Faculty Research

Many faculty in the Department of Psychological Science are involved in research related to diversity (for more details, see individual faculty pages or the listing of labs on the research experience page). 

For instance, a facet of Dr. Zabelina’s research examines how creativity is expressed through forms of street art such as protest signs and how implicit social attitudes influence our assessment of creativity. 

Dr. Behrend’s lab has investigated trust and social preference for native vs. accented speakers in monolingual and bilingual preschool aged children. 

Dr. Brown considers the potential differences and similarities in how individuals use facial features connoting strength and aggression across racial and socioeconomic categories to inform relationship decisions. More recently, his work has begun addressing how ideological differences influence these inferences.

Dr. Lampinen’s lab examined how eyewitness testimony accuracy is impacted by same-race vs. different-race identifications. 

The Family and Community (FCI) Lab, headed by Dr. Quetsch, examines primary care provider and BIPOC family perspectives of autism, barriers that Black families of children with autism experience as they seek treatment, and perceptions and help-seeking behaviors in Filipino American families who have children with autism. In addition, Dr. Quetsch and colleagues have also been funded by the Eagles Autism Foundation to provide Parent-Child Interaction Therapy training for children with autism to Black and Latinx professionals in the Philadelphia community.

Dr. Vargas's lab is interested in understanding the individual and structural factors that contribute to disparities in sleep, including access to behavioral interventions for sleep. 

Dr. Eidelman’s lab examines multicultural and colorblind ideologies, prejudice and stereotype, and White privilege. 

Part of Dr. Shield's research focuses on determining the effects of discrimination and related stressors on cognitive processes and health.

Dr. Leen-Feldner’s lab examines developmental processes that relate to anxiety disorder onset in puberty. 

Dr. Zamboanga’s secondary line of research examines how (a) acculturation and related constructs, and (b) endorsement of general masculine norms and alcohol-specific masculine norms, are associated with alcohol use and related behaviors among young adults.

Dr. Bridges’s lab researches health and mental health disparities in underserved populations, especially Latino immigrants. 

Dr. Cavell’s investigates interventions for bullied children in ethnically diverse schools. 

Dr. Ham's research program includes a focus on sociocultural factors that could promote or protect against alcohol misuse and alcohol-related sexual aggression. This work has focused on the role of acculturation, gender norms and roles, and the intersection between culture, gender, and norms about drinking behaviors and sexual aggression. 

Many of our graduate and undergraduate students conduct research (honors theses, independent projects, master’s theses, doctoral dissertations) that examine many aspects of diversity, including age, religion, race, ethnicity, language, poverty, gender, and sexual orientation.