Kumar Yogeeswaran
Contact
Department of Psychology
626 Tobin Hall
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003, USA
kumar@psych.umass.edu
I am a fourth year Doctoral student in Social Psychology at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. At the broadest level, my research interests lie in the realm of intergroup relations. This interest is fuelled by the desire to understand what factors may increase or decrease intergroup bias, when and why these changes are likely to occur, and how these biases may impact the real world. For my research, I use different methods including reaction time measures, self-report measures, and electrophysiological measures.
My current research falls into several related realms:
1) Unpacking Multiculturalism: This research examines how different representations of multicultural ideology may help vs. hinder positive intergroup relations within the United States.
2) White America: This research investigates how people’s unconscious tendency to exclude ethnic minorities from the national group may lead to discriminatory actions against non-White individuals who are born and raised in the country and also how such unconscious biases may be changed.
3) Assimilation & Ethnic Identification: In collaboration with two honors students, Alison Eccleston and Levi Adelman, this research examines how White Americans perceive and respond to ethnic minorities who personify the popular ideologies of assimilation and multiculturalism.
4) Group-Based Threat & Prejudice: In collaboration with Dr. David Butz at Morehead State University, this research examines the role of group-specific threat and anxiety on intergroup relations.
5) Implicit Stereotypes in Law: In collaboration with my advisor, Dr. Nilanjana Dasgupta, and Drs. Jerry Kang and Gary Blasi at the UCLA Law School, this research investigates the predictive validity of implicit stereotypes in the legal domain.
6) Emotion & Prejudice: Using various physiological and non-physiological measures including ERP, eye-tracking, reaction time, and self-report measures, this multi-institutional collaborative project examines the relationship between intergroup emotion and implicit prejudice.
My Current Advisees
Alison Eccleston
My main interest lies in studying implicit bias and race relations in the United States in relation to the sociopolitical ideologies of multiculturalism and assimilation. My honors thesis currently explores how White Americans perceive and respond to Asian Americans and White ethnic group members who exemplify these dominant ideologies of assimilation and multiculturalism, and how such perceptions translate into perceptions of these ethnic groups as a whole.
Levi Adelman
The United States is a nation of immigrants from different parts of the world. Over the course of its history, this country has seen several attempts to integrate people of different ethnic backgrounds as a way of fostering harmonious intergroup relations within society. For my honors thesis, I am interested in studying how people perceive and respond to different expressions of ethnic identification and the psychological mechanism behind such effects.