Dr. Mark Schaller is a Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. His research has examined the effects that motivational systems and ecological circumstances have for social psychological phenomena (e.g., moral judgment, intergroup prejudice, conformity). His research also addresses broader questions about evolutionary foundations of psychological processes, and about the impact of psychological processes on human culture.

Research interests include social cognition; social motivation; evolutionary psychology; culture.

Dr. Schaller’s secondary research areas are Cognitive Science and Learning Enhancement.

Here is a sample of recent publications; for a longer list, see website here.

Hohm, I., Wormley, A. S., Schaller, M., & Varnum, M. E. W. (2024). Homo temporus: Seasonal cycles as a fundamental source of variation in human psychology. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 19, 151-172.

Hohm, I., O’Shea, B. A., & Schaller, M. (2024). Do moral values change with the seasons? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A., 121, e2313428121.

Billet, M. I., McCall, H. C., & Schaller, M. (2023). What motives do people most want to know about when meeting another person? An investigation into prioritization of information about seven fundamental motives. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 49, 495-509.

Rosenfeld, D. L., Balcetis, E., Bastian, B., Berkman, E. T., Bosson, J. K., Brannon, T. N., … Schaller, M., … Tomiyama, A. J. (2022). Psychological science in the wake of COVID-19: Social, methodological, and meta-scientific considerations. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 17, 311-333.

Schaller, M., & Muthukrishna, M. (2021). Modeling cultural change: Computational models of interpersonal influence dynamics can yield new insights about how cultures change, which cultures change more rapidly than others, and why. American Psychologist, 76, 1027–1038.

Grahek, I., Schaller, M., & Tackett, J. L. (2021). Anatomy of a psychological theory: Integrating construct validation and computational modeling methods to advance theorizing. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16, 803-815.

• Society for the Psychology Study of Social Issues – Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Award (2013)
• American Psychological Association Fellow (2010)
• Society of Experimental Social Psychology (2009)
• Society for Personality and Social Psychology Fellow (2009)
• Association for Psychological Science (2007)
• Killam Faculty Research Prize (2006)
• Robert E. Knox Master Teaching Award (2002)
• Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies – Early Career Scholar (2000)

Dr. Schaller is not accepting new graduate students as primary supervisor (but may be prepared to serve as a secondary supervisor for new graduate students accepted under the primary supervision of another UBC Psychology faculty member).