Michael McCullough
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Research About Our Research Measures and Translations Lab Publications Academic Articles Popular Writing Books Press Read Listen Watch
Michael McCullough
Professor of Psychology, UC San Diego

Publications: Academic Articles


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The efficacy of seven gratitude interventions for promoting subjective well-being

Dang, A. V., Coles, N. A., Oishi, S., & McCullough, M. E. (2025). The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1–19.

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Annabel DangMay 20, 2025
When evaluating gods, US Prolific workers prioritize efficacy rather than perfection

Mulhinch, M.R., McCullough M.E. (2025) Religion, Brain & Behavior. 1-31.

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Annabel DangMay 20, 2025
Does empathy promote helping by activating altruistic motivation or concern about social evaluation? A direct replication of Fultz et al.(1986)

McCauley, T.G., McAuliffe, W.H.B., McCullough, M.E. (2024). Emotion.

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Annabel DangMay 20, 2025
A Many-Analysts Approach to the Relation Between Religiosity and Well-Being

Hoogeveen S., McCullough, M.E., et al. (2022). Religion, Brain & Behavior, 1-47

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Type: journal article, Year: 2022Annabel DangSeptember 8, 2022
Retrospective Self-Reported Childhood Experiences in Enriched Environments Uniquely Predict Prosocial Behavior and Personality Traits in Adulthood

McCauley, T.G., McCullough, M.E. (2022). Evolutionary Psychology 20 (3).

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Type: journal article, Year: 2022Annabel DangSeptember 8, 2022
An Evolutionary Psychology View of Forgiveness: Individuals, Groups, and Culture

McCauley, T.G., Bilingsley J., McCullough, M.E. (2022). Current Opinion in Psychology 44, 275-280.

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Type: journal article, Year: 2022Annabel DangSeptember 8, 2022
Evaluating Benefits, Costs, and Social Value as Predictors of Gratitude

Forster, D.E., Pedersen, E.J., McCullough, M.E., & Lieberman, D. (2022). Psychological Science.

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Type: journal article, Year: 2022ScienceSitesAugust 4, 2021
Experimental Evidence That Apologies Promote Forgiveness By Communicating Relationship Value

Forster, D.E., Billingsley, J., Burnette, J.L., Lieberman, D., Ohtsubo, Y., & McCullough, M.E. (2021). Scientific Reports, 11, 1-14.

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Year: 2021, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Does Religion Make People More Self-Controlled? A Review of Research From the Lab and Life

Marcus, Z.J. & McCullough, M.E. (2021). Current Opinion in Psychology, 40, 167-170.

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Year: 2021, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021homepage
An Evolutionary Perspective on Forgiveness

Billingsley, W.J., Burnette, J.L., & McCullough, M.E. (2020). In E. L. Worthington and N. G. Wade (Eds.). Handbook Of Forgiveness (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

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Year: 2020, Type: book chapterScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Forgiveness Takes Place on an Attitudinal Continuum From Hostility to Friendliness: Toward a Closer Union of Forgiveness Theory and Measurement

Forster, D.E., Billingsley, J., Russel, V.M., McCauley, T.G., Smith, A., Burnette, J.L., Ohtsubo, Y., Schug, J., Lieberman, D. & McCullough, M.E. (2020). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 119(4), 861-880.

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Year: 2020, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021homepage
The Sex Premium in Religiously Motivated Moral Judgement

Hone, L.S.E., McCauley, T.G., Pedersen, E.J., Carter, E.C. & McCullough, M.E. (2020). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

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Year: 2020, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021homepage
Are Women More Likely to Wear Red and Pink at Peak Fertility? What About on Cold Days? Conceptual, Close, and Extended Replications With Novel Clothing Colour Measures

Hone, L.S.E. & McCullough, M.E. (2020). British Journal of Social Psychology, 59 (4), 945-964.

