Daryl Cameron

Daryl Cameron is an Associate Professor of Psychology at The Pennsylvania State University and the Sherwin Early Career Professor in the Rock Ethics Institute (2023-2026). He serves as the Social Area Coordinator in the Department of Psychology and is a Senior Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institute. His interdisciplinary work bridges psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience to investigate empathy and moral decision-making.

His educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2013
• M.A. in Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2009
• B.A. in Philosophy and Psychology, College of William and Mary, 2006

Cameron's research centers on the psychological mechanisms of empathy and moral judgment, investigating motivational and situational factors that shape empathic responses in contexts like mass suffering and intergroup conflict. His lab employs affective science, social cognition, and moral philosophy to study empathy regulation toward humans, animals, and artificial intelligence. Key findings reveal that people often avoid empathy due to perceived cognitive costs, and he explores creative interventions to foster compassionate responses across diverse populations including students, community adults, voters, patients, and physicians.

Analysis of his 2019-2025 publications shows consistent focus on empathy regulation, moral judgment, and cognitive underpinnings of prosocial behavior, with emerging emphasis on artificial intelligence and animal ethics. His work spans social psychology, cognitive science, and applied ethics, demonstrating how cognitive load influences empathy choices, the dynamics of moral outrage in social media, and cross-species empathic decision-making.

Cameron has received the following scientific awards:

• Sherwin Early Career Professor, Rock Ethics Institute (2023-2026)

While specific grant awards and doctoral advisee lists are not detailed in source materials, Cameron's leadership of two major research initiatives—the Empathy and Moral Psychology Laboratory and the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making—demonstrates active mentorship and research funding acquisition. His laboratory explicitly recruits trainees from psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, and related disciplines, reflecting commitment to interdisciplinary training.

Cameron directs the Empathy and Moral Psychology Laboratory (https://emplab.la.psu.edu/), which investigates empathy mechanisms using implicit measurement and mathematical modeling, and leads the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making (https://moralconsortium.psu.edu/), an interdisciplinary network advancing research on empathy and moral decisions across diverse contexts and populations.