Ava Ma de Sousa
phd student at UC Santa Barbara | emotion, morality, culture & collective action | co-host @mindsmatter.bsky.social
- New work led by @jonds7.bsky.social on responses to police brutality (justification and outrage), with analyses of YouTube video comments and a behavioral experiment. Very grateful to have gotten to work on this with the team! 🙏
- New preprint out 📄 “Why Reform Stalls: Justifications of Force Are Linked to Lower Outrage and Reform Support.” Why do some cases of police violence spark reform while others fade? We look at how people explain them—through justification or outrage. osf.io/preprints/ps...
- Reposted by Ava Ma de SousaVery excited to share that my first paper, with Peter Mende-Siedlecki and @leorhackel.bsky.social, is out now in @commspsychol.nature.com! ☺️ Can getting more rewards make you feel more skilled, even if your performance doesn't change? www.nature.com/articles/s44...
- Reposted by Ava Ma de SousaSpread the word: I'm looking to recruit a PhD student for Fall 2026 to @ucsb.bsky.social! Reach out if you are applying this cycle and hoping to study infant and child social cognition, specifically expectations about friendship and/or groups. Bonus: live in paradise! And.. 1/3
- Reposted by Ava Ma de Sousa1st SANS Social Media Highlight! UCSB PhD student @avamadesousa.bsky.social first first-author empirical paper is out! In a mini-meta analysis, the authors looked at whether loneliness is related to altered expectations of one’s own and others' emotion transitions. www.nature.com/articles/s44...
- Reposted by Ava Ma de SousaNew episode!! Dr. Anikó Kusztor joins us this week to discuss the results of dissociation, and how they vary from person to person. Link in 🧵
- Reposted by Ava Ma de Sousa
Job alert: I'm hiring a postdoc for my lab at CU Boulder starting Fall 2026! We study person perception, stereotyping & prejudice, and intervention science using behavioral & neuroimaging methods. Link: jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta... Review starts Nov 1 and continues until filled. - Reposted by Ava Ma de SousaExcited to share this work led by @avamadesousa.bsky.social! This paper is so significant to me, not only because it reveals important insights into the disruptions in emotion representations that characterize loneliness, but also because it is a clear example of the power of team science 🌟
- So excited to share that my first first-author paper is out in @commspsychol.nature.com 🎉 In a mini-meta analysis of seven studies, we looked at whether loneliness is related to altered expectations of one’s own and others' emotion transitions. www.nature.com/articles/s44... (1/4)
- So excited to share that my first first-author paper is out in @commspsychol.nature.com 🎉 In a mini-meta analysis of seven studies, we looked at whether loneliness is related to altered expectations of one’s own and others' emotion transitions. www.nature.com/articles/s44... (1/4)
- We find that lonelier individuals tend to hold less accurate and more atypical models of emotion transitions, and anchor less on their own emotion transition expectations to predict others’. (2/4)
- My favourite finding is in the valence domain: lonelier people expect that they themselves will be less likely to stay in positive states (an anti-positivity bias), but they see others as more volatile and more likely to jump between positive and negative states. (3/4)
- Very grateful to all the co-authors, esp @elisabaek.bsky.social, @shannon47burns.bsky.social & Miriam Schwyck for making this such a fun and rewarding process! co-authors: Laura Furtado Fernandes, Ezra Ford, @begumbabur.bsky.social, Chang Lu, @jacobzm.bsky.social, @psyhongbo.bsky.social 🙏 (4/4)
- Reposted by Ava Ma de Sousa🚨We are recruiting a lab manager who will spend 80% of their effort in my lab and 20% of their effort in @leorhackel.bsky.social's lab. Please share widely! Apply at usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-ange... with: completed questionnaire (socolab.org/lab-manager-application), CV & Cover Letter!
- It was so fun talking to @raziasahi.bsky.social about how we regulate each other's emotions (and getting her take on love languages 👀) Hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed recording this one!
- New Episode! Dr. Razia Sahi (@raziasahi.bsky.social) joins Ava and Beth to discuss the details of social emotion regulation, including the use of reappraisal and validation to help navigate difficult emotions! Links in 🧵
- Reposted by Ava Ma de SousaNew Episode!🤖 Have you ever seen a robot that looks almost human, but something feels a bit off? This week, we are joined by Dr. Julija Vaitonyté as she discusses her research regarding the phenomenon of the uncanny valley. Links in 🧵!
- Reposted by Ava Ma de SousaPostdoc opening in beautiful Stockholm 🇸🇪! Join us at Karolinska Institutet to explore how interdependent traits shape social learning and cultural evolution. 🧠 Behavioral + computational work 🤝 Work w/ labs in Amsterdam @lucasmolleman.bsky.social & Leuven Details: shorturl.at/Wzy9o
- Reposted by Ava Ma de SousaAre you interested in research experience before applying to PhD programs? Or just want to learn more about cognitive science? Consider joining my lab as a lab manager (joint w/the Griffiths Lab). We will begin reviewing applications one week from today: cognition.princeton.edu/news/2025/op...
- Reposted by Ava Ma de SousaFirst article in TICS led by excellent YES Lab member and graduate student @avamadesousa.bsky.social Commentary on a recent cross-cultural work on conceptual representation of social relationships by @bruceyinwang.bsky.social kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
- Reposted by Ava Ma de SousaA very exciting episode out now — our very own @bethfisher.bsky.social tells us all about optimism! Beth shares work on psilocybin administration in rats🍄 and how optimism shapes our engagement with the world. We hope you enjoy listening as much as much as we enjoyed recording this one!
- Reposted by Ava Ma de SousaMinds Matter is now on Bluesky! Listening back to this episode I love the way you can feel the support I have from @avamadesousa.bsky.social 🥹 Forever grateful for the best podcast co-host, science peer, and best friend 💕
- A very exciting episode out now — our very own @bethfisher.bsky.social tells us all about optimism! Beth shares work on psilocybin administration in rats🍄 and how optimism shapes our engagement with the world. We hope you enjoy listening as much as much as we enjoyed recording this one!
