We are in the Social Psychology Area of the  Department of Psychology at the University of Virginia. We study morality and the moral emotions, such as elevation, awe, gratitude, and admiration. We look at how these emotions develop, at how morality varies across cultures, and at how "intuitive ethics" motivate liberals and conservatives, and give us the big moral misunderstanding known as the culture war. We hope to use what we discover to find ways to use moral emotions as tools to foster moral development, trust and improved relationships, and greater understanding across moral and political divides.

PROSPECTIVE GRAD STUDENTS: Note that the Haidtlab is now quite full, with 7 grad students, so prof. Haidt is unlikely to take on any more grad students for Fall 2010. But there will be some room the following year, and all of our students work in multiple labs. So if there are other faculty members whose work interests you, then by all means apply to UVA, but if you are interested primarily in the Haidt lab, your odds of admission would be low (though not zero) this year.