Michael W. Kraus, Ph.D.

Michael W. Kraus is a social-personality psychologist who received his undergraduate and graduate training in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on understanding how (1) status (e.g., power, social class), (2) emotion (e.g., empathy, touch), and (3) the self (e.g., goals, motives) shape interpersonal life. He studies these topics through a variety of methods that range from controlled laboratory experiments, to psychophysiological assessments, to ethological observations.

Michael has published his work in several leading journals in the field of psychology, including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Science, and Emotion. His research has been featured in leading print news outlets (the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal), popular magazines (New Scientist, Sports Illustrated, and Time), and national news programs (ABC World News with Diane Sawyer). Michael is also a regular contributor on the popular psychology blog Psych-Your-Mind: Applying Psychology to Everyday Life.

Michael grew up in southern California in a little town called Poway and in 2012 he will begin his first year as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.