Madhulika Shastry

My first (co)first-authored paper, "God Mostly Forgives Cruel Intentions: How U.S. Christians Perceive Divine Forgiveness," is now out in Psychology of Religion and Spirituality! doi.org/10.1037/rel000… Written with the amazing @samabramspsych, Molly Worthen, & @kurtjgray! 🧵👇:

I also made a guide with my tips for applying to post-bacc and phd positions and the applications I used: helendevine.academicwebsite.com/pages/9373 join the slack for post-bacc jobs here 🫶: join.slack.com/t/postbacc-psy… pls share widely to help make psych more accessible for new, great minds 🤓

Excited to share that I was awarded the @NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to support my research endeavors in religion, polarization, morality, and AI!

Catch us at @MidwesternPsych presenting our work 🎉Come check out our sessions on Saturday 🥳🥳🥳

Major congratulations are in order for two lab members -- @MirandaMStiehl , a first year student, and @helenldevine , a lab manager -- each received the @NSF Graduate Research Fellowship! 🥳 We're so proud of their hard work and continued excellence. #NSFGRFP

Thrilled to share I'll be starting a PhD in Psychology @Yale this fall with Melissa Ferguson — and that I was awarded the @NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to support my work! Can't wait to get started! 🥳 #NSFGRFP

Slay!

🚨 New paper in Personality and Individual Differences! We introduce the Words Can Harm Scale (WCHS): a 10-item measure of the belief that speech can cause lasting psychological harm. Who believes that words can harm, and what does this belief predict?🧵 ⬇️

📢 Deadline extended! New deadline: April 8 If you’re passionate about AI alignment, this is a rare chance to connect with AI researchers at the forefront of the field, social scientists studying AI’s broader impacts and the values people want it aligned with, and policy experts turning research into real-world impact.

This work was supported by the John Templeton Foundation!

People who recalled seeking God's forgiveness for something they did with bad motives reported less desire to improve than those who sought forgiveness from another person. In short: to err is human; to forgive — mostly unconditionally — is divine. 📰: doi.org/10.1037/rel000…

My first (co)first-authored paper, "God Mostly Forgives Cruel Intentions: How U.S. Christians Perceive Divine Forgiveness," is now out in Psychology of Religion and Spirituality! doi.org/10.1037/rel000… Written with the amazing @samabramspsych, Molly Worthen, & @kurtjgray! 🧵👇:

One week left to submit to the Mind & Machine Alignment Summit! ⏳ Propose a talk, experience, or project idea by March 16. We have a phenomenal lineup of speakers doing cutting-edge work in this space, and we’re excited to hear your ideas!

Our lab is presenting at @SPSPnews this week! 🔥🧑‍🔬

Come support and hear about our research at #SPSP2026 Chicago!

#SPSP26 Come see me present a Data Blitz at the Moral Psychology Preconference on Thursday, Feb. 26 @ 9:45 am – 10:15 am (Room E450B, Level 4) and a symposium talk at the Main Conference on Friday, Feb. 27th @ 3:30 pm – 4:40 pm (E353A, Level 3)! Excited to share this work!

In our paper, we argue that when people see AI as capable of empathy, they will become less willing to empathize with the suffering of others. Instead, people will offload empathy to AI. After all, when someone can go cry to GPT, why bother getting splashed with their tears?

New preprint out with @kurtjgray ! Titled Go Cry to GPT: People Offload Empathy to AI 🤖 💔 Read here: doi.org/10.31234/osf.i… I will also be presenting our results at #SPSP2026 during the Moral Psych preconference and main conference! tinyurl.com/27adeckf See 🧵👇

⚖️ New paper in Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences! Legal decisions hinge on who counts as a victim — but our judgments are biased & hard to change. We propose solutions: victim impact statements, funding restorative justice, & acknowledgments for exonerees.