My research interests are in the area of social cognition. One area of interest deals with the processes that underlie prejudice and discrimination. For example, we are investigating how differences in individuals` standing within the ingroup`s social hierarchy affects their group identifications and evaluations of ingroup and outgroup members. We are also investigating factors which promote re-definitions of intergroup boundaries as means for promoting positive intergroup relations.
I am also interested in ways in which stereotypes are generated and how they are maintained in the face of disconfirming (i.e., inconsistent) information. For example, we have investigated how expectations are generated from social stereotypes and how these expectations affect predictions about the future behavior of group members, perceptions of group members` behavior, cognitive representations of group members, and memory for the social actions of group members. A related research interest is in the processes that underlie the generation of expectations and perceptions of value per se. We have investigated these processes with children and adults.
