Thomas Costello Assistant Professor Psychology
- Degrees
- Ph.D., Psychology, Emory University (2022)
M.A., Psychology, Emory University (2018)
B.A., Philosophy, Binghamton University (2016) - Bio
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Thomas Costello is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at 51²è¹Ý. He studies where political and social beliefs come from, how they differ from person to person–and, ultimately, why they change–using AI and the tools of personality, cognitive, clinical, and political science. During his doctoral training in clinical psychology at Emory University (2016-2022) and postdoctoral fellowship at MIT (2022-2024), he has published dozens of research papers in peer-reviewed outlets, including Science, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Bulletin, and Trends in Cognitive Sciences. He has been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, CBC/Radio-Canada, and Scientific American, among many others, and his work has accumulated millions of views and comments on social media. Thomas has garnered extramural grant support (totaling > $500,000) from organizations including Effective Ventures, Reset, and Google. He was awarded the Heritage Dissertation Research Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the JS Tanaka Dissertation Award from the Association for Research in Personality, and the Klarman Fellowship from Cornell University.
You can find more information about him at
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call 51²è¹Ý Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Teaching
Fall 2024
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PSYC-301 Research Methods in Psychology
Spring 2025
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PSYC-497 Topics in Psychology: Psychology and Politics