Faculty & Research Published Research Research Racial Justice and Equity Advocacy Research and Commentary Social Equity (-) Social Psychology Facet Area of Focus - Research Eileen Chou Benjamin Converse Gabrielle Adams Christopher J. Ruhm Frederick P. Hitz John Holbein Noah Myung Richard Bonnie (-) Sophie Trawalter Facet People - Research Facet UVA Partner - Research Published Research Social Psychology Gender Differences in Law School Classroom Participation: The Key Role of Social Context Authors: Sophie Trawalter, Molly Bishop Shadel, J.H. Verkerke Even though women make up roughly half of the students enrolled in law school today, they do not take up roughly half of the speaking time in law school classes. We found that women, more than men, report backlash for speaking in class, and this difference affects their willingness to participate in the law school classroom. Learn more Published Research Social Psychology What Lies Beneath? Minority Group Members’ Suspicion of Whites’ Egalitarian Motivation Predicts Responses to Whites’ Smiles Authors: Sophie Trawalter, Jonathan W. Kunstman, Taylor Tuscherer, E. Paige Lloyd Antiprejudice norms and attempts to conceal racial bias have made Whites’ positive treatment of racial minorities attributionally ambiguous. Although some minorities believe Whites’ positivity is genuine, others are suspicious of Whites’ motives and believe their kindness is primarily motivated by desires to avoid appearing prejudiced. Learn more Published Research Social Psychology Racial Justice and Equity Research and Commentary Racial bias in pain assessment and treatment recommendations, and false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites Authors: Sophie Trawalter, Kelly M. Hoffman, Jordan R. Axt, M. Norman Oliver Black Americans are systematically undertreated for pain relative to white Americans. We examine whether this racial bias is related to false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites (e.g., “black people’s skin is thicker than white people’s skin”). Learn more Published Research Social Psychology What Is Good Isn't Always Fair: On the Unintended Effects of Framing Diversity as Good Authors: Sophie Trawalter, Sara Driskell, Martin Davidson Many proponents of diversity stress that diversity is good—good for universities to further their educational missions and good for businesses, for hiring talent and generating financial returns to shareholders. In this work, we examined costs of framing diversity as good for organizations vs. fair; specifically, we examined whether framing diversity as good for organizations broadens people’s definitions of diversity and increases racial bias. Learn more Published Research Social Psychology Suspicion of White People’s Motives Relates to Relative Accuracy in Detecting External Motivation to Respond without Prejudice Authors: Sophie Trawalter, Jennifer LaCosse, Taylor Tuscherer, Jonathan W. Kunstman, E. Ashby Plant, Brenda Major As a result of prevalent pressure to inhibit prejudice, racial minorities may wonder whether White people’s nonprejudiced behavior is primarily motivated by personal commitments to egalitarianism (i.e., internal motivation) or superficial efforts to appear nonprejudiced (i.e., external motivation). The present work investigated whether minority group members chronically suspicious of White people’s motives (i.e., those who believe White people are more externally than internally motivated), are more accurate than those who are less suspicious in detecting the motives behind White individuals’ pleasant behavior toward minorities. Learn more Published Research Social Psychology The Invisible Man: Interpersonal Goals Moderate Inattentional Blindness to African Americans Authors: Sophie Trawalter, Jazmin L. Brown-Iannuzzi, Kelly M. Hoffman, B. Keith Payne ABSTRACT: Research on inattentional blindness demonstrates that when attending to 1 set of stimuli, people often fail to consciously perceive a task-irrelevant object. In this experiment, we tested for selective inattentional blindness to racial outgroup members. Learn more
Published Research Social Psychology Gender Differences in Law School Classroom Participation: The Key Role of Social Context Authors: Sophie Trawalter, Molly Bishop Shadel, J.H. Verkerke Even though women make up roughly half of the students enrolled in law school today, they do not take up roughly half of the speaking time in law school classes. We found that women, more than men, report backlash for speaking in class, and this difference affects their willingness to participate in the law school classroom. Learn more
Published Research Social Psychology What Lies Beneath? Minority Group Members’ Suspicion of Whites’ Egalitarian Motivation Predicts Responses to Whites’ Smiles Authors: Sophie Trawalter, Jonathan W. Kunstman, Taylor Tuscherer, E. Paige Lloyd Antiprejudice norms and attempts to conceal racial bias have made Whites’ positive treatment of racial minorities attributionally ambiguous. Although some minorities believe Whites’ positivity is genuine, others are suspicious of Whites’ motives and believe their kindness is primarily motivated by desires to avoid appearing prejudiced. Learn more
Published Research Social Psychology Racial Justice and Equity Research and Commentary Racial bias in pain assessment and treatment recommendations, and false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites Authors: Sophie Trawalter, Kelly M. Hoffman, Jordan R. Axt, M. Norman Oliver Black Americans are systematically undertreated for pain relative to white Americans. We examine whether this racial bias is related to false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites (e.g., “black people’s skin is thicker than white people’s skin”). Learn more
Published Research Social Psychology What Is Good Isn't Always Fair: On the Unintended Effects of Framing Diversity as Good Authors: Sophie Trawalter, Sara Driskell, Martin Davidson Many proponents of diversity stress that diversity is good—good for universities to further their educational missions and good for businesses, for hiring talent and generating financial returns to shareholders. In this work, we examined costs of framing diversity as good for organizations vs. fair; specifically, we examined whether framing diversity as good for organizations broadens people’s definitions of diversity and increases racial bias. Learn more
Published Research Social Psychology Suspicion of White People’s Motives Relates to Relative Accuracy in Detecting External Motivation to Respond without Prejudice Authors: Sophie Trawalter, Jennifer LaCosse, Taylor Tuscherer, Jonathan W. Kunstman, E. Ashby Plant, Brenda Major As a result of prevalent pressure to inhibit prejudice, racial minorities may wonder whether White people’s nonprejudiced behavior is primarily motivated by personal commitments to egalitarianism (i.e., internal motivation) or superficial efforts to appear nonprejudiced (i.e., external motivation). The present work investigated whether minority group members chronically suspicious of White people’s motives (i.e., those who believe White people are more externally than internally motivated), are more accurate than those who are less suspicious in detecting the motives behind White individuals’ pleasant behavior toward minorities. Learn more
Published Research Social Psychology The Invisible Man: Interpersonal Goals Moderate Inattentional Blindness to African Americans Authors: Sophie Trawalter, Jazmin L. Brown-Iannuzzi, Kelly M. Hoffman, B. Keith Payne ABSTRACT: Research on inattentional blindness demonstrates that when attending to 1 set of stimuli, people often fail to consciously perceive a task-irrelevant object. In this experiment, we tested for selective inattentional blindness to racial outgroup members. Learn more