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Year: 2020, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021homepage
Searching for Prosociality in Qualitative Data: Comparing Manual, Closed-Vocabulary, and Open-Vocabulary Methods

McAuliffe, W.H.B., Moshontz, H., McCauley, T.G., & McCullough, M.E. (2020). European Journal of Personality. DOI:10.1002/per.2240

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Year: 2020, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021homepage
Perceived Goal Instrumentality Is Associated With Forgiveness: A Test of the Valuable Relationships Hypothesis

Smith, A., McCauley, T.G., Yagi, A. Yamaura, K. Shimizu, H., McCullough, M.E., & Ohtsubo, Y. (2020). Evolution and Human Behavior, 41, 58-68.

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Year: 2020, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021homepage
Measuring Religious Constructs: A Hierarchical Approach to Construct Organization and Scale Selection

Carlisle, R.D., Tsang, J.A., & McCullough, M.E. (2019). In M.W. Gallagher and S.J. Lopez (Eds). Positive Psychological Assessment: A Handbook of Models and Measurements (2nd ed., pp. 349-360). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

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Year: 2019, Type: book chapterScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Cooperation and Learning in Unfamiliar Situations

McAuliffe, W.H.B., & Burton-Chellew, M., & McCullough, M.E. (2019). Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28, 436-440.

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Year: 2019, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Is Empathy the Default Response to Suffering? A Meta-Analytic Evaluation of Perspective-Taking’s Effect on Empathic Concern

McAuliffe, W.H.B., Carter, E.C., Berhane, J., Snihur, A.C., & McCullough, M.E. (2019). Personality and Social Psychology Review, 24, 141-162.

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Year: 2019, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Moral Reasoning Performance Determines Epistemic Peerdom

McAuliffe, W.H.B. & McCullough, M.E. (2019). Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24, e146, 33-34.

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Year: 2019, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
When and Why Do Third Parties Punish Outside of the Lab? A Cross-Cultural Recall Study

Pedersen, E.J., McAuliffe, W.H.B., Shah, Y., Tanaka, H., Ohtsubo, Y., & McCullough, M.E. (2019). Social Psychological and Personality Science, 11, 846-853.

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Year: 2019, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Does Cooperation in the Laboratory Reflect the Operation of a Broad Trait?

McAuliffe, W.H.B., Pedersen, E.J., Forster, D., & McCullough, M.E. (2019). European Journal of Personality, 33, 89-103.

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Year: 2019, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Implicit and Explicit Influences of Religious Cognition on Dictator Game Transfers

Billingsley, W.J., Gomes, C.M., & McCullough, M.E. (2018). Royal Society Open Science, 5, 170238. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170238

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Year: 2018, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
A Simple, Principled Approach to Combining Evidence From Meta-Analysis and High-Quality Replications

Carter, E.C., & McCullough, M.E. (2018). Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 1, 174-185. DOI: 10.1177/2515245918756858

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Year: 2018, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Experience With Anonymous Interactions Reduces Intuitive Cooperation

McAuliffe, W., Forster, D., Pedersen, E.J., & McCullough, M.E. (2018). Nature: Human Behavior, 2, 909-914.

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Year: 2018, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Digital Altruists: Resolving Key Questions About the Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis in an Internet Sample

McAuliffe, W.H.B., Forster, D.E., Philippe, J., & McCullough, M.E. (2018). Emotion, 18, 493-506. DOI: 10.1037/emo0000375

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Year: 2018, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
The Unresponsive Avenger: More Evidence That Disinterested Third Parties Do Not Punish Altruistically

Pedersen, E.J., McAuliffe, W.H.B., & McCullough, M.E. (2018). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 147, 514-544. DOI: 10.1037/xge0000410

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Year: 2018, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Benefit Valuation Predicts Gratitude

Forster, D.E., Pedersen, E.J., Smith, A., McCullough, M.E., & Lieberman, D. (2017). Evolution and Human Behavior, 38, 18-26. DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.06.003

