Marisha Humphries' area of study focuses on the role of emotions in connection with morality. In particular, her work, utilizes sociomoral events or vignettes to assess children's emotional competence abilities and empathy. Further, she has an interest in understanding how African American culture influences this interplay between emotions and moral reasoning. Utilizing this basic developmental research, Dr. Humphries seeks to work with teachers and schools in creating and implementing effective ecologically and culturally relevant promotion programs centered around emotional and social competence or SEL.