A Little About Me
I am a Research Psychologist active in both social psychology and cognitive psychology research. I graduated with distinction from Ohio State University, then went on to receive my Master's of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Ohio University, where I taught courses in statistics and social psychology for four years. I went on to pursue research on gender roles in the workplace at New York University Abu Dhabi in a postdoctoral position for two years.
My Research
My research program broadly examines the impact of belonging to an underrepresented group in a particular context on a person’s self-presentation, ethical behavior, and career goals, while also exploring how these behaviors and attitudes interact with belongingness drives.
Gender Roles and Career Objectives
One of my research goals is to investigate how being a member of an underrepresented gender in a certain field can impact a person’s pursuit of a career within that field. I employ the theoretical lens of Optimal Distinctiveness Theory (ODT), which posits that people have two simultaneous motives within a group context to belong and to be distinct from others, to examine how the framing of women’s minority status in STEM disciplines can impact women’s sense of belonging and feelings of unwanted distinctiveness in STEM, ultimately influencing their likelihood of pursuing a STEM occupation.
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Relatedly, I have conducted research on men in female-dominated, caregiving occupations, such as nursing, social work, and childcare.
Nonreligious Identities and Intergroup Relations
Another of my primary research goals is to explore how stereotypes about religious non-believers influence non-believers’ behavior and performance on tasks relevant to the stereotyped domain. These questions are explored through the framework of social identity threat, which occurs when the competence or morality of a social group is undermined by negative stereotypes.
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