Corey L. Cook

Associate Professor of Psychology

Corey L. Cook

Phone: 253-535-7471

Email: clcook@plu.edu

Office Location: Ramstad Hall - 111A

Office Hours: (On Campus) Wed: 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm (On Campus) Mon - Fri: By Appointment

  • Professional
  • Biography

Additional Titles/Roles

  • Title IX Formal Process Team
  • Fulbright U.S. Scholar to Germany

Education

  • Ph.D., Social Psychology, University of Florida, 2012
  • M.S., Social Psychology, University of Florida, 2009
  • B.S., Psychology, Arizona State University, 2005

Areas of Emphasis or Expertise

  • Stereotyping and Prejudice
  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Morals, Values, and Beliefs

Selected Articles

  • Nichols, A. L., Cook, C. L., & Cottrell, C. A. "What Do People Desire in Their Leaders? An Affordance Management Approach to Trait Desirability Across Domains." Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 10/20/2025:
  • Cook, C. L., & Franks, A. S.. "Religious identity and intersectional privilege: (A)Symmetric biases in Christians and atheists are unaffected by prompts to consider religious and racial privilege." Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 2022:
  • Klein, R. A., Cook, C. L., Ebersole, C. R., Vitiello, C., Nosek, B. A. … Ratliff, K. A. . "Many Labs 4: Failure to replicate mortality salience effect with and without original author involvement." Collabra: Psychology Vol. 8, 2022: 1-15.
  • Cook, C. L., & Cottrell, C. A.. "You don’t know where he’s been: Sexual promiscuity negatively affects responses toward both gay and straight men." Psychology of Men & Masculinities Vol. 21, 2021: 63-76.
  • Cook. C. L., Krems, J. A., & Kenrick, D. T. . "Fundamental motives illuminate a broad range of individual and cultural variations in thought and behavior." Current Directions in Psychological Science Vol. 30, 2021: 242-250.

Accolades

  • Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellowship, 2023-2024

Biography

My research explores how social motives and beliefs (e.g., religious, existential, or social beliefs) influence perceptions of threats and opportunities regarding others in our social environment. My research largely focuses on how such beliefs influence stereotyping and prejudice toward a wide range of groups, including atheists, immigrants, LGBT, and Muslims. My other research interests include morality/values, evolutionary psychology, and “alternative” belief systems (e.g., conspiracies, the occult, etc.).

Selected Publications

Cook, C. L., & Franks, A. S. (2022). Religious identity and intersectional privilege: (A)Symmetric biases in Christians and atheists are unaffected by prompts to consider religious and racial privilege. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000477
Klein, R. A., Cook, C. L., Ebersole, C. R., Vitiello, C., Nosek, B. A. … Ratliff, K. A. (2022). Many Labs 4: Failure to replicate mortality salience effect with and without original author involvement. Collabra: Psychology, 8, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.35271
Cook, C. L., & Cottrell, C. A. (2021). You don’t know where he’s been: Sexual promiscuity negatively affects responses toward both gay and straight men. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 21, 63-76. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000270
Cook. C. L., Krems, J. A., & Kenrick, D. T. (2021). Fundamental motives illuminate a broad range of individual and cultural variations in thought and behavior. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 30, 242-250. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721421996690