×Home People Projects Publications join Us

PUBLICATIONS

This page lists recent publications from the NICE Lab. Click on the citations below to view the study abstracts.

Pearson, A. R., White, K. E., Nogueira, L. M., Lewis, N. A., Jr., Green, D. J., Schuldt, J. P., & Edmondson, D. (2023). Climate change and health equity: A research agenda for psychological science. American Psychologist

Climate change poses unique and substantial threats to public health and well-being, from heat stress, flooding, and the spread of infectious disease to food and water insecurity, conflict, displacement, and direct health hazards linked to fossil fuels. These threats are especially acute for frontline communities. Addressing climate change and its unequal impacts requires psychologists to consider temporal and spatial dimensions of health, compound risks, as well as structural sources of vulnerability implicated by few other public health challenges. In this review, we consider climate change as a unique context for the study of health inequities and the roles of psychologists and health care practitioners in addressing it. We conclude by discussing the research infrastructure needed to broaden current understanding of these inequities, including new cross-disciplinary, institutional, and community partnerships, and offer six practical recommendations for advancing the psychological study of climate health equity and its societal relevance.

Abstract not available.

Ford, B.Q., Green, D.J., & Gross, J.J. (2022). White fragility: An emotion regulation perspective. American Psychologist.

‍

To address anti-Black racism, systemic change across many domains in American life will be necessary. There are many barriers to change, however, and progress requires identifying these barriers and developing tools to overcome them. Given that White individuals disproportionately occupy ‘gatekeeping’ positions of power, one key barrier to systemic change is rooted in White individuals’ emotional (and emotion-regulatory) responses when considering their own role in racism (e.g., involvement in racist systems, biased actions). White people often experience such moments as a jeopardy to their valued goals and are consequently highly motivated to reduce the negative emotions they feel by denying or avoiding the issue – a multi-faceted response known as a White fragility response. When White individuals enact a White fragility response, they can further damage the well-being of Black members of their community and weaken their own motivation for systemic change. Given its stark costs, it is critical to understand White fragility responses. In this article, we argue that White fragility can be usefully viewed through the lens of emotion and emotion regulation theory. In particular, we describe the emotion and emotion regulation responses that characterize White fragility, summarize the wide-ranging consequences of White fragility responses, highlight more sustainable ways forward, and end by considering a broader fragility framework that acknowledges multiple dimensions of power. Although emotion regulation lies at the heart of White fragility, emotion regulation is also a tool that can be leveraged for greater justice.

Abstract not available.

Duker, A.*, Green, D.J.*, Onyeador, I.N., & Richeson, J.A. (2021). Managing emotions in the face of discrimination: The differential effects of self-immersion, self-distanced reappraisal, and positive reappraisal. Emotion. *Authors contributed equally

Contending with sexism is associated with negative affective outcomes, including increased anger, anxiety, and depression. Prior research demonstrates that the use of emotion-regulation strategies, such as self-distanced reappraisal, when contending with general negative interpersonal experiences, can help people manage their emotions, attenuating the associated negative affect. The present research considers whether the affective benefits of reappraisal extend to past experiences of discrimination. Specifically, we examine whether using self-distanced reappraisal (Studies 1 and 2) or positive reappraisal (Study 2) when contending with sexism yields more positive and less negative affective outcomes, relative to engaging in self-immersion. Contrary to previous research examining more general negative interpersonal experiences, we find limited evidence that self-distanced reappraisal is an effective emotion-regulation strategy for women contending with sexism (N = 1,236). The present work offers preliminary evidence, however, that positive reappraisal may be a promising emotion-regulation strategy that reduces the negative affective consequences associated with reliving past instances of sexism, compared with either self-immersion or self-distanced reappraisal. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding the efficacy of different emotion-regulation strategies in the context of discrimination.

Abstract not available.

Motz, B. A., Canning, E. A., Green, D. J., Mallon, M. G., & Quick, J. D. (2021). The influence of automated praise on behavior and performance. Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 2(3), 1–12.

