I’m currently a PhD Candidate in the Department of Comparative Human Development at The University of Chicago and a Fellow at the Institute for Mind and Biology in the Behavioral Biology Lab. Broadly, I am interested in the social, cognitive, and biological factors that influence social behavior. Most of my current research centers around how people perceive and react to potentially dangerous (either socially or physically) individuals and situations. In partcular, I am interested in how and why people sometimes find enjoyment - and can perhaps learn something - from fictionally dangerous scenarios. From this perspective, I’ve recently been conducting foundational research on the phenomenon of morbid curiosity.
The basic question driving much of my research is: Why are people interested in or curious about violence and horror and what do people get from engaging in recreational fear? I use a variety of methods to answer these questions, including hormone analysis, behavioral analysis, eye tracking, surveys, and interviews. My research on morbid curiosity and the psychology of horror has also been covered by a variety of news and media outlets, including New Scientist, National Geographic, The Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, The New York Times, Forbes, Nautilus, Vice, and Psycom.
I also write about the psychology of morbid curiosity, horror, and all things spooky at Morbid Minds, my Psychology Today Blog.
PhD in Comparative Human Development - Behavioral Biology, 2022 (expected)
The University of Chicago
MS in Forensic Science - Biology/Chemistry with honors, 2016
The University of Central Oklahoma
BA in Anthropology with honors, 2014
Can horror be good for you?
What is morbid curiosity?
The Boston Globe
The Telegraph
ALTER Weekly
National Geographic
Epidemic
Top of Mind with Julie Rose
Viewpoints with Todd van der Heyden
Deutsche Welle
Psychology Today
Evan Solomon Show
New York Times
The Mad Scientist Podcast
Global News Canada
New York Post
If you are a researcher, you can find the instructions for the Morbid Curiosity Scale by clicking here
If you would like to find out how morbidly curious you are, click here