Dr Shoko Watanabe

Dr Shoko Watanabe

Department of Theology and Religion
Research Fellow

Dr Shoko Watanabe is a social psychologist who specializes in religious cognition and moral/social perception. Dr Watanabe’s research focuses on theodicy, worldview threat, and how people change or maintain their religious beliefs. She also studies third-party forgiveness and punishment, perceptions of hypocrisy, and in-group trust and cooperation. Applying her theological-historical background to psychological study of religious concepts, Dr Watanabe aims to better understand and facilitate cross-disciplinary discussions of human behaviour and spirituality.

Qualifications

  • PhD. Social Psychology, Minor in Quantitative Psychology (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, USA)
  • M.S. Psychology (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA)
  • M.S. Educational Psychology (Oklahoma State University, USA)
  • B.A. Theological-Historical Studies (Oral Roberts University, USA)

Biography

Dr Shoko Watanabe joined the University of Birmingham in July 2023 as a post-doctoral research fellow on the "New Perspectives on Social Psychology and Religious Cognition for Theology: Training and Developing Science-Engaged Theologians" project funded by the John Templeton Foundation.

Dr Watanabe received her PhD. in psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. Prior to specializing in social psychology, Dr Watanabe earned her B.A. in theological-historical studies from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Before embarking on an academic career, Dr Watanabe worked in education, business-management, and banking industries.   

More information on Shoko’s educational journey and personal background can be found in an interview piece by the International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology.

Research

At the University of Birmingham, Dr Shoko Watanabe conducts empirical research investigating hesitancies that theologians might have about engaging with psychology. In addition, she has two other streams of research.

First, Dr Watanabe’s religious cognition research examines theodicy (how people perceive God amidst suffering), teleological reasoning (inferring purpose for natural entities and events), and longitudinal patterns of stability or change in religious doubt and engagement.

Second, Dr Watanabe’s moral/social perception research addresses when and why uninvolved third parties perceive moral transgressors as deserving of forgiveness and conditions under which hypocrites are punished. She explores these topics in laboratory and online experiments using social cognitive and behavioural approaches, and through secondary data analyses using structural equation modelling.

Dr Watanabe’s works have been published in the Journal of Experimental Social PsychologyPersonality and Social Psychology BulletinSocial Psychological and Personality ScienceSocial PsychologyJournal for the Cognitive Science of Religion, and more.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Seo, M, Watanabe, S, Kim, Y-H & Laurent, SM 2024, 'Interdependent versus independent inconsistency: Cultural differences in how East Asian and Western people attribute hypocrisy', Journal of Experimental Psychology: General . https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001608

Many Analysts Religion Project (MARP) 2023, 'A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being', Religion, Brain and Behavior, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 237-283. https://doi.org/10.1080/2153599X.2022.2070255

Watanabe, S, Weiner, D & Laurent, S 2022, 'Schadenfreude for undeserved misfortunes: The unexpected consequences of endorsing a strong belief in a just world', Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 101, 104336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104336

Watanabe, S & Laurent, S 2021, 'Disgust toward interracial couples: Mixed feelings about Black-White race mixing', Social Psychological and Personality Science, vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 769-779. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550620939411

Gupta, S, Watanabe, S & Laurent, S 2021, 'Psychological predictors of vaccination intentions among U.S. undergraduates and online panel workers during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic', PLOS One, vol. 16, no. 11, e0260380. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260380

Watanabe, S & Laurent, S 2021, 'Volition speaks louder than action: Offender atonement, forgivability, and victim valuation in the minds of perceivers', Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 1020-1036. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220953996

Watanabe, S & Laurent, S 2020, 'Feeling bad and doing good: Forgivability through the lens of uninvolved third parties', Social Psychology, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 35. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000390

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Watanabe, S & Laurent, S 2022, Past its prime? A methodological overview and critique of religious priming research in social psychology. in A Geertz, L Ambasciano, E Eidinow, L Martin, K Laigaard Nielbo, N Roubekas, V van Mulukom & D Xygalatas (eds), Studying the religious mind: Methodology in the cognitive science of religion. Advances in the Cognitive Science of Religion, Equinox Publishing, pp. 137-163. https://doi.org/10.1558/equinox.43007

Review article

Watanabe, S & Laurent, S 2021, 'Past its prime? A methodological overview and critique of religious priming research in social psychology', Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion, vol. 6, no. 1-2, pp. 31-55. https://doi.org/10.1558/jcsr.38411

View all publications in research portal