Raunak Pillai

And of course, I could not have possibly gotten here without the help of so so many people who have guided me along the way--in particular @lkfazio.bsky.social and @jayvanbavel.bsky.social !

06.11.2025 16:01 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

For folks interested in applying to work with me as a grad student, see below for:

More info about SBU's Cognitive Science PhD program: www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/psyc...

More info about my lab and work: rmpillai.com

06.11.2025 16:01 — 👍 5    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0

Photo of me next to a bronze statue of Wolfie the Seawolf, Stony Brook's mascot

I'll be starting as an Assistant Professor of Cognitive Science at Stony Brook in Fall '26!

My lab will take a social cognitive approach to studying how we form/update our beliefs and why we disagree about what is true vs false

I'll also be reviewing grad apps! See below for more info

06.11.2025 16:01 — 👍 105    🔁 10    💬 4    📌 3

Here's why Vanderbilt's response to the Trump higher ed 'compact' is not enough | Opinion With the deadline looming for colleges to sign Trump's "compact," Vanderbilt must resist, says one university professor.

"Vanderbilt is failing in its moral responsibility to push back against rising authoritarianism and political coercion."

My effort to convince Vanderbilt (and all universities) to take a stand for the rule of law, the Constitution, and our democracy.

www.tennessean.com/story/opinio...

24.10.2025 12:32 — 👍 293    🔁 93    💬 7    📌 8

I'm excited to finally have a preprint of this paper up, a few years in the making.

In it we argue that industry-driven manipulation of social media research is well underway and that norms and institutions in the field are ill-prepared to resist tech's influence.

arxiv.org/abs/2510.19894

24.10.2025 00:12 — 👍 147    🔁 56    💬 4    📌 11

Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain. Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.

New from me and @brendannyhan.bsky.social

Why Trump's "Compact for Academic Excellence" is a devil's bargain and should be rejected in all forms

www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

07.10.2025 13:22 — 👍 140    🔁 52    💬 0    📌 2

Coauthors: Laura Globig, @steverathje.bsky.social, Anni Sternisko, @remi-theriault.com @jayvanbavel.bsky.social

CC: @centerconflictcooperation.com

05.09.2025 13:58 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

OSF

New preprint: From vaccinations to masking, politics predicts health behaviors. In this review we discuss these differences in light of classic psychological theories of group identity and behavioral decision-making.

We welcome any feedback on this working paper!

osf.io/preprints/ps...

05.09.2025 13:58 — 👍 18    🔁 6    💬 1    📌 0

🚨 10 Days Until Stand Up for Science, and some HUGE NEWS! - Take Action With Us! 🚨

We’re excited to announce 32 official Stand Up for Science events happening across the country on March 7th!

🧵⬇️

26.02.2025 02:54 — 👍 191    🔁 105    💬 5    📌 20

An Illusory Consensus Effect: The Mere Repetition of Information Increases Estimates That Others Would Believe or Already Know It How do people estimate the prevalence of beliefs and knowledge among others? Here, we examine the hypothesis that mere repetition of information increases such perceptions of consensus — an “illusory ...

In a new article now out in Collabora: Psychology, @rmpillai.bsky.social and I find that the mere repetition of information increases estimates of its consensus, a finding we refer to as an “illusory consensus effect.”

19.10.2024 16:43 — 👍 56    🔁 28    💬 2    📌 1

Social and Personality Psychologists on Student Protests for Justice in Palestine

S+P Psychologists, Michael Kraus put together an excellent letter calling on social and personality psychologists to meet the moment re protecting students' rights to free speech. He would love faculty signatures! If you're a PhD Student, please send this around!

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

27.04.2024 23:53 — 👍 5    🔁 7    💬 0    📌 0