**Current and former student collaborators underlined.
**I will happily send you a PDF of any paper you’d like to read; for reasons unfathomable to me, I have been told I cannot link them directly here.
In Press
Miller, D. T., & Laurin, K. (forthcoming). Pervasive tensions in social psychology. In D. Gilbert, S. Fiske, E. Finkel, & W. Mendes (Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology, 6th edition.
Guan, K., Heltzel, G., & Laurin, K. (in press). Morality and politics. In P. A. Robbins & B. F. Malle (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Moral Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2024
Engstrom, H. R., & Laurin, K. (2024). Lower social class, better social skills? A registered report testing diverging predictions from the rank and cultural approaches to social class. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. [registered report]
Engstrom, H. R., Laurin, K., Kay, N. R., & Human, L. J. (2024). Socioeconomic status and meta-perceptions: How markers of culture and rank predict beliefs about how others see us. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Laurin, K., Engstrom, H. R., Alic, A., & Tracy, J. L. (2024). Is being elite the same as living an easy life? Two distinct ways of experiencing subjective SES. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
White, C. J. M., Dean, C., & Laurin, K. (in press). Do reminders of God increase willingness to take risks? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. [registered report]
2023
Britton, E. M., Laurin, K., Grossmann, I., Dorfman, A., Oakes, H., & Scholer, A. A. (2023). The dynamics of self-control conflicts in daily life in predicting self-control success and perceived self-regulatory effectiveness. Collabra: Psychology.
Laurin, K., & Thomas, I. A. (2023). Emerging themes and avenues for future work. In M. Berg & E. Chang (Eds.), Motivation and Morality: A Multidisciplinary Approach (pp. 245-257). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Moon, J. W., Cohen, A. B., Laurin, K., & MacKinnon, D. P. (2023). Is religion special? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 18, 340-357.
Thomas, I. A., Kay, N. R., & Laurin, K. (2023). Moral psychology biases toward individual, not systemic, representations. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. [commentary]
2022
Benjamin, R., Laurin, K., & Chiang, M. (2022). Who would mourn democracy? Liberals might, but it depends on who’s in charge. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 122(5), 779–805.
Jago, A., & Laurin, K. (2022). Assumptions about algorithms’ capacity for discrimination. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 48, 582-595.
2021
Heltzel, G., & Laurin, K. (2021). Seek and ye shall be fine: Attitudes toward political perspective-seekers. Psychological Science, 32, 1782-1800.
2020
Heltzel, G., & Laurin, K. (2020). Polarization in America: Two possible futures. Current Opinion in Behavioral Science, 34, 179-184.
Jost, J. T., Halperin, E., & Laurin, K. (2020). Five observations about tradition and progress in the scientific study of political ideologies. Current Opinion in Behavioral Science, 34, iii-vii.
Zlatev, J. J., Kupor, D., Laurin, K., & Miller, D. T. (2020). Being ‘good’ or ‘good enough’: Prosocial risk and the structure of moral self-regard. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 118, 242-253.
Laurin, K. & Jettinghoff, W. M. (2020). What kind of rationalization is system justification? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 43, e39. [commentary]
Laurin, K., & Engstrom, H. R. (2020). The context of low socioeconomic status can undermine people’s motivation for financial success. Current Opinion in Psychology, 33, 105-109.
Kupor, D., & Laurin, K. (2020). Probable cause: The influence of prior probabilities on expectations and perceptions of magnitude. Journal of Consumer Research, 46, 833-852.
Engstrom, H. R., & Laurin, K. (2020). Existential uncertainty and religion. In K. Vail & C. Routledge (Eds.), The science of religion, spirituality and existentialism (pp. 243-260). London: Academic Press.
2019
Jago, A., Kreps, T., & Laurin, K. (2019). Collectives in organizations appear less morally motivated than individuals. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 148, 2229-2244.
Engstrom, H. R., Alic, A., & Laurin, K. (2019). Motivated justice cognitions. In E. A. Lind (Ed.), Social psychology and justice (pp. 46-74). New York: Routledge.
