Kristin Laurin is a Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), holding a PhD from the University of Waterloo (2012). Previously, she was a faculty member at Stanford Graduate School of Business and studied at McGill University. She is affiliated with the Department of Psychology within UBC’s Faculty of Arts, specializing in Social & Personality research streams. Her research explores how people’s goals and motivations interact with their beliefs and ideologies, addressing questions such as democratic support despite conflicting interests, moral rationalization after wrongdoing, and systemic social stratification. She has taught courses like PSYC 101/102 (Introduction to Psychology) and contributed to experimental studies on topics like system justification, religion’s role in societal structures, and corporate personhood perceptions. Key research areas include social inequality dynamics, moral psychology, and the psychological underpinnings of belief systems. Her work bridges experimental and theoretical frameworks to analyze how motivations drive ideological adherence and societal structures. Notable findings include the role of structure in promoting motivated action and the cultural evolutionary functions of religious beliefs. Dr. Laurin has received prestigious awards, including the Killam Faculty Research Fellowship (2019), SAGE Young Scholars Award (2018), and APS Rising Star Award (2017). She leads a lab focusing on social cognition, inequality, and moral psychology, with publications in top journals like Psychological Science and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology . Her research emphasizes the interplay between individual goals and societal systems, contributing to debates on social change and justice.
