2026 KSBNS Workshop (Jecheon)

Our lab participated in 2026 Workshop of the Higher-Level Cognition Section (also called Neurosplash) of The Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences (KSBNS), held at Cheongpung Resort in Jecheon, Korea (January 28–29, 2026).

Sunghwan presented his study in the poster session.

Poster title: “Brain’s functional connectome patterns during naturalistic movie-watching predict real-life political judgments and decisions”

Our lab enjoyed engaging with a wide range of research topics during the poster session and had a great time networking with members from other labs.

Paper featured in Science Magazine.

The paper “Happier individuals generate more spontaneous thoughts about friends and value relationships over money,” authored by Prof. Sunhae Sul and Won-Gyo Shin (A postdoctoral alumnus of our lab), was featured in Science Magazine.

The study highlights the cognitive and social foundations of happiness by showing that happier people more frequently generate spontaneous thoughts about friends and social relationships rather than material reward.

The full article is available at:
https://scienmag.com/happier-people-think-more-about-friends-not-money/

The 2025 winter KSPPA Conference (Busan)

Our lab participated in the 2025 Winter Conference of the Korean Social and Personality Psychological Association (KSPPA), held at Hanwha Resort in Haeundae, Busan, Korea (November 28–29, 2025).

Our lab members

Sunghwan presented his research titled “Neurobehavioral predictors of political judgments and choices during South Korea’s political crisis” in the Future Social and Personality Psychologist of the Year Competition, where he won the Top Award (최우수상) — congratulations to Sunghwan!

Sunghwan (right)

Woojin and Taein also presented their excellent studies in the poster session:

Woojin — “The Objectivity Illusion During the Political Upheaval in South Korea: Comparing the Roles of Attitude Strength and Partisanship”

Taein — “Characteristics of the Valence–Arousal Relationship in Extraordinary Altruists’ Perception of Facial Expressions”

Woojin

Taein

Prof, Sul served as Chair of the Academic Committee at the KSPPA for the past two years, making remarkable contributions to the planning and management of the conference.

At the closing ceremony, she was honored with a Certificate of Appreciation for her dedicated service.

We are truly proud of her!

Prof. Sul (right)

The undergraduate academic conference

Our lab interns, Hyeonjin and Minyeong, presented their research posters at the undergraduate academic conference hosted by the Department of Psychology at Pusan National University (November 28, 2025).

Both of them were recognized for their excellent work — Hyeonjin won the Top Award (대상), and Minyeong received the Excellence Award (우수상). We are very proud of their achievements and congratulate them!

Poster titles

Hyeonjin: “The moderating effect of social isolation on the relationship between duration of NEET experience and depression in young adults.”

Minyeong: “The impact of near-miss effects in probability-based game rewards on impulsive decision-making.”

Paper published in Communications Psychology

Prof. Sul and Won-Gyo (A postdoctoral alumnus of our lab) published a new paper in Communications Psychology !!

"Happier individuals generate more spontaneous thoughts about friends and value relationships over money"

Link: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-025-00341-3

A media talk in Talkpedia

Professor Sunhae Sul was featured in Episode 2 of Talkpedia(토크피디아), a program produced by CHANNEL PNU.

In this episode, Professor Sul addressed the anxieties young people face amid an uncertain future and offered words of encouragement to those navigating these challenges.

Full video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLRZoSYgZTk

Paper published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Professor Sul's new paper was published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience !!

Title: "Brain structure correlates of foreign language learning experiences"

https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2025.1663218

The 2025 Korean Psychological Association Conference (KINTEX)

Our lab participated in 2025 Annual Conference of the Korean Psychological Association held at KINTEX in Ilsan, Korea (August 21st ~ August 23rd, 2025).

Dr. Kwon presented her research at the symposium organized by Professor Sul.

Presentation title: “Amid Political Upheaval: The Moral Judgments and Political Choices of Liberals and Conservatives”

Junho and Taein participated in the poster presentation and received Emerging Psychologist Award (미래심리학자상) for their excellent research.

Poster title of Junho: “How Do Prosocial and Proself Groups Differ in Cooperation? The Role of Social Value Orientation in Differential Effects of Punishment and Reward”

Poster title of Taein: “Are Fair People Less Happy? Effects of Empathy and Subjective Status on the Relationship Between Social Preferences and Happiness”

Congratulation to Junho and Taein. We are so proud of them!

2025 PNU Future Talent Development Program Recipient: Woojin

Our lab member, Woojin, has been selected as a recipient of the 2025 PNU Future Talent Development Program (2025년도 PNU 미래인재양성사업), a prestigious grant offered by Pusan National University under the PNU-RENovation initiative to support outstanding young researchers.

Woojin’s project, “The Role of Partisanship and Attitude on Information Exposure and Political Behavior during Political Turmoil,” will analyze longitudinal data collected during major political events in Korea to explore how political identity shapes information exposure and political behaviors.

This achievement highlights our lab’s commitment to impactful research. Congratulations! :)

Link: https://psy.pusan.ac.kr/psy/15495/subview.do?enc=Zm5jdDF8QEB8JTJGYmJzJTJGcHN5JTJGMjc5MiUyRjE3MzkxNDYlMkZhcnRjbFZpZXcuZG8lM0ZiYnNPcGVuV3JkU2VxJTNEJTI2aXNWaWV3TWluZSUzRGZhbHNlJTI2c3JjaENvbHVtbiUzRCUyNnBhZ2UlM0QxJTI2c3JjaFdyZCUzRCUyNnJnc0JnbmRlU3RyJTNEJTI2YmJzQ2xTZXElM0QlMjZwYXNzd29yZCUzRCUyNnJnc0VuZGRlU3RyJTNEJTI2

The 2025 KSPPA conference (Korea University)

PSNL participated in the 2025 KSPPA conference (Korean Social and Personality Psychological Association), which was held in Korea University in Seoul, Korea (May 17th, 2025).

As the academic chair, professor Sul moderated the Special Lecture Session for Award Recipients.

Junho presented his research at the poster session and drew a lot of interests.

Poster title: “The Social Dominance Moudulates the Association between the Self and Other-regarding decisions”