Jago, A., & Laurin, K. (2019). Inferring commitment from rates of organizational transition. Management Science, 65, 2842-2857.
Friesen, J. P., Laurin, K., Shepherd, S., Gaucher, D. & Kay, A. C. (2019). System justification: Experimental evidence, its contextual nature, and implications for social change. British Journal of Social Psychology, 58, 315-339.
Laurin, K., Engstrom, H., & Alic, A. (2019). Motivational accounts of the vicious cycle of social status: An integrative framework using the United States as a case study. Perspectives in Psychological Science, 14, 107-137.
Shariff, A. F., & Laurin, K. (2019). Do we outsource our police work to God? In D. J. Slone & W. W. McCorkle Jr. (Eds.), The cognitive science of religion: A methodological introduction to key empirical studies (pp. 145-154). Bloomsbury Academic: London, UK.
2018
Laurin, K., Kay, A. C., & Landau, M. J. (2018). ML2 Commentary: Structure and goal pursuit: Individual and cultural differences. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science.
Kupor, D., Reich, T., & Laurin, K. (2018). The (bounded) benefits of correction: The unanticipated interpersonal advantages of making and correcting mistakes. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 149, 165-178.
Brulin, J. G., Hill, P. C., Laurin, K., Mikulincer, M., & Granqvist, P. (2018). Religion vs. the Welfare State: The importance of cultural context for religious schematicity and priming. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 10, 276-287.
Laurin, K. (2018). Inaugurating rationalization: Three field studies find increased rationalization when anticipated realities become current. Psychological Science, 29, 483-495.
2017
Laurin, K. (2017). Belief in God: A cultural adaptation with important side effects. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26, 458-463.
Khenfer, J., Laurin, K., Tafani, E., Roux, E., & Kay, A. C. (2017). Interventionist external agents make specific advice less demotivating. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 73, 189-196.
Kreps, T. A., Laurin, K., & Merritt, A. C. (2017). Hypocritical Flip-Flop, or Courageous Evolution? When Leaders Change Their Moral Minds. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113, 730-752.
Nakashima, N., Daniels, D., & Laurin, K. (2017). It’s about time: Construal level and restrictive policies. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 142, 12-27.
Jago, A., & Laurin, K. (2017). Corporate personhood: Lay perceptions and ethical consequences. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 23, 100-113.
Laurin, K., & Kay, A. C. (2017). The motivational underpinnings of belief in God. In J. M. Olson (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 56, pp. 201-257). London: Academic Press.
Laurin, K. (2017). Belief in God: Evolved functions and side effects. In C. M. Zedelius, B. C. N. Müller, & J. W. Schooler (Eds.), The science of lay theories: How beliefs shape our cognition, behavior and health (pp. 243-264). Switzerland: Springer international publishing.
Khenfer, J., Roux, E., Tafani, E., & Laurin, K. (2017). When God’s (not) needed: Spotlight on how belief in divine control influences goal commitment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 70, 117-123.
2016
Laurin, K. (2016). Interpersonal influences on goals: Current and future directions for goal contagion research. Social Psychology and Personality Compass, 10, 668-678.
Belmi, P., & Laurin, K. (2016). Who wants to get to the top? Class and lay theories about power. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 111, 505-529.
Laurin, K., Fitzsimons, G. M., Finkel, E J., Carswell, K. L., vanDellen, M. R., Hofmann, W., Lambert, N. M. Eastwick, P. W., Fincham, F. D., & Brown, P. C. (2016). Power and the pursuit of a partner’s goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 110, 840-868.
Laurin, K., & Kay, A. C. (2016). Religion and self-regulation. In K. D. Vohs, R. F. Baumeister (Eds.), Handbook of Self-Regulation: Research, Theory, & Applications. New York: The Guilford Press.
2015
Kupor, D., Laurin, K., & Levav, J. (2015). Anticipating divine protection? Reminders of God can increase non-moral risk-taking. Psychological Science, 26, 374-384.
Laurin, K. (2015). From fundamental motives to religious dimensions: Minding the gap. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 5, 240-247.
