Liane Young
Papers
1
Total Citations
32
H-Index
1
About
Liane Young is a leading cognitive neuroscientist whose research illuminates the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying moral judgment, social cognition, and decision-making. Her work bridges moral philosophy and empirical science, exploring how people reason about harm, intent, and character. In a notable line of investigation, she provided the first systematic empirical evidence for the "playing God" aversion—showing that people morally condemn scientific and technological advances (e.g., gene editing, artificial intelligence) when they perceive them as overstepping human limits. This research, published in 2019 and drawing on nationally representative samples, has garnered over 30 citations and opened new avenues in the psychology of science and technology attitudes. Young’s broader contributions include foundational studies on the role of the temporoparietal junction in belief attribution and moral reasoning, earning her work thousands of citations. She is a professor at Boston College, where she directs the Morality Lab, and her findings have been featured in outlets like *The New York Times* and *The Atlantic*. For students and researchers, Young’s work offers a compelling model of how cognitive science can illuminate the deepest questions about right and wrong.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Aversion to playing God and moral condemnation of technology and science32 citations · 2019