The Alliance Hypothesis for Human Friendship. UCLA, Behavior, Evolution, and Culture Series. [video]
Conference Presentations DeScioli, P., Bruening, R., & Kurzban, R. (2009, May). The Omission Effect and the Design of Moral Psychology. Talk given at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society Conference, Fullerton, CA. Christner, J., DeScioli, P., & Kurzban, R. (2009, May). Strategic Omissions in a Reverse Dictator Game. Talk given at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society Conference, Fullerton, CA. DeScioli, P., Kurzban, R., & Nagaraja, C. (2007, June). Divided Loyalties and Rank-Masking Among Friends. Talk given at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society Conference, Williamsburg, VA. Jayawickreme, E. R., Schueller, S. M., & DeScioli, P. (2007, May). Divided Loyalties and Happiness. Poster presented at the Association for Psychological Science 19th Annual Convention, Washington, DC. DeScioli, P. (2006, June). The Four Basic Games. Talk given at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society Conference, Philadelphia, PA. DeScioli, P. (2005, June). Characterizing Reciprocity in Groups: Information-Seeking in a Public Goods Game. Talk given at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society Conference, Austin, TX.
Teaching Psyc 181 Cognitive Development Psyc 168 Human Sexuality: An Evolutionary Approach
Societies
In The News The New York Times. October, 2008. “Civil enforcers take aim at Wall Street.” [link] The Globe and Mail. June, 2009. “How highly do your friends rate you?” [link] Los Angeles Times. June, 2009. “You saw it on ‘survivor’: Alliances matter.” [link] Science Daily. June, 2009. “Be your best friend if you'll be mine: Alliance hypothesis for human friendship.” [link] Daily Pennsylvanian. June, 2009. "Friends' opinions do matter." [link] Penn SAS Frontiers. August, 2009. “That’s what friends are for?” [link] Skeptic Magazine, 15:2. October, 2009. Kurzban, R. & DeScioli, P. "Why religions turn oppressive." [link] ScienceDirect Top 25. "Mysteries of morality" is the most downloaded paper from the journal Cognition for July-September 2009. [link] Psychology Today. December, 2009. Kenrick, D. T. “In "Defense" of Tiger Woods, AND of his critics." [link]
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