Andrew J. Vonasch, Ph.D.

Kia ora! I'm an award winning researcher, teacher, and mentor as an Associate Professor at the University of Canterbury in beautiful Christchurch, New Zealand.

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By training, I'm a social psychologist, but I also have an avid interest in experimental philosophy. My experiments are often inspired by philosophical questions and my research is often done in collaboration with philosophers. 

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My research examines the mental processes that enable human agency, decision-making, and moral character. ​I'm really interested in how people understand invisible aspects of other people's minds: their intentions, ulterior motives, desires, moral character, etc. People use this perception of the invisible to understand each other and socially regulate each other through moral judgments and evaluations. Understanding these perceptions is important for addressing problems like reducing interpersonal conflict, reducing moral injury, increasing opportunities for cooperation, trade, and compassionate action, and reducing susceptibility to misinformation, scams, cons, and other activities of bad faith actors. 

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School of Psychology, Speech, and Hearing

University of Canterbury

andrew.vonasch@canterbury.ac.nz