Laith Al-Shawaf, Ph.D.

Dr. Laith Al-Shawaf is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, where he directs the Architecture of the Mind Lab. His research focuses on emotion, cognition, and personality and individual differences, integrating evolutionary theory with cross-cultural approaches. 

He has held academic positions and fellowships in Turkey, Germany, France, and Lebanon, including visiting fellowships at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin and the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse. He is a member of the Arab-German Young Academy (AGYA) and an advisor at Ideas Beyond Borders. 

His work has been recognized with awards from the Association for Psychological Science, the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and the University of Michigan.

In addition to his teaching and research, Dr. Al-Shawaf writes popular science essays for general audiences and appears on science podcasts. Popular writing and media appearances are available on his personal website. A collection of academic publications is available here.

Dr. Al-Shawaf may be accepting graduate students for the current application cycle.

He is particularly interested in working with students who have strong quantitative and writing skills – and interests in topics such as emotion, personality & individual differences, cognitive bias, and evolutionary approaches to psychology. A background in evolutionary theory, biology, or philosophy can be especially valuable, but is not required.

Students with strong records, high levels of motivation, and a genuine interest in psychological research are encouraged to reach out.

Emotion, cognitive bias, cross-cultural research, and personality & individual differences.

Dr. Al-Shawaf’s personal website: www.laithalshawaf.com

Ph.D. Psychology (additional concentration in Applied Statistical Modeling), University of Texas at Austin, 2014

B.A. Psychology (additional concentrations in Philosophy and Cognitive Science), American University of Beirut, 2009

PSY 1000 - General Psychology
PSY 3160 - Psychology of Emotion
PSY 3250 - Personality Psychology & Individual Differences
PSY 3300 - Evolutionary Psychology
PSY 4270 - Seminar in Biopsychology
PSY 6430 - Contemporary Issues in Psychology

Association for Psychological Science (APS)
Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA)
Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES)
International Society for Human Ethology (ISHE)
Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP)

Evolution in the Public Eye Award, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (2026)
Outstanding Teacher Award, University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS), 2026
Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES) Fellow Award, 2025
HBES Early Career Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions, 2024
Visiting Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST), France, 2024
Outstanding Research Award, College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences (LAS), UCCS, 2024
Outstanding Teaching Award (Online Teaching Category), College of LAS, UCCS, 2023
Students’ Choice Educator of the Year, UCCS, 2022
Faculty Award for Excellence in Research, UCCS, 2022
Rising Star, Association for Psychological Science (APS), 2019
Elected Member, Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences & Humanities (AGYA), 2016
Visiting Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study (Wissenschaftskolleg), Berlin, Germany, 2016
Research Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin, 2014
Psychology Research Award, University of Texas at Austin, 2013
Full Merit Scholarship, American University of Beirut, 2006–2009
Fawzi Azar Award, American University of Beirut, 2008
Penrose Award, American University of Beirut, 2009

Explanatory and Predictive Progress in Psychology

Beyond the Evolution vs. Learning Fallacy. American Psychologist.

Levels of Analysis and Explanatory Progress in Psychology: Integrating Frameworks from Biology and Cognitive Science for a More Comprehensive Science of the Mind. Psychological Review.

Cross-Cultural Research on Human Behavior

Fundamental social motives measured across 42 cultures in two waves. Scientific Data.

Family still matters: Human social motivation during a global pandemic. Evolution and Human Behavior.

I see sick people: Beliefs about sensory detection of infectious disease are largely consistent across cultures. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

A Worldwide Test of the Predictive Validity of Ideal Partner Preference Matching.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Experimental and cross-cultural evidence that parenthood and parental care motives increase social conservatism. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

Cross-cultural evidence that intergroup conflict heightens preferences for dominant leaders: A 25-country study. Evolution and Human Behavior.

Cross-cultural data on romantic love and mate preferences from 117,293 participants across 175 countries. Scientific Data.

How Do People Maintain Consensual Non‑Monogamy? An International Development and Validation of the Multiple Relationships Maintenance Scale. Archives of Sexual Behavior.

Commonly observed sex differences in direct aggression are absent or reversed in sibling contexts. PNAS Nexus.

Predictors of enhancing human physical attractiveness: Data from 93 countries. Evolution and Human Behavior. 

The fear of COVID-19 scale: its structure and measurement invariance across 48 countries. Psychological Assessment.

Mate preferences in three Muslim-majority countries: Sex differences and personality correlates. Social Psychological and Personality Science.

The grammar of anger: Mapping the computational architecture of a recalibrational emotion. Cognition.

Cross-cultural regularities in the cognitive architecture of pride. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Emotions

A Multi-Level Framework for the Functions of Emotions and Their Expressions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

Disgust systematically tracks relative level of pathogen threat, not just presence or absence of pathogens. Motivation and Emotion.

The psychology of thermoregulation: A coordinating mechanisms approach. Physiology & Behavior.

Evolutionary psychology and the emotions. Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences.

Human emotions: An evolutionary psychological perspective. Emotion Review.

The grammar of anger: Mapping the computational architecture of a recalibrational emotion. Cognition.

Cross-cultural regularities in the cognitive architecture of pride. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Social emotions are governed by a common grammar of social valuation. The Oxford Handbook of Evolution and the Emotions. 

How jealousy works. The Oxford Handbook of Evolution and the Emotions.

Shame.The Oxford Handbook of Evolution and the Emotions.

Evolution

The evolutionary psychology of hunger. Appetite.

The Products of Evolution: Conceptual Distinctions, Evidentiary Criteria, and Empirical Examples. In Shackelford, T. K. (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology.

Evolved psychological mechanisms. The SAGE Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. 

Epistemic Vigilance in Early Ontogeny: Children’s Use of Nonverbal Behavior to Detect Deception. Evolutionary Psychology.

Evolutionary Personality Psychology. The Cambridge Handbook of Personality Psychology.

Context, Environment, and Learning in Evolutionary Psychology. Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. 

Thirteen Misunderstandings about Natural Selection. Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science.

Evolutionary Psychology: A How-To Guide. American Psychologist.

UCCS Psychology Department Co-Director of Undergraduate Education, 2020-Present

The Co-Director of Undergraduate Education assists a committee that is responsible for determining course offerings, psychology major and minor requirements, and department policies related to undergraduate education. The Co-Director of Undergraduate Education also handles student requests for course substitutions, waivers of degree requirements, and course transfer requests, and acts as a liaison to advisors in Student Success.