I have been researching children’s social and moral development since beginning my PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2014. Since then, I have focused on development in middle childhood and adolescence across a range of contexts where moral concerns conflict with social norms. Most recently, my research has come to focus on children’s and adolescents’ moral cognition about the treatment of non-human animals.  Please see below for more information about my current projects.

CALF (Children’s attitudes towards Animal Lives & Food)

In this project we are seeking to understand the longitudinal development of children’s attitudes towards non-human animals and the relationship this has with animals’ position in human society as food. We will be following two groups of young people in the UK to understand how we develop from children who love animals to teenagers who are more conflicted about animals’ moral status.

Funded by ESRC New Investigator Program.

Speciesism Across Cultures

With my PhD student Alex Carter I am currently working on understanding the ways in which our thinking about non-human animals varies in childhood across cultures.

In this project, led by Alex and funded by the ESRC, we are examining speciesism, moral judgments, and knowledge about food processes in the UK, Germany, China, South Korea, and Turkey.

Ongoing Projects

Alongside the above projects I am working on a variety of additional studies including:

  • Examining the role of gender in the development of speciesism (with Nadira Faber & Alex Carter)

  • Examining children’s attitudes towards their Veg*n peers (with Jared Piazza & Victoria Simpson)

  • Studying parental socialization and attitudes towards plant-based diets (with Secil Gonultas)

  • Studying adolescents’ perceived barriers and opportunities for changing diet (with Natalia Lawrence)

  • Exploring children’s and adolescents’ utilitarian thinking (with Nadira Faber)