Positive feedback has known benefits for improving task performance, but it is not clear why. On the one hand, positive feedback may direct attention to the task and one’s motivations for having performed the task. On the other hand, positive feedback may direct attention to the task’s value for achieving a future goal. This ambiguity presents a challenge for the design of automated feedback interventions. Specifically, it is unclear whether positive feedback will more effectively influence behavior when it praises the recipient for having performed an action, or when it highlights the action’s value toward a goal. In the present study, we test these competing approaches in a large-scale field experiment (n = 1,766). Using a mobile app, we assigned college students to receive occasional notifications immediately upon submitting online assignments that either praised them for having submitted their coursework, or that highlighted the value of submitting coursework for academic success, or to a no-treatment control group. We find that only praise messages improved submission rates and course performance, suggesting that drawing attention to the feedback-eliciting task is necessary and sufficient for influencing behavior at scale.

Abstract not available.

Lewis Jr, N. A., Green, D. J., Duker, A., & Onyeador, I. N. (2021). Not seeing eye to eye: Challenges to building ethnically and economically diverse environmental coalitions. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 42, 60-64.

Environmental issues are collective action problems that can only be solved with coordinated efforts among diverse groups of people. Whether people are willing to collaborate to solve these problems, however, depends on their perceptions of, and trust in, each other. If people misperceive each other—for instance, due to inaccurate beliefs about who truly cares about environmental issues—then it becomes difficult to build diverse coalitions to address these collective problems. In this paper we review recent research on factors that lead diverse groups of people to misperceive each other’s environmental concerns, and the consequences of these misperceptions for collective action. We then conclude by discussing a more inclusive approach for building diverse coalitions in environmental movements.

Abstract not available.

Boykin, C.M., Brown, N.D., Carter, J.T., Dukes, K., Green, D.J., Harrison, T., Hebl, M., McCleary-Gaddy, A., Membere, A., McJunkins, C.A., Simmons, C., Singletary Walker, S., Smith, A.N. and Williams, A.D. (2020). Anti-racist actions and accountability: not more empty promises. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion.

Purpose – The current piece summarizes five critical points about racism from the point of view of Black scholars and allies: (1) Black people are experiencing exhaustion from and physiological effects of racism, (2) racism extends far beyond police brutality and into most societal structures, (3) despite being the targets of racism, Black people are often blamed for their oppression and retaliated against for their response to it, (4) everyone must improve their awareness and knowledge (through both formal education and individual motivation) to fight racism and (5) anti-racist policies and accountability are key to enact structural reformation.

Findings – The first three of these points detail the depths of the problem from the perspectives of the authors and the final two lay out a call to action.

Practical implications – This viewpoint is the joint effort of 14 authors who provided a unified perspective.

Originality/value – This was one of the most original experiences the authors have had – working with 13 former/current students on joint perspectives about police brutality and racism more generally. The authors thank for the opportunity.

Abstract not available.

Green, D.J., Wout, D.A., & Murphy, M.C. (2021). Learning Goals Mitigate Identity Threat for Black Individuals in Otherwise Threatening Interracial Interactions. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 27(2), 201–213.

Objective: Interactions between members of different racial and ethnic groups are often stressful. These interactions are stressful, in part, because they contribute to social identity threat—the fear of being judged or treated negatively based on one’s social group membership. Previous work separately suggests that the diversity of an interaction partner’s friendship network and the goals that people set for themselves influence social identity threat. Bringing these two bodies of work together, the present research examines whether adopting a learning (vs. performance) goal mitigates identity threat for Black people anticipating an interaction with a White partner who had a racially homogenous (vs. diverse) friendship network (a context previously shown to arouse identity threat). Method: Two experimental studies (N = 310) were conducted. Black adults (M_age = 29.66, 64% women) primed with either a performance or learning goal anticipated an interaction with a White partner who had either a racially diverse (Study 1) or racially homogenous (Studies 1 and 2) friendship network. After, we assessed participants’ social identity threat and anticipated interaction experiences. Results: Black adults primed with learning (vs. performance) goals expected to be perceived more positively by their interaction partner and expected to have more positive interaction experiences when they anticipated an interaction with a White partner who had a racially homogenous network of friends. Conclusions: These findings suggest that learning goals can mitigate threat among Black individuals within an otherwise identity-threatening interaction context, thus opening the door for positive interracial contact in the future even in the context of challenging interracial interactions.

‍

Abstract not available.

