publications
2022
- How do confronters want perpetrators to respond? Defining successful confrontation as the match between desired and actual outcomesThe Journal of Social Psychology 2022
Research on confronting prejudice frequently defines an effective confrontation as one that induces change in the perpetrator’s prejudicial beliefs or actions. We argue for a broader definition, defining successful confrontation as one that elicits the confronter’s desired response. Using a community sample of 152 adults, we conducted an exploratory study in which participants recalled a time when they had confronted racism or sexism. Results revealed a frequent mismatch between what confronters desired and what they received from the perpetrator. Path analysis showed that a perceived match between desired and actual perpetrator responses to confrontation predicted greater positive and lower negative emotion among confronters, across a range of perpetrator responses. We argue that researchers need to expand definitions of successful confrontation to better understand the ways in which confronters’ and perpetrators’ behaviors intersect within lived experiences of prejudice.
2020
- Inducing and mitigating stereotype threat through gendered virtual body-swap illusionsProceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2020
A psychological phenomenon termed "stereotype threat" has been shown to contribute to women’s underperformance and underrepresentation in math and science fields. Within the virtual reality literature, a recent study utilized gendered body-swap illusions (i.e., women in male virtual bodies) to mitigate the effects of stereotype threat among a sample of female participants. The present research provides a much needed replication of this intervention, as well as a critical extension of virtual reality research on the Proteus Effect to test whether stereotype threat can be induced among male participants immersed in a female virtual body. Results supported both the replication and extension hypotheses; female participants embodied in male avatars were buffered from stereotype threat whereas male participants embodied in female avatars suffered from stereotype threat. Avatar gender also influenced participants’ math confidence and awareness of the negative societal stereotype regarding women’s math ability.
- The impact of classroom diversity philosophies on the STEM performance of undergraduate students of colorJournal of Experimental Psychology 2020
Using a large, nationally representative sample of first year undergraduate students we tested whether instructors’ use of diversity philosophies could impact the learning of new math and science content among Students of Color and White students. Participants (N = 688) were randomly assigned to one of nine simulated online course environments using a 3 (diversity philosophy: Multicultural, Colorblind, Control) × 3 (lesson: Chemistry, Physics, Math) × 2 (participant race: Students of Color, White students) between-participants experimental design. After listening to an audio welcome message from the instructor and reading the course syllabus, both of which contained the embedded diversity philosophy manipulation, participants watched a novel 10-minute lesson, completed a comprehension quiz, as well as measures of belonging and perceived instructor bias. Students of Color showed greater comprehension of the math/science lesson in the multicultural condition compared to the colorblind condition. Students of Color also perceived the instructor to be less biased in the multicultural condition compared to the colorblind condition. White students tended to either be unaffected or oppositely affected by the diversity philosophy manipulation. Overall, results suggest that college instructors’ use of multicultural (or colorblind) language sends a signal of inclusion (or exclusion) to Students of Color, affecting not only their social experience in the class but also their learning potential.
-
2019
- The decision to act: Factors that predict women’s and men’s decisions to confront sexismConfronting Prejudice and Discrimination 2019
Recent media campaigns, news articles, and political events have spotlighted sexism and collective action against sexism. In the face of these injustices, some women and men decide to confront sexist events, whereas others do not. In this chapter, we focus on the factors that motivate people to confront sexism with particular attention to the ways in which confrontations of sexism might be unique. We first consider the integral role of recognizing sexism in predicting confronting behaviors. Viewed through the lens of Ambivalent Sexism Theory, we articulate the ways in which sexism, in contrast to other forms of bias, may be particularly difficult to recognize. Next, we present research findings regarding the diversity of sexist experiences and the role of social power differentials in predicting confronting. We also detail how both perceived and actual costs and benefits of confronting sexism motivate women to confront. We pay special attention to ally confrontation and the differential effectiveness of ally versus target confrontation, with speculation as to how male allies may both help and hinder the goal to reduce sexism. Throughout the chapter, we consider how the recent surge in recognition and public confrontation of sexism may fit with empirical research findings. Finally, we provide concrete strategies for increasing confrontation behavior and suggest novel and important avenues for future research.
2018
- The effect of gender body-swap illusions on working memory and stereotype threatIEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics 2018
The underrepresentation of women in technical and STEM fields is a well-known problem, and stereotype threatening situations have been linked to the inability to recruit and retain women into these fields. Virtual reality enables the unique ability to perform body-swap illusions, and research has shown that these illusions can change participant behavior. Characteristically people take on the traits of the avatar they are embodying. We hypothesized that female participants embodying male avatars when a stereotype threat was made salient would demonstrate stereotype lift. We tested our hypothesis through a between-participants user study in an immersive virtual environment by measuring working memory. Our results support that stereotype threat can be induced in an immersive virtual environment, and that stereotype lift is possible with fully-immersive body-swap illusions. Additionally, our results suggest that participants in a gender-swapped avatar without an induced stereotype threat have significantly impaired working memory; however, this impairment is lifted when a threat is made salient. We discuss possible theories as to why a body-swap illusion from a female participant into a male avatar would only increase working memory impairment when not under threat, as well as applications and future research directions. Our results offer additional insight into understanding the cognitive effects of body-swap illusions, and provide evidence that virtual reality may be an applicable tool for decreasing the gender gap in technology.
Using a large, nationally representative sample of first year undergraduate students we tested whether instructors’ use of diversity philosophies could impact the learning of new math and science content among Students of Color and White students. Participants (N = 688) were randomly assigned to one of nine simulated online course environments using a 3 (diversity philosophy: Multicultural, Colorblind, Control) × 3 (lesson: Chemistry, Physics, Math) × 2 (participant race: Students of Color, White students) between-participants experimental design. After listening to an audio welcome message from the instructor and reading the course syllabus, both of which contained the embedded diversity philosophy manipulation, participants watched a novel 10-minute lesson, completed a comprehension quiz, as well as measures of belonging and perceived instructor bias. Students of Color showed greater comprehension of the math/science lesson in the multicultural condition compared to the colorblind condition. Students of Color also perceived the instructor to be less biased in the multicultural condition compared to the colorblind condition. White students tended to either be unaffected or oppositely affected by the diversity philosophy manipulation. Overall, results suggest that college instructors’ use of multicultural (or colorblind) language sends a signal of inclusion (or exclusion) to Students of Color, affecting not only their social experience in the class but also their learning potential.