I draw upon quantitative and qualitative methods to test research theories and apply them to social issues in North American and South Asian spaces. My research is informed by a cultural psychological (CP) perspective and illuminates the bi-directional relationship between cultural context and psychological phenomena (Shweder, 1995). This perspective proposes that, in one direction, the cultural worlds that people inhabit shape their beliefs and desires. In the other direction, peoples’ beliefs and desires impact their future actions and shape their experiences with their cultural worlds, thereby (re)producing worlds that resonate with their interests. A central theme across all projects is to examine how systems of privilege and oppression are (re) produced via cultural tools, and the psychological phenomena that reduce intergroup conflict and aid in collective action.
Some of my current projects include the following:
1. Cultural tools as affordances for national identity: My first line of work examines how cultural tools (i.e., representations of history) reflect and reproduce particular conceptions of citizenship. Because people do not have direct access to their national past, their knowledge of such events is mediated by engaging with representations of history, such as textbooks, museums and memorials, and national holidays. Moreover, people’s understandings of the collective past influence their experiences of identity. Accordingly, I examine how museums and history curricula impact experiences of national identity, and how national identity in turn impacts people's engagement with their national history (e.g., memory recall; engagement with museum exhibits).
2. Constructions of national identity and implications for policy: In a second line of work, I focus on the implications of national identity for legislation (e.g., support immigration relevant policies). For instance, I consider how support for tough immigration legislation (e.g., Arizona SB 1070 in the U.S.) serves as defense against symbolic threats to Anglicized conceptions of identity. I have also considered the implications of gendered conceptions of national identity.
3. Psychology of social change: Another line of work focuses on the factors contributing towards social change. This line of work connects my research interests to my pedagogical interests and investigates how the teaching of psychology can be used as a tool for maintaining systems of oppression, or alternatively, contribute towards social change.
Mukherjee, S., & Villicana, A. (in preparation). An intersectional approach to social change: When subordinate-group identity in one domain enhances privilege recognition on another.
Mukherjee, S. (2018). Towards collective action: The interaction of self-construal and group status. Presented at Convention of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, Pittsburgh, PA.
Mukherjee, S., Kurtis, T., & Adams, G. (2014). Critical Approaches to Introductory Psychology. Implications for Social Justice. Presented at the Race and Pedagogy Conference, Tacoma, WA.