Dr. J. Garrett-Walker utilizes quantitative and qualitative methodologies to examine the intersections of multiple identities, specifically racial, religious and sexual identities. She is most interested in the ways in which Black LGBT young adults navigate and negotiate social marginalization in their multiple communities through negative religious rhetoric, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and heterosexism. Dr. Garrett-Walker’s 2nd line of research seeks to raise student, faculty, and staff awareness around social inequalities and privilege. She has become increasingly interested in the ways in which shared educational privilege impacts colorblind racial ideologies and privilege awareness (i.e., white, male, class)

Dr. John Pérez's primary research interest is in exploring how spirituality and religiousness influence mental and physical health across the lifespan. He is particularly interested in the ways people use religious or spiritual resources (e.g., prayer, meditation, support from religious community) to cope with chronic illness and stressful life events. A related research interest focuses on identifying the cognitive, social, and cultural mechanisms that buffer high-risk individuals against major depression. Across both of these research domains, Dr. Pérez examines the strengths and needs of low-income, multicultural populations, especially Latinos.

Dr. Marisa Knight's research interests are focused on the interplay between motivation, emotion and cognitive functioning across the lifespan. In one line of research, she is examining how particular emotion regulation strategies influence emotional experience and memory performance in older and younger adults. In another line of research, she is investigating the factors that lead to both the enhancement and impairment of memories that are associated with emotional arousal.

Dr. Aline Hitti's research focuses on how children and adolescents make social decisions. We are particularly interested in decisions regarding group norms, group dynamics, intergroup attitudes, and social exclusion. Our research uses a developmental framework, examining how various aspects of social cognition develop and change through childhood and adolescence. In our research, we utilize surveys, interviews, and behavioral tasks.

Learn more at the SeaRCH website

Dr. Saera Khan explores how individuals’ motivation and their processing of social information act to influence their use of stereotypes when judging others. Her interest is in gaining a comprehensive view of stereotyping by examining the process from multiple perspectives. Stereotypes can be studied from the point of view of (a) the target (i.e., the individual belonging to the stereotyped group), (b) the observer (i.e., a third party observing the use of stereotypes by the perceiver) (c) or the perceiver (i.e., the person using the stereotype to judge an individual). A second line of research is devoted to understanding how moral judgments are influenced by our group identity and need for belonging.

Created by Dr. June Madsen Clausen and now run by Dr. Saralyn Ruff, FCRG's focus over the last 10 years is the evaluation of mental health interventions for foster youth, with the goal of identifying the most effective approaches to assisting this vulnerable population. FCRG's primary efforts include program evaluation and outcome research for A Home Within, a national nonprofit organization based in San Francisco focused on addressing the emotional needs of current and former foster youth.

Learn more at the FCRG website

Dr. Violet Cheung's research focuses on anger, fear and anxiety in concrete contexts such as terrorist attacks, cyber insecurity and the migrant crisis. Online surveys, lab experiments, and Big Data analytics, are some of the methodologies used to differentiate emotions in terms of their causes, their effects on democratic processes and their abilities to rally the public behind group actions/social policies.

Dr. Kevin Chun's research and publications focus on processes of adaptation and their relation to health and psychosocial adjustment for Asian American immigrants and refugees. Currently, he is working on a number of publications focusing on cultural issues in the management of type II diabetes for Chinese immigrants and their families. Additionally, he is working on an ethnographic study of acculturation strategies and processes for new Chinese immigrants at religious sites in San Francisco Chinatown.

Dr. Ed Munnich's research focuses on whether, and to what extent, statistics influence people’s beliefs and preferences about personal and public policy issues. In a series of studies, he has found that people’s beliefs and preferences about numbers are influenced by how numbers are presented to them, and that these effects last for a considerable time. In a complementary line of research, he has focused on how people can learn to look for multiple perspectives and thereby improve the accuracy of their numerical beliefs. He has also explored ways in which exposure to spatial semantics (words used to describe spatial relationships) relates to spatial cognition.

Dr. Lisa Wagner has conducted research on stereotyping and aging for the past 21 years. Through a grant from the National Institute on Aging and with support from USF, she has examined age-related stereotypes and older adults’ experience of stereotype threat. Her most recent research promotes intergenerational interactions between younger and older adults and then examines the effects of these interactions on attitudes toward both age groups. The 3rd edition of her co-authored book entitled, Aging and Diversity: An Active Learning Experience, was released in September of 2018.