I’m a moral psychologist at the University of Oxford. My work centers on understanding people’s values and decisions — and how these often fall short of what is best for society. I research charitable giving, the value placed on distant others, and the handling of societal risks. Recently, I’ve become interested in how society will react to the advent of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence.
I hold a position as a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Global Priorities Institute, am a Research Affiliate at the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, and co-direct the Global Risk Behavioral Lab. You can reach me at lucius.caviola@gmail.com, @LuciusCaviola, or share your anonymous feedback with me.
Research Questions
Why is human altruism often much less impactful than it could be, and how can we boost effective giving?
What causes us to mismanage large-scale catastrophic risks that could harm current and future generations?
How do people value animals, and where does the tendency to prioritize humans come from?
I co-created Giving Multiplier, a donation platform designed to introduce people to effective giving. It is based on research by Joshua Greene and myself, has fundraised $3 million for charities, received an award by the Gates Foundation, and was featured in the LA Times, MarketWatch, and Vox.
Book
Together with my colleague Stefan Schubert, I recently published an academic book on the psychology of effective altruism at Oxford University Press. Effective Altruism and the Human Mind builds on decades of psychological research. It explains why people often don’t choose the most effective strategies to help others and explores what can be done to change that. The book and its audiobook version are available for free.