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Year: 2017, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Validation Is a Galilean Enterprise

McAuliffe, W.H., & McCullough, M.E. (2017). Evolution and Human Behavior, 38, 279-280. DOI:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.11.003

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Year: 2017, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Cooperation: The Roles of Interpersonal Value and Gratitude

Smith, A., Pedersen, E.J., Forster, D.E., McCullough, M.E., Lieberman, D. (2017). Evolution and Human Behavior, 38, 695-703. DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.08.003

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Year: 2017, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Christian Religious Badges Instill Trust in Christian and Non-Christian Perceivers

McCullough, M.E., Swartwout, P., Shaver, J.H., Carter, E.C., & Sosis, R. (2016). Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 8, 149-163. DOI: 10.1037/rel0000045

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Year: 2016, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
What the Face Communicates: Clearing the Conceptual Ground

McCullough, M.E., & Reed, L.I. (2016). Current Opinion in Psychology, 7, 110-114. DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.08.023

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Year: 2016, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
A Series of Meta-Analytic Tests of the Depletion Effect: Self-Control Does Not Seem to Rely on a Limited Resource

Carter, E.C., Kofler, L.M., Forster, D.E., & McCullough, M.E. (2015). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144, 796-815.

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Year: 2015, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Reassessing Intertemporal Choice: Human Decision-Making Is More Optimal in a Foraging Task Than in a Self-Control Task

Carter, E.C., Pedersen, E.J., & McCullough, M.E. (2015). Frontiers in Psychology. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00095

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Year: 2015, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
The Effects of Implicit Religious Primes on Dictator Game Allocations: A Preregistered Replication Experiment

Gomes, C., & McCullough, M.E. (2015). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144, e94-e104.

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Year: 2015, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Does Oxytocin Increase Trust in Humans? A Critical Review of Research

Nave, G., Camerer C., & McCullough M.E. (2015). Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10, 772-789. DOI: 10.1177/1745691615600138

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Year: 2015, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Does Religious Cognition Really Down-Regulate Hand Grip Endurance in Men? A Failure to Replicate

Hone, L.S.E., & McCullough, M.E. (2015). Evolution and Human Behavior, 36,81-85.

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Year: 2015, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Sexually Selected Sex Differences in Competitiveness Explain Sex Differences in Changes in Drinking Game Participation

Hone, L.S.E., & McCullough, M.E. (2015). Evolutionary Psychology, 13, 397-410. DOI:

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Year: 2015, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Longitudinal Associations Among Religiousness, Delay Discounting, and Substance Use Initiation in Early Adolescence

Kim-Spoon, J., McCullough, M.E., Bickel, W.K., Farley, J.P., & Longo, G.S. (2015). Journal of Research on Adolescence, 25, 36-43. DOI: 10.1111/jora.12104

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Year: 2015, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Human Evolutionary Exceptionalism

McCullough, M.E. (2015). In J. Brockman (Ed.), This Idea Must Die: Scientific Theories That Are Blocking Progress (pp. 447-451). New York: Harper Perennial.

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ScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Thought Machines, Human Minds, and a Universal Basis for Dignity

McCullough, M.E. (2014) In J. Brockman (Ed.), What to Think About Machines That Think (pp. 430-433). New York: Harper Perennial.

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Year: 2014, Type: book chapterScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Publication Bias and the Limited Strength Model of Self-Control: Has the Evidence for Ego Depletion Been Overestimated?

Carter, E.C., & McCullough, M.E. (2014). Frontiers in Psychology, 5. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00823

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Year: 2014, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
Adult Personality Correlates of Childhood Adversity

Carver, C.S., Johnson, S.L., McCullough, M.E., Forster, D.E., & Joormann, J. (2014). Frontiers in Psychology, 5, DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01357

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Year: 2014, Type: journal articleScienceSitesAugust 3, 2021
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Michael McCullough

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