Assistant Professor
Director, Worldviews in Motion (WIM) Lab
Social, Personality, & Health Psychology
Heyne Building, Room 207E
aelnakou@Central.UH.EDU 
CV

Dr. Elnakouri will be reviewing graduate student applications for Fall 2026. 

Biographical Summary

Abdo Elnakouri is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Houston. After earning his Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo, he recently completed a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at Northwestern University’s RAM Lab. He is fascinated by how people come to experience reality in such diverse ways (e.g., through different political beliefs and religious convictions) and why people often resist changing their worldviews. When away from work, you can usually find Abdo with friends, watching TV shows (that end well), and cooking up new playlists. 

Education

• B.Sc. Specialization in Human Kinetics and Minor in Psychology, University of Ottawa
• M.S. in Social Psychology, University of Waterloo 
• Ph.D. in Social Psychology, University of Waterloo

Research Interests

My research program examines how people form and change their worldviews. I am broadly interested in (1) why people adopt certain worldviews and (2) how people become open to changing them. Rather than viewing worldviews as fixed, my work explores how they function as dynamic lenses that can shift with people’s evolving needs and contexts. Through the Worldviews in Motion (WIM) Lab, I investigate how goals, relationships, and sociocultural environments shape worldviews—revealing when and why people hold tightly to their beliefs, and when they open themselves to change.  

Website: https://www.abdoelnakouri.com/