About Michael
Michael McCullough is a professor of psychology and the director of the Center for Research on Experimental Evolutionary Psychology at the University of California, San Diego. As an experimental psychologist, he tries to identify the evolutionary and cognitive foundations of human sociality, with a special interest in understanding how and why we help each other, harm each other, trust each other, believe (and do) religious things, make moral judgments, and care what other people think about us.
He has authored more than 150 scientific papers, many of which have appeared in the best journals within both Psychology (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Experimental Psychology-General, Psychological Bulletin) and general science (Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the Royal Society—Biological Sciences). His research has been funded by the Army Research Institute, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the John Templeton Foundation, the Templeton Religion Trust, and the National Institute of Mental Health.
Professor McCullough has authored or edited seven books, the most recent of which is The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code.
At UCSD, he teaches General Psychology: Social Foundations (Psyc 6), Evolution and Human Nature (Psych 141) and Writing About Thinking.