Vasiliy Safin '07
Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology
Psychology Department
Division of Philosophy, Religion, Psychology, and Linguistics
I am a cognitive scientist with training and research interests extending to behavioral economics and social psychology. My senior thesis at Reed explored questions of self-control and persistence of behavior. During my doctoral program I continued to study self-control, but the scope was broadened to decisions that affected others: altruism, social cooperation, social discounting, game theory, tragedy of the commons, etc. Should I do something impulsive now or exhibit self-control to benefit my future self? Or perhaps to benefit another individual or group? We make these decisions many times a day, often without awareness, but the consequences are real and measurable. At Reed in the 2023-2024 academic year I plan to work with students interested in exploring the judgment and decision-making processes that take place when we evaluate prosocial and antisocial choices. Moreover, I have recently taken an interest in the psychological examination of propaganda, and would like to work with students on identifying and examining propaganda and/or disinformation social media campaigns (especially the massive harmful campaigns conducted by Russia) through the lens of cognitive and social psychology.