The Social Minds theme explores how emotions and relationships shape human thought, behaviour, and society. The groups in this theme investigate how social connections form and develop, how emotions shape and are shaped by our behaviours, and how group dynamics influence attitudes and actions across cultural and societal contexts.

Including perspectives from social, developmental, environmental, and cross-cultural psychology, this work examines the foundations of emotion, empathy, cooperation, and prosocial behaviour from early childhood into adulthood. Using a range of methods—from behavioural experiments and physiological measures to real-world interventions and computational analyses — groups within this theme uncover how emotional communication and social understanding emerge and evolve, and how they support meaningful relationships and cooperation across diverse settings. 

A particular focus lies in understanding the emotional and relational mechanisms that underpin interaction and group dynamics, including how people navigate social relations and choose or not to help others. This research contributes both to fundamental psychological theory and to practical applications aimed at improving social relations and building constructive engagers in increasingly interconnected societies.

By illuminating the ways in which emotions and relationships are woven into the fabric of our social lives across the lifespan, the Social Mindstheme deepens our understanding of what it means to be human in a social world.