RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research explores the developmental and evolutionary origins of human cooperation. To this end, I run experimental studies with young children and nonhuman great apes investigating the cognitive capacities supporting coordinated decision-making, the commitments emanating from cooperative activities, and the psychological mechanisms underlying prosocial behavior.

 In current projects, funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 948748), I also investigate the developmental origins of corrupt tendencies from a cooperative perspective. Specifically, I examine young children’s tendencies to engage in cooperatively motivated rule-violations, strategic ignorance, and selective norm enforcement – three behaviors involved in adult corruption – and how these tendencies relate to children’s developing cooperative psychology.