I am interested in the inferences we make about others.

Humans have a remarkable capacity to infer other's qualities from seeing just a glimpse of them. And although incredibly practical when correct, these inferences can have disastrous consequences when they lead us to the wrong conclusions. One such consequence of our ability to infer qualities about others is an unduly negative perception of stigmatised out-group members.

With my research I hope to explore what influences the conclusions we draw about others and how those shape the experience of stigmatised individuals. I aim to approach this topic using computational modelling, behavioral experiments, and neuro-imaging methods. This situates my research aims within the domain of social cognition, particularly person perception.

At the moment, I am completing a Research Master’s in Psychology at the University of Amsterdam. I have previously attended the University of Groningen where I received my BSc in Psychology (2018-2021) and Stanford University where I worked as a Graduate Research Fellow under the supervision of Dr. Michele Gelfand (2021-2023).

I am currently fascinated by how individual differences in the way we represent social groups in our memory shape the way we stereotype members of these social categories. For more information on what I am currently working on please see my CV.

Affiliations:
Social Cognitive & Neural Sciences Lab - https://www.freemanlab.org/ 

Koc Social Identies Lab - http://kocsocialidentitieslab.com/

Amodio  / Social Neuroscience Lab -  https://amodiolab.org/
Michele Gelfand’s Culture Lab - https://www.michelegelfand.com/lab

Publications:
Weitz, B., & Koc, Y. (2022). The effect of relational status on perceptions of gay disparagement humor. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03712-9

Conference Presentations:

Weitz, B., Koc, Y. (2023). Apologies Don’t End the Guilt - The Reciprocal Effect of Collective Apologies on Collective Guilt, Intergroup Attitudes & Support for Collective Action. Poster presentation at the 2023 Annual Convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP)

Weitz, B., Koc, Y. (2023). Apologizing doesn’t kill the guilt: Advantaged group’s support for social change increases after apologizing to the disadvantaged group. Presentation at the 19th General Meeting of the European Association for Social Psychology (EASP)

Weitz, B., Koc, Y. (2021). Apologies Don’t End the Guilt - The Reciprocal Effect of Collective Apologies on Collective Guilt, Intergroup Attitudes & Support for Collective Action. Presentation at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the International Society for Political Psychology (ISPP)

CONTACT: Bastian.Weitz@gmail.com