My research examines sociocultural factors that influence Black women’s gender beliefs, sexual well-being, and experiences of sexualization. Drawing on theories and methods from social and developmental psychology, Black feminism, and communication studies, my research is guided by two central questions. First, how do the media act as agents of gender and sexual socialization for Black adolescents and young adults? I am particularly interested in how the media communicate messages about gendered, racial stereotypes to Black youth. Second, when Black women are aware that others hold stereotypes of their group, what are the consequences for their physical, mental, and sexual well-being? My current work explores the impact of Black women’s awareness of negative sexual stereotypes (i.e., the Jezebel stereotype) on their sexual attitudes, sexual behavior, and experiences of sexualization.

My research is focused on social and cognitive biases that impact intergroup relations and members of stigmatized groups. I am particularly interested in answering questions such as: (1) Why do people fail to recognize their own racism but seem capable of identifying racism in others? (2) Which social and cognitive factors influence attributions and judgments of prejudice? (3) How do stereotypes and stigma shape one’s health and well-being? Currently, my research program primarily investigates how people make judgments about themselves and others. Specifically, I examine how social comparison biases (e.g., the better-than-average effect) and the self-enhancement motive (i.e., the need to view oneself positively) might inform people’s racism denials, one’s ability to detect and reduce prejudice in oneself, and support for anti-racist actions.

I am a personality and social psychologist whose scholarship centers on friendship and identity. My work on friendship is guided by two questions: How does who we are influence our friendships and how does who we are influence our friendships? My work on identity is focused on racialized people within higher education. With collaborators,  I am exploring the development of racialized university students and the experiences of pre-tenure faculty of color. To answer these questions, I draw on theories and mehtods from social, personality, and devlopmental psychology. I collect rich, multi-method, data sets and foster collaborations. I utilize a variety of methods and statistical techniques, such as experience sampling with multilevel modelling and years-long longitudinal surveys with latent growth curve modeling, to try and address their complexity.

Victoria Vezaldenos is a Doctoral student at the University of Michigan in the Combined Program for Education and Psychology and is leading the Critical Multiracial Ethnic-Racial Identity Project with the support of her Ford Predoctoral Fellowship. She is a first-generation college student from Manteca, CA. She majored in Psychology and minored in Education Studies at UCLA before earning an M.A. in Education Studies and M.S. in Psychology from the University of Michigan. She is interested in exploring ethnic-racial identity development processes for Multiracial adolescents and young adults. Her work aims to develop a reliable measure of critical Multiracial ethnic-racial identity to allow for wider-spread use of quantitative methods in the field of Multiracial ERI development.