David Amodio is an American scientist who examines the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying social behavior, with a focus on self-regulation and intergroup relations. Amodio is known for his role in developing the field of social neuroscience and for his neuroscientific approach to

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

. Amodio's research considers the roles of social cognition, emotion, and motivation, and their neural underpinnings, as they relate to implicit processes and mechanisms of control in social behaviors. His research has revealed that social motivations and attitudes can shape the earliest stages of face processing in vision. In a complementary line of work, Amodio investigates the effects of discrimination on health and decision making among targets of prejudice, with the broad goal of understanding and reducing health disparities. Amodio is also the author of an influential review of the brain's role in social cognition, and he has received attention for his study showing that political liberals and conservatives differ in patterns of brain activity associated with cognitive control—an early example of research in the field of political neuroscience. Although his questions often address classic social psychological issues, Amodio's approach is interdisciplinary; he integrates theory and methodology from social psychology, cognitive and

affective neuroscience Affective neuroscience is the study of how the brain processes emotions. This field combines neuroscience with the psychological study of personality, emotion, and mood. The basis of emotions and what emotions are remains an issue of debate wit ...

, and psychophysiology to inform his hypotheses and the designs of his studies.Amodio, D. M. (2010). Can neuroscience advance social psychological theory? Social neuroscience for the behavioral social psychologist. Social Cognition, 28, 695-716. Amodio directs the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Social Neuroscience Laboratory and the NYU Social Neuroscience Network, and he serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. He was also a co-founder of the Social and Affective Neuroscience Society and served on the founding advisory board for the Society for Social Neuroscience. Amodio has been recognized for his research contributions with awards such as the

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States federal government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. T ...

(PECASE) from the White House, the Janet T. Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions from the

Association for Psychological Science The Association for Psychological Science (APS), previously the American Psychological Society, is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to promote, protect, and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in r ...

, the F. J. McGuigan Early Career Investigator Prize from the

American Psychological Foundation The American Psychological Foundation (abbreviated APF) is an American philanthropic organization dedicating to awarding research grants to psychologists in the early stages of their careers. It is affiliated with the American Psychological Assoc ...

, the Early Career Award for Contribution to Social Cognition from the International Social Cognition Network, and the SAGE Young Scholars Award from the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amodio, David American social psychologists Living people 1974 births Place of birth missing (living people) New York University faculty Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers