Dr Jim Everett

Jim A.C. Everett is a Reader (Associate Professor) at the University of Kent, specializing in moral judgment, perceptions of moral character, and the moral psychology of artificial intelligence. Jim completed his BA, MSc, and D.Phil at the University of Oxford, before receiving a Fulbright Fellowship to work at Harvard University, and a Marie-Sklodowska-Curie PostDoctoral Fellowship to work at Leiden University.

Jim’s research sits at the intersection of psychology and philosophy, driven by a fascination about how we make sense of one another in the moral domain, and what this means. A central theme uniting his work is how judgments of morality shape judgments of character and trust, and how perceptions of moral character and trust shape our perceptions of right and wrong. In his current work, he is especially interested in how we learn about others in the digital social world through their moral decisions, and how these processes now play out in relation to artificial intelligence. By blending social psychology with philosophical analysis, Jim’s work explores both fundamental questions of human morality and applied challenges about how we should design and interact with emerging technologies.

Some of his core lines of research include:
• Moral Psychology and Trust in Artificial Intelligence. How, when, and why do we trust artificial agents in the moral domain? How should our knowledge of human moral psychology inform both the implementation and ethics of artificial intelligence?
• Utilitarian Moral Psychology. What are the psychological roots of utilitarianism? Why does utilitarianism attract some people but strongly repel so many others? What are the psychological processes, personality correlates, and social consequences of decisions in different kinds of utilitarian moral judgments?
• Person Perception and Moral Character. How do different kinds of moral judgments people make influence how we perceive others? In what contexts will we prefer different kinds of moral agents? What are the philosophical implications of this?
Jim has published his work in leading journal such as Psychological Review, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Bioethics, Nature Human Behavior, and the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. His research has been featured in The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The New York Times, Scientific American, and more.

Jim’s work has been funded through a New Investigator Grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (£300,000); a Philip Leverhulme Prize from the Leverhulme Trust (£100,000), and a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (TRUST-AI: €1,700,000).  

Jim convenes and teaches the Introduction to Social Psychology module PSYC4005: “Understanding People and Groups”. For him, social psychology is not just academic, but a is a discipline that helps us tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time, from understanding prejudice and inequality to navigating cooperation, trust, and technology in an interconnected world. Jim sees studying, researching, and teaching social psychology as a privilege, one that provides tools to make sense of ourselves and others, and to ask difficult but essential questions about how we can live together better.

His teaching is grounded in a research-led approach that aims to spark curiosity and passion. He brings the latest findings - including from his own research - into the classroom, showing students how psychological science connects to real-world debates, and connects with philosophical questions that have held people’s attention for millennia. Jim’s goal is to try and cultivate the sense of excitement and wonder that first drew him to the subject, working with students not just to share knowledge but to invite students into the process of inquiry: to question assumptions, to think critically about evidence, and to see themselves as contributors to a field that is alive, evolving, and profoundly relevant.

Above all, Jim wants his students to feel the same excitement he feels every day: that studying social psychology is a rare opportunity to better understand the human mind and, in doing so, to help address the fundamental challenges of the modern world. 

Jim welcomes prospective doctoral students to contact him if they are interested in these questions or other related topics in moral psychology. 

Within the School, Jim currently serves as Director of Research and Innovation, supporting colleagues in developing ambitious research programmes and strengthening Kent’s reputation for impactful scholarship. He has previously held roles including Senior Tutor, Stage 3 Lead, and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Lead - roles that reflect his commitment to both academic standards and student wellbeing.

Beyond Kent, Jim is actively engaged in service to the profession. He is an elected member of the Board of Directors of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and previously chaired its inaugural Early Career Committee, where he helped to launch new mentoring initiatives and improve inclusion in award structures. He also chaired the Society’s Innovation Prizes Panel, recognising the most creative theoretical contributions in the field. In 2025, he organised the European Association of Social Psychology’s Summer School at the University of Kent - the largest ever held - bringing together early-career researchers from across the world for intensive training and collaboration. Through these roles, Jim aims to foster a vibrant, supportive community for social psychologists at all career stages, and to advance the discipline he cares deeply about.

Jim has received early career awards from the three largest international societies in social psychology: the 2020 Early Career Award from the European Association of Social Psychology, the 2021 “Rising Star” Award from the Association for Psychological Science; and the 2021 Early Career Trajectory Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. In addition, Jim’s joint-first-authored paper in Psychological Review received the 2019 Wegner Theoretical Innovation Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Finally, Jim received the University of Kent’s Starting Researcher Prize, and has won the Philip Leverhulme Prize in recognition of his internationally recognized early career contributions to psychology.