The overarching goal of my work is to better understand how individuals respond to threats to their social and personal identities, with a particular focus on majority versus minority identity.

Currently, I have two primary areas of research within this tradition. In the first, I study the factors that influence majority group members' (e.g., White/European Americans') perceptions of threat from and attitudes toward minority groups, and vice versa. Much of my work in this area examines reasons that majority group members may see multiculturalism - the recognition and celebration of diversity - as threatening, and ways to reduce these feelings of threat. In the second, I study the causes and consequences of stereotyping/prejudice among religious majorities (e.g., negative stereotypes about Christians' scientific abilities) and minorities (e.g., negative stereotypes about atheists' morality and trustworthiness), both within the U.S. and cross-culturally.

I am currently a fourth-year PhD student working with Dr. Kim Rios. I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Connecticut State University, where I researched consumption stereotypes with Dr. Maya Aloni. My current research is centered on overlapping stereotypes and how they can influence members of a given social category to be categorized into another category. I also tend to focus on gender-related stereotypes such as femininity and masculinity. 

I am currently a third-year PhD student working with Dr. Kim Rios. I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Criminal Justice Ethics at Youngstown State University where I researched how situational and dispositional attribution accounts interact with the political affiliation of media news outlets, how individuals perceive social influences of other conforming behaviors and the effect of their perceptions, and exploring the different types of stigmatization conditions and their pattern occurrence among students at Youngstown State. I also studied abroad at Sichuan Normal University in Sichuan, China where we learned development and education in the U.S. and China. My current research looks at political and religious identity conflict amongst non-religious conservatives and religious liberals here in the U.S. as well as exploring perceptions of the terms “Latinx” and “Latine” amongst Hispanic/Latino individuals. I’ve also previously studied the impact of political identification on mask wearing during COVID or the flu. 

I am a second year PhD Student interested in religion. My main interest is religious and non-religious prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination. I am also interested in (non)religious demographic shifts and how these perceptions can affect intergroup relations. In my free time, I play video-games and soccer.

I am a first-year social psychology student working with Dr. Kimberly Rios. I received my B.A. in Psychology from University of Tabriz and M.Sc. in Experimental Social Psychology from Central Washington University. My research interests include religious and political social identities and their effects on interactions with out-group members. In addition to reading about different areas of social psychology, I’m interested in drawing, especially fashion drawing.

I am a first-year social psychology PhD student. I received my B.A. from Lake Forest College in 2023 where I majored in Psychology and Music. My current research interests include but are not limited to, systems of power, moral purity, and religious motivations and identity. In my free time, I enjoy playing the harp, teaching yoga, and drinking copious amounts of coffee with friends! 

I am a first-year master's student working with Dr. Kimberly Rios. I received my undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego. As a Master's student, I am still exploring and developing my research interests, but I am generally interested in intergroup relationships, implicit social cognition, decision-making, and learning & memory. Additionally, I have developed a strong interest in employing computational modeling to address psychological questions. In my spare time, I enjoy traveling, cooking, and playing video games.