Assistant Professor Mohammad Atari has received the Association of Psychological Science (APS) Rising Star designation. This award is presented to outstanding APS Members in the earliest stages of their research career post-PhD. Drawing its name from an Observer editorial series that featured exemplars of the exciting work being done by the field’s newest researchers, this designation recognizes researchers whose innovative work has already advanced the field and signals great potential for their continued contributions.
Mohammad Atari's research focuses on moral psychology, cultural psychology, and the intersection of morality with social behaviors. His work spans multiple areas, including the variation of moral principles across cultures, the role of morality in language, and its impact on radicalization and social behavior.
One of his key contributions is the study of morality across cultures. In his 2023 paper with Haidt and colleagues, Atari explores how morality and its interconnected values and beliefs differ beyond WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) societies. This work highlights how moral values are not universal but vary significantly across different cultural contexts, challenging traditional moral psychology models that are often based on Western populations.
Atari also investigates historical psychology, as seen in his 2023 work with Henrich. This research examines how historical events shape psychological traits and behaviors over time, providing insight into the long-term cultural evolution of human morality and social norms.
Another significant area of his work focuses on morality in everyday language. In a 2023 study published in Scientific Reports, Atari and his collaborators analyze vast datasets of spoken and written language to demonstrate the scarcity of moral talk in daily communication. Despite the centrality of morality in human life, explicit moral discourse is relatively rare, raising questions about how moral norms are transmitted and reinforced in societies.
His research also explores moral homogeneity and radicalization. A 2022 study in Social Psychological and Personality Science examines how morally homogeneous networks—social groups that share highly similar moral beliefs—can contribute to radicalization. This work suggests that when people interact primarily with those who share their moral convictions, they may become more extreme in their attitudes and behaviors, increasing the risk of ideological polarization.
Further, Atari has contributed to understanding group-based morality and prejudice. In a 2021 Nature Communications paper, he and his colleagues investigate how moral values associated with group identity can fuel extreme expressions of prejudice. This study reveals that strong moral convictions about one’s in-group can justify and amplify hostility toward out-groups, shedding light on the psychological mechanisms behind intergroup conflict.
Overall, Atari’s work provides deep insights into the cultural, historical, and psychological dimensions of morality. His research challenges existing moral psychology frameworks and underscores the importance of cultural and contextual factors in understanding morality.