Contact Information
Room 305, M/C 716
Champaign, IL 61820
Office Hours
Research Areas
Biography
Shoko Watanabe is a social psychology PhD 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 has 2 main streams of research. First, Shoko’s moral/social perception research with Dr. Sean Laurent addresses when and why uninvolved third parties promote forgiveness, and conditions under which hypocrites are punished. Second, Shoko's religious cognition research with Dr. Dov Cohen examines how people maintain or change their religious beliefs amidst suffering. Relatedly, Shoko collaborates with Dr. Nathan Todd to study longitudinal patterns of stability and change in religious engagement. Aside from these topics, Shoko is also interested in social emotions (e.g., schadenfreude) and the formation of trust and friendships in groups and teams.
Research Interests
- Religious Cognition
- Theodicy
- Worldview Threat
- Moral Psychology
- Forgiveness & Reconciliation
- Hypocrisy & Punishment
- Group Trust & Cooperation
Research Description
My current research focuses on theodicy, worldview threat, and how people change or maintain their religious beliefs. 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 approaches, and through secondary data analyses using structural equation modeling. 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.
Education
- Ph.D., Social Psychology, Minor in Quantitative Psychology (2018-Present), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Attendee, Boston Colloquium on the Scientific Study of Religion, Boston University
- M.S., Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Attendee, International Summer School on Social Cognition & Neuroscience, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany
- M.S., Educational Psychology, Oklahoma State University
- B.A., Theological-Historical Studies (Graduated Summa Cum Laude), Oral Roberts University
Awards and Honors
- 2022 Sarah C. Mangelsdorf Outstanding Female Graduate Student Award, University of Illinois
- 2022 Diversity in Existential Psychology Registration Award, Cleveland State University
- 2020 Conference Travel Award (top-ranked within program area), University of Illinois
- 2019 Student Travel Award, Society for Personality and Social Psychology
- 2018 Student Travel Scholarship, Center for Mind and Culture
- 2016–2021 Psychology Alumni Advisory Board Graduate Student Travel and Research Award, University of Illinois
- 2016–2018 List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent (top 10% campus-wide), University of Illinois
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)
Additional Campus Affiliations
- Subject Pool Coordinator (2019-2022), University of Illinois Psychology Department
- Human Subjects Committee Member (2019-2022), University of Illinois Psychology Department
External Links
Highlighted Publications
International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology. On religious doubt and disaffiliation [link]
Advances in the CSR series (2022). Studying the religious mind: Methodology in the cognitive science of religion [link]
PsyPost. Study suggests the link between disgust and interracial romance is not strong or widespread [link]
Recent Publications
* undergraduate student I mentored; † shared first-authorship
Watanabe, S., & Laurent, S. M. (2022). Past its prime? A methodological overview and critique of religious priming research in social psychology. In A. W. Geertz, L. Ambasciano, E. Eidinow, L. H. Martin, K. L. Nielbo, N. P. Roubekas, V. van Mulukom, & D. Xygalatas (Eds.), Studying the religious mind: Methodology in the cognitive science of religion (pp. 139-163). Equinox Publishing. (Original work published 2021).
Hoogeveen, S., Sarafoglou, A., … Watanabe, S., … van Elk, M., & Wagenmakers, E.-J. (2022). A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being. Religion, Brain & Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2022.2070255
Watanabe, S., Weiner D. S., & Laurent, S. M. (2022). Schadenfreude for undeserved misfortunes: The unexpected consequences of endorsing a strong belief in a just world. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 101: Article 104336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104336
Gupta, S.†*, Watanabe, S.†, & Laurent, S. M. (2021). Psychological predictors of vaccination intentions among U.S. undergraduates and online panel workers during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic. PLOS ONE, 16(11): e0260380. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260380
Watanabe, S., & Laurent, S. M. (2021). Volition speaks louder than action: Offender atonement, forgivability, and victim valuation in the minds of perceivers. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 47(6): 1020-1036. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220953996
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. (2021). Disgust toward interracial couples: Mixed feelings about Black-White race mixing. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 12(5): 769-779. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550620939411
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