Muenks, K.M., Canning, E.A., LaCosse, J., Green, D.J., Zirkel, S., Garcia, J.A., & Murphy, M.C. (2020). Does my professor think my ability can change? Students’ perceptions of their stem professors’ mindset predict in-class psychological experiences. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 149(11), 2119–2144.

Two experiments and 2 field studies examine how college students’ perceptions of their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professors’ mindset beliefs about the fixedness or malleability of intelligence predict students’ anticipated and actual psychological experiences and performance in their STEM classes, as well as their engagement and interest in STEM more broadly. In Studies 1 (N=252) and 2 (N=224), faculty mindset beliefs were experimentally manipulated and students were exposed to STEM professors who endorsed either fixed or growth mindset beliefs. In Studies 3 (N=291) and 4 (N=902), we examined students’ perceptions of their actual STEM professors’ mindset beliefs and used experience sampling methodology (ESM) to capture their in-the-moment psychological experiences in those professors’ classes. Across all studies, we find that students who perceive that their professor endorses more fixed mindset beliefs anticipate (Studies 1 and 2) and actually experience (Studies 3 and 4) more psychological vulnerability in those professors’ classes—specifically, they report less belonging in class, greater evaluative concerns, greater imposter feelings, and greater negative affect. We also find that in-the-moment experiences of psychological vulnerability have downstream consequences. Students who perceive that their STEM professors endorse more fixed mindset beliefs experience greater psychological vulnerability in those professors’ classes, which in turn predict greater dropout intentions, lower class attendance, less class engagement, less end-of-semester interest in STEM, and lower grades. These findings contribute to our understanding of how students’ perceptions of professors’ mindsets can serve as a situational cue that affects students’ motivation, engagement, and performance in STEM.

Abstract not available.

Canning, E.A., Muenks, K., Green, D.J., & Murphy, M.C. (2019). STEM Faculty Who Believe Ability Is Innate Have Larger Racial Achievement Gaps and Inspire Less Student Motivation in Their Classes. Science Advances, 5(2).

An important goal of the scientific community is broadening the achievement and participation of racial minorities in STEM fields. Yet, professors’ beliefs about the fixedness of ability may be an unwitting and overlooked barrier for stigmatized students. Results from a longitudinal university-wide sample (150 STEM professors and more than 15,000 students) revealed that the racial achievement gaps in courses taught by more fixed mindset faculty were twice as large as the achievement gaps in courses taught by more growth mindset faculty. Course evaluations revealed that students were demotivated and had more negative experiences in classes taught by fixed (versus growth) mindset faculty. Faculty mindset beliefs predicted student achievement and motivation above and beyond any other faculty characteristic, including their gender, race/ethnicity, age, teaching experience, or tenure status. These findings suggest that faculty mindset beliefs have important implications for the classroom experiences and achievement of underrepresented minority students in STEM.

Abstract not available.

Levy, D.J., & Richeson, J.A. (2017). The Effects of Managing Discrimination Experiences on Self-control, Health, & Well-Being. In de Ridder, D., Adriaanse, M., & Fujita, K. (Eds.), Handbook of Self-Control in Health and Wellbeing.

In this chapter, we focus on the potential adverse effects of discrimination on self-control— the ability to inhibit automatic responses, override impulses to pursue long-term goals, and control our emotions, thoughts, and behavior. Specifically, we examine the potential role of the disruption of self-control as a consequence of contending with discrimination in shaping psychological and physical health. In addition to the known direct effects of group-based discrimination on psychological and physiological outcomes, such as increased anxiety and maladaptive cardiovascular responding, research also suggests that contending with discrimination can disrupt cognitive component processes that give rise to self-control. These cognitive costs of contending with discrimination can, in turn, lead to suboptimal behavioral choices and decisions that can ultimately contribute to health disparities between socially advantaged and disadvantaged group members. Discrimination, in other words, may lead to ill health through its impacts on self-control. In the following sections, we summarize research that provides evidence consistent with this cognitive pathway through which discrimination (or the possibility of experiencing discrimination) undermines health and well-being.

Abstract not available.

Heissel, J.A., Levy, D.J., & Adam, E.K. (2017). Stress, sleep, and performance on standardized tests: Understudied pathways to the achievement gap. AERA Open.

