Chelsea Schein

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Chelsea Schein is a leading voice in the psychology of morality, harm perception, and the uncanny, with a particular focus on how we intuitively judge actions and entities. Her groundbreaking work, including the highly cited "The eyes are the window to the uncanny valley" (2015, 21 citations), reveals that subtle cues—such as altered or unnatural eyes—can trigger powerful feelings of eeriness and moral disgust, bridging the gap between horror aesthetics and cognitive science. Schein’s research demonstrates that our moral intuitions are often driven by perceived harm, even in the absence of real victims, reshaping how scholars understand moral condemnation and dehumanization. Her studies on the "uncanny valley" effect have been widely influential, cited in fields from robotics to film studies, and her insights into the psychology of creepiness have been featured in popular media. With a career marked by innovative experiments and interdisciplinary impact, Schein continues to illuminate the deep, often irrational roots of human social judgment.