The challenges of racial, ethnic, and cross-cultural integration are among some of the most contentious and complex of the 21st Century. Research in my lab explores how people navigate diverse environments and the implications of increasing diversity for addressing global challenges, like climate change.

In one line of research, my colleagues and I are exploring how conscious and non-conscious biases manifest in everyday perceptions and social interactions, with the goal of understanding psychological factors that impact intergroup relations. For instance, in laboratory experiments, my colleagues and I have found that initial interracial and interethnic interactions are remarkably fragile and that even very subtle disruptions in conversation (e.g., a 1-second delay) can fuel biases and undermine both Whites’ and minorities’ interests in intergroup contact. I am also interested in basic questions about the nature and accuracy of intergroup perception. Using dyadic analytical methods, we are also exploring sources of bias and accuracy in intergroup mind-reading and whether accuracy improves over time with more intergroup contact. This work has both theoretical and practical implications for understanding the psychological mechanisms that give rise to common misunderstandings, miscommunication, and distrust in intergroup exchanges.

Finally, with colleagues at Cornell, University of Cambridge, and the Environmental Defense Fund, I am working on several projects at the intersection of diversity science and environmental sustainability. Sustainability challenges like global climate change are often characterized as collective action problems, however, beyond political influences, we know surprisingly little about how group memberships shape how people think about sustainability issues. We are exploring how group identities, such as race, ethnicity, and social class affect how people engage with environmental organizations and initiatives, and major cooperative challenges, like climate change. Current studies are exploring a wide range of social psychological factors that contribute to an “attitude-action” gap in public engagement on the issue of climate change. Additional studies currently underway are examining how race, religion, morality, and class relations impact how people think about climate change. For our perspective on what’s “social” about the problem of climate change, and what psychologists have to gain by studying it, see our article, “Social Climate Science,” in Perspectives on Psychological Science).