Stress exposure, and subsequent biological responses to stress exposure, can negatively affect cognitive functioning and test performance. Stress exposure affects multiple biological systems, including sleep and the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and its primary hormonal product, cortisol. Sleep and cortisol interact with each other, and both affect cognitive performance. Stress, sleep, and cortisol also vary by race-ethnicity and socioeconomic status, and as a result, they may serve as potential pathways contributing to racial-ethnic and socioeconomic achievement gaps. Effects of stress on academic performance could occur either during the learning process or in response to the acute stress of testing. Interventions to limit stress exposure, reduce perceived stress, and promote optimal stress hormone levels and sleep may help students arrive in the classroom prepared to learn and to perform well on tests. These measures may particularly benefit low-income and minority students and may play a role in reducing achievement gaps.

Abstract not available.

Levy, D.J., Heissel, J.A., Richeson, J.A., & Adam, E.K. (2016). Psychological and biological responses to race-based social stress as pathways to disparities in educational outcomes. American Psychologist, 71(6), 455-473.

We present the race-based disparities in stress and sleep in context model (RDSSC), which argues that racial/ethnic disparities in educational achievement and attainment are partially explained by the effects of race-based stressors, such as stereotype threat and perceived discrimination, on psychological and biological responses to stress, which, in turn, impact cognitive functioning and academic performance. Whereas the roles of psychological coping responses, such as devaluation and disidentification, have been theorized in previous work, the present model integrates the roles of biological stress responses, such as changes in stress hormones and sleep hours and quality, to this rich literature. We situate our model of the impact of race-based stress in the broader contexts of other stressors [e.g., stressors associated with socioeconomic status (SES)], developmental histories of stress, and individual and group differences in access to resources, opportunity and employment structures. Considering both psychological and biological responses to race-based stressors, in social contexts, will yield a more comprehensive understanding of the emergence of academic disparities between Whites and racial/ethnic minorities.

Abstract not available.

Adam, E.K., Heissel, J.A., Zeiders, K.H., Richeson J.A., Brodish, A., Ross, E.C., Ehrlich, K.B., Levy, D.J., Kemeny, M.E., Malanchuk, O., Peck, S., Fuller-Rowell, T., & Eccles, J. (2015). Developmental histories of perceived racial discrimination and diurnal cortisol profiles in adulthood: A 20-year prospective study. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 62, 279-291.

Perceived racial discrimination (PRD) has been associated with altered diurnal cortisol rhythms in past cross-sectional research. We investigate whether developmental histories of PRD, assessed prospectively, are associated with adult diurnal cortisol profiles. One-hundred and twelve (N = 50 Black, N = 62 White) adults from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study provided saliva samples in adulthood (at approximately age 32 years) at waking, 30 min after waking, and at bedtime for 7 days. Diurnal cortisol measures were calculated, including waking cortisol levels, diurnal cortisol slopes, the cortisol awakening response (CAR), and average daily cortisol (AUC). These cortisol outcomes were predicted from measures of PRD obtained over a 20-year period beginning when individuals were in 7th grade (approximately age 12).

Greater average PRD measured across the 20-year period predicted flatter adult diurnal cortisol slopes for both Black and White adults, and a lower CAR. Greater average PRD also predicted lower waking cortisol for Black, but not White adults. PRD experiences in adolescence accounted for many of these effects. When adolescent and young adult PRD are entered together predicting cortisol outcomes, PRD experiences in adolescence (but not young adulthood) significantly predicted flatter diurnal cortisol slopes for both Black and White adults. Adolescent, but not young adult PRD, also significantly predicted lower waking and lower average cortisol for Black adults. Young adult PRD was, however, a stronger predictor of the CAR, predicting a marginally lower CAR for Whites, and a significantly larger CAR for Blacks. Effects were robust to controlling for covariates including health behaviors, depression, income and parent education levels. PRD experiences interacted with parent education and income to predict aspects of the diurnal cortisol rhythm. Although these results suggest PRD influences on cortisol for both Blacks and Whites, the key findings suggest that the effects are more pervasive for Blacks, affecting multiple aspects of the cortisol diurnal rhythm. In addition, adolescence is a more sensitive developmental period than adulthood for the impacts of PRD on adult stress biology.

Abstract not available.