Current Research Interests
Current Reseach
| Current Research |
Perceptions of Poor Americans
(with Dr. Susan T. Fiske)
The U.S. is one of the most affluent nations in the world, yet poverty rates remain at a
staggering high and the income gap between the rich and poor is wider now than it has
been in decades, despite America’s increased capability to reduce it. Poor American
families are relegated to substandard housing, under-resourced schools, and limited
access to quality physical and mental health care and are often subjected to class-based
prejudice and discrimination. Studies have shown that not only are non-poor Americans
remarkably tolerant of economic inequality and its detrimental implications, they also tend
to harbor negative feelings toward the poverty-stricken (Bullock, 1999; Cozzarelli,
Wilkinson, & Tagler, 2001; Feagin, 1972; Furnham, 1982, 1983) and hold them
responsible for their plight (Chafel, 1997). Data from multiple stereotype content model
(SCM) studies (Fiske, et al., 1999; 2001) have revealed that poor people rank amongst the
most disliked and disrespected of American social groups and elicit the negative
intergroup emotions of contempt and disgust. SCM researchers posit that these
downward contrastive emotions (Smith, 2000) and related negative intergroup behaviors
target groups whose negative outcomes are viewed as controllable (Cuddy et al., 2007).
In other words, it seems that people react very negatively to those who, through their own
personal failings, are perceived to bring negative outcomes upon themselves and others.
However, very little research has directly examined the link between blame and affective
and behavioral reaction to the poor.
In the current research we explore that moderating role of blame in anti-poor emotions
and behaviors. .
Resentment of Wealth and Poverty
(Dr. Susan T. Fiske)
Data collected from the Stereotype Content Model indicate that groups on either extreme
of the socioeconomic scale are disliked and elicit the negative emotions of contempt and
disgust (poor) or envy and jealousy (rich). The current research probes the extent to which
specific kinds of threat account for negative reactions to people in either socioeconomic
category.
Social Class Cultures
(Dr. J. Nicole Shelton)
Nicole and I are developing a program of research examining socioeconomic class
cultures or the ways that socioeconomic class may condition or shape the ways that
people perceive, respond to, and psychologize their social world.
Other Interests
Power and competition in interpersonal perception; Stigmatization of mental Illness and
mental health care;
(with Dr. Susan T. Fiske)
The U.S. is one of the most affluent nations in the world, yet poverty rates remain at a
staggering high and the income gap between the rich and poor is wider now than it has
been in decades, despite America’s increased capability to reduce it. Poor American
families are relegated to substandard housing, under-resourced schools, and limited
access to quality physical and mental health care and are often subjected to class-based
prejudice and discrimination. Studies have shown that not only are non-poor Americans
remarkably tolerant of economic inequality and its detrimental implications, they also tend
to harbor negative feelings toward the poverty-stricken (Bullock, 1999; Cozzarelli,
Wilkinson, & Tagler, 2001; Feagin, 1972; Furnham, 1982, 1983) and hold them
responsible for their plight (Chafel, 1997). Data from multiple stereotype content model
(SCM) studies (Fiske, et al., 1999; 2001) have revealed that poor people rank amongst the
most disliked and disrespected of American social groups and elicit the negative
intergroup emotions of contempt and disgust. SCM researchers posit that these
downward contrastive emotions (Smith, 2000) and related negative intergroup behaviors
target groups whose negative outcomes are viewed as controllable (Cuddy et al., 2007).
In other words, it seems that people react very negatively to those who, through their own
personal failings, are perceived to bring negative outcomes upon themselves and others.
However, very little research has directly examined the link between blame and affective
and behavioral reaction to the poor.
In the current research we explore that moderating role of blame in anti-poor emotions
and behaviors. .
Resentment of Wealth and Poverty
(Dr. Susan T. Fiske)
Data collected from the Stereotype Content Model indicate that groups on either extreme
of the socioeconomic scale are disliked and elicit the negative emotions of contempt and
disgust (poor) or envy and jealousy (rich). The current research probes the extent to which
specific kinds of threat account for negative reactions to people in either socioeconomic
category.
Social Class Cultures
(Dr. J. Nicole Shelton)
Nicole and I are developing a program of research examining socioeconomic class
cultures or the ways that socioeconomic class may condition or shape the ways that
people perceive, respond to, and psychologize their social world.
Other Interests
Power and competition in interpersonal perception; Stigmatization of mental Illness and
mental health care;
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