Current Graduate Students

Tom Cain
Advisor: Dr. Lee Jussim
Year: 6th
Social
Research Interests: I am currently interested in how fear biases a person's perceptions, judgments and behavior. Additionally, I am interested in examining how individuating information affects implicit bias. That is, whether a person who holds implicit bias towards a stigmatized group also holds implicit bias towards a specific member of that group (e.g. bias towards pirates in general vs. bias towards a specific pirate). For example, my master’s thesis examinined how manipulating individuating information (intelligence, rum consumption) affects implicit bias.
Website: http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~tcain/

George Chavez
Advisor: Dr. Diana Sanchez
Year: 3
Area: Social
Research Interests: My research largely concerns itself with understanding individuals' self-perceptions of race--with a focus on 1) Multiracial and 2) Minority groups.  I'm quite interested in the idea (and preliminary data suggests this) that the implicit racial identity of biracial individuals is fluid, and affected by race-relevant stimuli.  My race research also explores how individuals assess "who is a racial minority" and whether certain interracial relationships are more taboo than others.  I am also working with Professor Ogilvie in his Soul Searching lab, where I am mainly preoccupied with assessing the determinants of religious belief and disbelief.

Vincent Ciaccio
Advisor: Dr. Richard Contrada
Year: 2nd
Social/health

Jason Glushakow
Advisor: Dr. John Aiello
Year: 6th
Social/Industrial-Organizational
Research Interests: My research interests include interruptions, spatial behavior, social facilitation, telework, digital signage, and the effect different communication modalities have on interpersonal influence.

Jessica Good
Advisor: Dr. Diana Sanchez, Dr. Laurie Rudman
Year: 4th
Social
Research Interests: I have broad interests in stereotyping and discrimination, particularly as it relates to gender and race.  Specifically, I am interested in benevolent sexism (consequences for targets as well as ways to reduce sexism), as well as how gender roles and beliefs impact close relationships. I also have a strong interest in how multiracial individuals are perceived by others (both mixed race individuals and transracial adoptees) in terms of racial stereotypes and beliefs about affirmative action. Website: https://www.eden.rutgers.edu/~goodj/

Michael Kuang
Advisor: Dr. John Aiello
Year: 3rd
Social
Research Interests: Most of my research interests relate to topics found at the intersection of social psychology and technology. I am interested in the increasingly multi-modal interactions (e.g. in-person, e-mail, chat) that constitute relationships with others. More specifically, I am interested in the initiation and development of those relationships in both online and off-line settings. I am also very interested in the individual and social implications of virtual environments.

Meng Li
Advisor: Dr. Gretchen Chapman.
Year: 4th
Social/Health
Research Interests: Decisions, even important ones, can be biased by subtle cues in the description of the situation. My main line of research examines how describing the same situation in different ways leads to different interpretations, and in turn, different decisions, especially when the decision matters in the real world. For example, how does positive vs. negative framing affects the way people judge whose lives are most worthwhile to be saved, as in vaccine allocation? Or, how are people influenced by the appearance of "100%" when it refers to 100% of a small portion instead of the whole, as in evaluating savings programs? I am also interested in self-regulation behaviors, such as the choice between immediate gratification and delayed reward, especially self-regulation with conflicting goals.
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~mli/

Kris Mescher
Advisor: Dr. Laurie Rudman, Dr. Dan Ogilvie
Year: 1st
Social

Corinne Moss-Racusin
Advisor: Dr. Laurie Rudman, Dr. Diana Sanchez
Year: 4th
Social
Research Interests: My primary research interests include stereotyping processes and intergroup conflict, gender roles, and implicit attitudes. More specifically, I am interested in how stereotypes shape behavior processes and self-monitoring, and how they in turn impact intergroup relations, politics, and the workplace. For example, my master’s thesis tested a model of women’s self-advocacy detriments relative to men, and examined its implications for workplace gender parity. Additional lines of research with Diana Sanchez investigate the ways in which several factors (including ascribing to traditional gender ideals) impact relationship satisfaction. http://eden.rutgers.edu/~cmossrac/