Contact Information
Room 305, M/C 716
Champaign, IL 61820
Office Hours
Research Areas
Biography
Shoko Watanabe is a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Shoko studied theology as an undergraduate at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She is also a certified math teacher with an M.S. in Educational Psychology from Oklahoma State University. Shoko’s work with Sean Laurent addresses when and why people promote forgiveness, and the nature of moral hypocrisy and the conditions under which hypocrites are forgiven or punished. She is also interested in the formation of trust and friendships in groups and teams.
Research Interests
- Moral Psychology
- Religious Cognition
- Forgiveness & Reconciliation
- Hypocrisy
- Group Trust & Cooperation
- Worldview Threat
Research Description
My current research focuses on religious cognition and deconversion. I also study third-party forgiveness and punishment, perceptions of hypocrisy, and in-group trust and cooperation. I explore these topics in laboratory experiments and naturalistic field groups using social cognitive and behavioral economics approaches. Applying my theological-historical background to psychological study of religious concepts, I aim to better understand and facilitate cross-disciplinary discussions of human behavior and spirituality.
Courses Taught
PSYC 100 Introductory Psychology (Fall 2018)
PSYC 332 Social Methods Lab (Spring 2017, 2018)
PSYC 333 Social Psychology in Society Lab (Fall 2016)
External Links
Highlighted Publications
PsyPost: Study suggests the link between disgust and interracial romance is not strong or widespread (link)
Recent Publications
Watanabe, S., & Laurent, S. M. (in press). Volition speaks louder than action: Offender atonement, forgivability, and victim valuation in the minds of perceivers. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220953996
Watanabe, S., & Laurent, S. M. (in press). Disgust toward interracial couples: Mixed feelings about Black-White race mixing. Social Psychological and Personality Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550620939411
Watanabe, S., & Laurent, S. M. (2021). Past its prime? A methodological overview and critique of religious priming research in social psychology. Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion, 6(1-2): 31-55. https://doi.org/10.1558/jcsr.38411
Watanabe, S., & Laurent, S. M. (2020). Feeling bad and doing good: Forgivability through the lens of uninvolved third parties. Social Psychology, 51(1): 35-49. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000390