Dr. Tanushree Agrawal

Tanushree Agrawal

Assistant Professor of Psychology · Soka University

I study how aesthetic experiences (e.g., music, art, and everyday beauty) impact social perception, moral judgments, and prosocial behavior.

I am fascinated by the social power of beauty: Aesthetic experiences impact the way we see and treat others. This has powerful applications for addressing real-world social problems... from reducing dehumanization toward marginalized groups, to improving moral consideration of animals.

How is it that an abstract, aesthetic stimulus like an instrumental tune or the colors of a sunset can impact real-world behavior? I believe the key lies in the self-transcendent emotions (e.g., being moved, in awe) that aesthetic experiences evoke.

I approach these questions from a deeply interdisciplinary background. I have a PhD in Psychology from UC San Diego, a masters in music from Oxford University, and bachelors degrees in Cognitive Science and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. (Fun fact: I also worked in finance for seven years!)

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Aesthetics & Social Cognition Lab

Projects

Abstract painting representing aesthetic appreciation research

Aesthetic Engagement Conveys Important Social Information

Many activities are pursued for their own sake, motivated by beauty or enjoyment rather than a functional goal. I study the judgments we make about others who are intrinsically motivated by beauty, finding that aesthetic motivation signals heightened emotional capacity and prosocial tendencies. This work has been funded by the CARTA Institute.

Selected Publications

  • Agrawal, T., & Schachner, A. (2023). Aesthetic motivation impacts judgments of others' prosociality, emotionality, and mental life. Open Mind: Discoveries in Cognitive Science.
    Link
  • Agrawal, T., & Schachner, A. (2023, November). Aesthetic appreciation impacts judgments of others' prosociality by signaling their heightened emotionality [Conference presentation]. International Conference on Beauty and Change, Turin, Italy.
  • Agrawal, T., & Schachner, A. (2022). People think of others as more prosocial when they are motivated by aesthetic goals vs. instrumental goals. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 44.
    Link
Music and prosocial behavior research

Real-World Applications Using Music to Improve Social Behavior

Music is a particularly important aesthetic domain because of its ubiquity. In work funded by the Grammy Foundation, we find that observing others' musicality impacts moral judgments. People judge musical entities (humans and animals) as more wrong to harm, because musicality signals a richer emotional and mental life. We also show that this can be leveraged to reducing dehumanization and prejudice toward marginalized groups (e.g. people in prison), and improving moral attitudes toward animals.

Selected Publications

  • Agrawal, T., Rottman, J., & Schachner, A. (2023). How musicality changes moral consideration: People judge musical entities as more wrong to harm. Psychology of Music, 51(2), 371–387.
    Link
  • Agrawal, T., & Schachner, A. (2024, July). Music Behind Bars: Learning About the Musicality of a Person Experiencing Incarceration Reduces Negative Social Attitudes Towards Them [Conference presentation]. Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Banff, Canada.
  • Agrawal, T., & Schachner, A. (2024, January). Musicality changes moral consideration of animals: People judge musical animals as more wrong to harm [Conference presentation]. Budapest CEU Conference on Cognitive Development, Budapest, Hungary.
Self-transcendent emotions research

Aesthetics and Self-Transcendent Emotions

Life's most meaningful moments involve complex, heartwarming, social emotions like being moved, awe, and tenderness. Surprisingly, abstract art forms like art and music can also profoundly move us. I explore what role such self-transcendent emotions play in the link between aesthetic engagement and prosociality.

Selected Publications

  • Agrawal, T., & Bruns, A.* (under review). Feeling moved mediates the enjoyment of emotional art and music. Emotion. *co-first author
    Link
  • Agrawal, T., Vuoskoski, J., & Clarke, E. (2026, March). Being moved by music: What does it feel like and is it inherently prosocial? [Conference presentation]. Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, & the Arts (APA Div 10), Omaha, NE.
  • Agrawal, T., et al. (2021). Time-of-day practices echo circadian physiological arousal: An enculturated-embodied practice in Hindustani classical music. Musicae Scientiae.
    Link
Auditory perception research

Cross-Modal Auditory Perception ✦ See NY Times press coverage ✦

How do humans extract nuanced meaning from everyday sounds? We study ecological approaches to auditory perception, including how people can determine properties like water temperature simply by listening. Our developmental work examines how these perceptual abilities emerge across childhood.

Selected Publications

  • Agrawal, T., & Schachner, A. (2023). Hearing water temperature: Characterizing the development of nuanced perception of sound sources. Developmental Science, 26(3), e13321.
    Link
  • Agrawal, T., Lee, M., Calcetas, A., Clarke, D., Lin, N., & Schachner, A. (2020). Hearing water temperature: Characterizing the development of nuanced perception of auditory events. Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, 42, 494–499.

View full list on Google Scholar →

Team

Miyuki Sase

Miyuki Sase

Research Assistant

I am an undergraduate liberal arts student concentrating in Social and Behavioral Science at Soka University of America. I have taken multiple psychology courses, which have allowed me to deepen my interest in the complexity of the human mind - and I aspire to be a psychologist now. Specifically, I am interested in how early different educational styles affect children's long-term well-being. In my free time, I love walking around campus and reading Japanese literature.

Vanessa Camuso De Souza

Vanessa Camuso De Souza

Research Assistant

Hi! I am an undergraduate student concentrating in Social and Behavioral Sciences at Soka University of America. I am passionate about children's development and hope to pursue a career in developmental psychology to better understand how children grow and the factors that influence their behaviors. In my free time, I enjoy staying active, playing sports, and going to the beach!

Tien Dong

Tien Dong

Research Assistant

Hi! I'm a psychology undergraduate at Soka University of America. I am interested in the intersection of psychology and education, particularly how insights from educational psychology can enhance curriculum design. Apart from school, I enjoy watching anime, playing taiko, and traveling to new places.

Kamoho Chan

Kamoho Chan

Research Assistant

My name is Kamoho Chan and I am a Native Hawaiian undergraduate at Soka University of America studying Social Science, specifically psychology and political science. I take pride in my native tongue, diverse views, and family. I am interested in family law and child developmental psychology. My favorite food is sushi and in my free time I love to play volleyball and make ceramics with some friends.

Join the Lab

I welcome undergraduate students who want to gain research experience. Research assistants help with all phases of the research, and I work with you to tailor the experience to your educational goals. To apply, please email me with your CV or resume, a brief statement of your research interests, and your availability (hours per week, semesters).

Teaching

I am passionate about working with students to show them that psychology is ultimately the study of their own wonderfully complex minds and experiences. I love teaching them to approach science from multiple perspectives, and equip them with the tools needed for genuinely interdisciplinary conversations that balance open-mindedness and critical thinking.

Courses at Soka University

Additional Courses Taught at UC San Diego

More Materials

I had a lot of help making these syllabi, and would love to pay it forward! Please email me if you would like to see more details like readings, slides, quizzes, etc.