2014
Laurin, K., Schumann, K., & Holmes, J. G. (2014). A relationship With God? Connecting with the divine to assuage fears of interpersonal rejection. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5, 777-785.
Laurin, K., & Plaks, J. E. (2014). Religion and punishment: Opposing influences of orthopraxy and orthodoxy on reactions to unintentional acts. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5, 835-843.
Kay, A. C., Laurin, K., Fitzsimons, G. M, & Landau, M. J. (2014). A functional basis for structure-seeking: Exposure to structure promotes willingness to engage in motivated action. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 486-491.
2013
Laurin, K., Kay, A. C., Proudfoot, D., & Fitzsimons, G. J. (2013). Response to restrictive policies: Reconciling system justification and psychological reactance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 122, 152-162.
Laurin, K., Kille, D. R., & Eibach, R. P. (2013). “The way I am is the way you ought to be”: Perceiving one’s relational status as unchangeable motivates normative idealizations of status. Psychological Science, 24, 1523-1532.
Laurin, K., Gaucher, D., & Kay, A. C. (2013). Stability and the justification of social inequality. European Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 246-254.
Madigan, S., Atkinson, L., Laurin, K., & Benoit, D. (2013). Attachment and internalizing behavior in early childhood: A meta-analysis. Developmental Psychology, 49, 672-689.
2012
Laurin, K.*, Shariff, A. F.*, Henrich, J., & Kay, A. C. (2012). Outsourcing punishment to God: Beliefs in divine control reduce earthly punishment. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 279, 3272-3281.
*KL and AFS contributed equally and share first authorship.
Laurin, K., Kay, A. C., & Fitzsimons, G. J. (2012). Reactance versus rationalization: Divergent responses to constrained freedom. Psychological Science, 23, 205-209.
Laurin, K., Kay, A. C., & Fitzsimons, G. M. (2012). Divergent effects of activating thoughts of god on self-regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 4-21.
2011
Laurin, K., Kay, A. C., & Shepherd, S. (2011). Self-stereotyping as a route to system justification. Social Cognition, 29, 360-375.
Laurin, K., Fitzsimons, G. M., & Kay, A. C. (2011). Social Disadvantage and the Self-Regulatory Function of Justice Beliefs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 149-171.
2010
Laurin, K., Shepherd, S., & Kay, A. C. (2010). System inescapability and defense of the status quo: System-justifying consequences of restricted exit opportunities. Psychological Science, 21, 1075-1082.
Kay, A. C., Moscovitch, D. M., & Laurin, K. (2010). Randomness, Attributions of Arousal, and Belief in God. Psychological Science, 21, 216-218.
Kay, A. C., Banfield, J., Laurin, K. (2010). Ideology and power. In T. Vescio & A Guinote (Eds.),The Social Psychology of Power. New York: Guilford Press.
Gaucher, D., Kay, A. C., & Laurin, K. (2010). The power of the status quo: Consequences for maintaining and perpetuating inequality. In R. Bobocel, A. C. Kay, M. P. Zanna, & J. M. Olson (Eds.), The Psychology of Justice and Legitimacy: The Ontario Symposium (Vol. 11). Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
2009
Kay, A. C. Gaucher, D., Peach, J. M., Friesen, J., Laurin, K., Zanna, M. P., & Spencer, S. J. (2009). Inequality, discrimination, and the power of the status quo: Direct evidence for a motivation to view what is as what should be. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 421-434.
2008
Laurin, K., Kay, A. C., & Moscovitch, D. M. (2008). On the belief in God: Towards an understanding of the emotional substrates of compensatory control. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 1559-1562.
Kay, A. C., Gaucher, D., Napier, J. L., Callan, M. J., & Laurin, K. (2008). God and the Government: Testing a compensatory control mechanism for the support of external systems. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 18-35.
Shultz, T. R., Thivierge, J. P., & Laurin, K. (2008). Acquisition of concepts with characteristic and defining features. In B. C. Love, K. McRae, & V. M. Sloutsky (Eds.), Proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 531-536). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society.