Matti Wilks

Earlier today I saw @robinince.bsky.social at Fringe. Such a nice change of pace to see a show focused on awe and joy and celebrating wonderful people. And, of course, books!

www.edfringe.com/tickets/what...

Ah, what a lovely thing to say, thank you. The feeling is mutual! @tombrychevalier.bsky.social

Recent interview on Knowing Animals w @joshmilburn.bsky.social. We discuss my new paper on children's moral circles, coauthored w @juliamarshall.bsky.social @karrineldner.bsky.social @luciuscaviola.bsky.social

Podcast: knowinganimals.libsyn.com/episode-240-...
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I was very sad we missed you, too. Hopefully we will see you at phair2027!

Then some much needed post conference hiking in the highlands 😃

Very late to the party but 3 weeks ago we hosted the @phair-society.bsky.social conference here in Edinburgh. What an amazing few days catching up with colleagues, learning about new research, and talking all things animal advocacy 🐷🐶 #phair2025

🚨We're hiring! The Mind & Morality Lab is seeking a Lab Manager to start this September. Excited about research on social cognitive development? Apply here: forms.gle/4rKXD2x1vmkD.... Learn more about us: sites.brown.edu/mindmorality....
⏳ We’re reviewing applications on a rolling basis—apply early!

Fascinating and important findings!

"Children Prioritize Humans Over Animals Less Than Adults Do" Matti Wilks, Lucius Caviola, Guy Kahane, and Paul Bloom https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620960398

"Does Distance Matter? How Physical and Social Distance Shape Our Perceived Obligations to Others" Julia Marshall, Matti Wilks Open Mind (2024) 8: 511–534. https://doi.org/10.1162/opmi_a_00138

Recap: The moral circle across development Children appear to be more morally expansive than adults Non-human animals, physically and socially distant others artificial intelligence Why are children's moral circles more expansive? What drives the contraction?

Recap: Unusually altruistic groups Differences in moral judgements for GWWC and vegetarians GWWC pledgers also differ on thinking style Few other differences for vegetarians (non-moral) What drives these differences? Where else might we find them?

What beings are in your #moralCircle?

The 1st keynote by @mattiwilks.bsky.social reported that
- kids, effective altruists (EAs), and vegetarians showed less #speciesism, #anthropocentrism
- EAs performed better on cognitive tests

Follow Dr. Wilks on #gScholar: scholar.google.com/citations?us...

What Sparks Change in Our View of Animals? PHAIR 2025 with Dr. Matti Wilks and Dr Luke McGuire This discussion reiterates the critical intersection where psychology meets animal advocacy. This knowledge is not just for academics but for anyone eager to contribute to a world where compassion ext...

It's just one month until the @phair-society.bsky.social Animal Advocacy Conference in Edinburgh! I caught up with @marikasbell.bsky.social and Luke McGuire to talk all things conference on the Deal with Animals Podcast!

www.thedealwithanimals.com/post/what-sp...

phair2025.co.uk

Very excited to finally have this in print! @juliamarshall.bsky.social @karrineldner.bsky.social @nathumbehav.nature.com

My student @jmepedersen.bsky.social is launching a new project and we are looking for pilot participants for a couple of short surveys. If you have a few minutes free:
s1917169.ppls.ed.ac.uk/Pilot_1A/mai...
s1917169.ppls.ed.ac.uk/Pilot_1B/mai...

(Laptops/tablets preferable for formatting)

Last month I was lucky enough to join @briancoxtalks.bsky.social @robinince.bsky.social Jo Brand and Prof Steve Jones on the Infinite Monkey Cage to chat about altruism. Definitely a career highlight! Link below:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

No Compulsory Redundancies at The University Of Edinburgh! — UCU Edinburgh Management Is Manufacturing a ‘Financial Crisis’ to Impose Staff Cuts

Worth reading this alongside @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social's analysis of our finances, which paints a rather different picture, highlighting financial mismanagement: www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/blog/3fzpaa5...

The Infinite Monkey Cage - Series 32 - How selfish are we really? - Jo Brand, Matti Wilks and Steve Jones - BBC Sounds Brian Cox and Robin Ince are on their best behaviour as they explore altruism.

How selfish are we really? Why organisms help one another? How has society necessitated altruism? Listen as PPLS Psychology lecturer @mattiwilks.bsky.social joins @profbriancox.bsky.social,
@robinince.bsky.social, Jo Brand and Steve Jones from University College London. Listen here: edin.ac/4kc8txo

BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage, Series 32, How selfish are we really? - Jo Brand, Matti Wilks and Steve Jones Brian Cox and Robin Ince are on their best behaviour as they explore altruism.

The Infinite Monkey Cage
How selfish are we really? - Jo Brand, @mattiwilks.bsky.social and Steve Jones
Thursday 11:00
BBC Radio 4
@profbriancox.bsky.social and @robinince.bsky.social are on their best behaviour as they explore altruism.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

What Have Survey Experiments Taught Us About Decisions to Use Nuclear

Next week: "What Have Survey Experiments Taught Us About Decisions to Use Nuclear Weapons?" with Rose McDermott, @pslovic.bsky.social and Sharon Weiner.

RSVP here⤵️
cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/events/what-...

Basel-Oxford-NUS BioXPhi Summit 2025 | Institute for Biomedical Ethics | University of Basel Institute for Biomedical Ethics

Reminder of the call for abstracts! Deadline approaching: Basel-Oxford-NUS Experimental Philosophical Bioethics (BioXPhi) Summit 2025 | hosted at the University of Basel, keynotes by Edmond Awad and Matti Wilks

We've extended submissions until February 6, just over a week left to submit to the @phair-society.bsky.social conference. Come and join us in Edinburgh, July 2-5. phair2025.co.uk

That sounds like a fantastic idea, lets discuss?

Just over a week left to submit to the 2025 PHAIR animal advocacy conference. Come hang out with us in Edinburgh! @phair-society.bsky.social
Phair2025.co.uk

Welcome to the Society for the Psychology of Human Animal Intergroup Relations (PHAIR) BlueSky page! 💙

Here we aim to advance and promote scientific research on moral and social psychology, diet and health, human-animal relationships, sustainability and environmental psychology. 🌱

phairsociety.org

As always, can strongly recommend applying for a postdoc with @paulbloomatyale.bsky.social 👇

Happy to release a pre-print 5 years in the making!

"A two-wave longitudinal study of children’s prosocial behavior during Christmas."

It's currently under review at Current Research in Behavioral Sciences. Watch this space.

osf.io/preprints/os...

Abstract of paper that is available through the shared link.

Excited to share our new preprint!

In a meta-analysis of 66 randomised controlled trials (9,978 students), we found that education is effective in improving students' ethical and moral outcomes.

osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/xv536

Americans are eating less meat. And more meat. How? The growing chasm in American meat consumption, explained.

This summer, a team of economists put out a paper analyzing what tens of thousands of households bought at the grocery store from 2005 to 2020. What they found caught my eye: Rates of vegetarian grocery purchasing is up by a lot, but so is meat purchasing: www.vox.com/future-perfe...