Dr. Shoko Watanabe received her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At the University of Birmingham, Dr. Watanabe conducts empirical research investigating hesitancies that theologians might have about engaging with psychology. In addition, she has two other streams of research. First, Dr. Watanabe’s religious cognition research examines theodicy (how people perceive God amidst suffering), teleological reasoning (inferring purpose for natural entities and events), and longitudinal patterns of stability or change in religious doubt and engagement. Second, Dr. Watanabe’s moral-social perception research addresses when and why uninvolved third parties perceive moral transgressors as deserving of forgiveness and conditions under which hypocrites are punished. Dr. Watanabe explores these topics in laboratory and online experiments using social cognitive and behavioral approaches, and through secondary data analyses using structural equation modeling.

Dr. Watanabe’s works have been published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Social Psychological and Personality Science, Social Psychology, Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion, and more. More information on Dr. Watanabe’s educational journey and personal background can be found in an interview piece (https://www.issep.org/interview/watanabe) by the International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology.