Richard Tolman Receives Award from Templeton Foundation

Congratulations to Sara Konrath (Psych) who, along with colleague Richard Tolman (SSW) has just received an award from the John Templeton Foundation. A brief description of their project follows:

Some research shows that new media can have the effect of making users more
self-focused and less empathic. We use new media to increase empathy through
the design of an empathy-building app and evaluate its impact
longitudinally, comparing adolescents who use the app with those using a
control app. We will examine whether the app users have higher empathy and
compassion, and more prosocial and less aggressive beliefs and behavior. One
interdisciplinary collaboration spans researchers from Psychology,
Communication, and Social Work, and includes a team of app development
professionals who will create, evaluate, and market a high quality
research-based app.