Our lab has several ongoing research projects.  Here is a brief outline of some of our studies:

• Attitude Formation Through Exploration  - BeanFest
  -  Negativity biases in exploration, learning, and generalization
  -  Political ideology, exploration, and attitude formation
  -  Association between negativity biases in attitude formation and emotional disorders (i.e., anxiety and depression)
  -  Determining predictive and diagnostic ability of BeanFest to assess emotionality in clinical populations (collaboration with the Department of Psychiatry and clinical faculty at the Center for Psychological Services and Development)

• Prejudice Reduction Through Intergroup Contact (collaboration with VCU Residential Life & Housing)
  -  Effect of racial attitudes on success of interracial roommate relationships
  -  Effect of interracial roommate relationships on racial attitudes
  -  Difference in the effects of intergroup contact between majority and minority group members
  -  Benefits of intergroup contact on academic identity and academic achievement
   

• Behavioral Immune System (BIS)
  -  Role of disgust in prejudice toward outgroups (e.g., homosexuals, bisexuals)
  -  Social conservatism (e.g., RWA, religious fundamentalism) as means of disease avoidance
  -  Sex differences in disgust sensitivity and collectivism
  -  Cultural differences in BIS

• Persuasion / Attitude Change
  -  Effect of language abstractness on argument quality and persuasion
  -  Relation between attitude polarization and political ideology
  -  Effectiveness of affective versus cognitive messages on attitudes toward condoms and condom use behaviors

• Mindfulness
  -  Mindfulness as a means of reducing negativity biases
  -  Negatively biased cognition as a mediator between mindfulness and emotional disorders
  -  Effect of mindfulness intervention on disease management and physiological awareness in Type 2 diabetics (collaboration with the Department of Internal Medicine)
  -  Effect of mindfulness on emotional reactivity and susceptibility to evaluative conditioning

   

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