The Psychology of Gender Identity and Sexuality Based Inequality
Sa-kiera Hudson, Professor
Business, Haas School
Applications for Fall 2024 are closed for this project.
From recent bans on queer and feminist literature in public school systems, to restrictions on gender-affirming healthcare, to reduced access to reproductive healthcare, gender identity and sexuality is increasingly at the center of political and ideological discourse in the U.S.
As a research laboratory studying social identity and hierarchy maintenance, gender identity and sexual orientation is at the core of many lines of research. In one line of research, our lab examines the role of people’s stereotypes and cognitive representations of groups in justifying inequality. We examine both descriptive (what groups are like) and prescriptive (what groups should be like) stereotypes at the intersection of multiple social identities. Specifically, we investigate the role of prototypicality biases–assuming people are male (androcentrism), White (eurocentrism), and straight (heterocentrism)– on stereotypes of intersectional targets. One consistent finding in our stereotyping research is that while descriptive and prescriptive stereotypes often converge for prototypical groups (e.g., White men are, and should be, masculine), they diverge for non-prototypical groups. For example, while the descriptive stereotypes of Black men are that they are more masculine than White men, prescriptively people believe they should be less masculine. We are currently investigating this divergence in the realm of ability for sexually minoritized people in masculine (e.g., leadership) and feminine (e.g., communications) domains. Specifically, we ask whether the presumed competence and abilities of gay men and lesbian women reflect their descriptive stereotypes.
Relatedly, our lab studies the implications of health stereotypes about gay men and lesbian women. We found that people explicitly associated gay men with promiscuity and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) more than lesbian women or straight men and women, and that these implicit associations lead to more prejudice and discrimination for gay men and lesbian women vs. those without STIs and straight counterparts with either disease type (Rice, Hudson, Noll, 2021). In an extension of this research, we are currently investigating how these gay health stereotypes of promiscuity and STI-contraction affect gay men’s risky-sex behavior and their relationships with their healthcare providers.
In another line of research, we study unstable and illegitimate hierarchies (UIH), as it relates to shifting demographics in the United States. In the shifting demographics literature, social psychologists have consistently demonstrated that majority group members who read about the population growth of minority groups perceive more threat to their status. To date, this literature has centered foremost on racial demographic shifts, reflecting estimates that in 2060, America will become a majority-minority state. For instance, in a study by Craig and Richeson (2014), White participants who read about the population growth of racial minority groups expressed more implicit and explicit racial bias. This was mediated by perceived threat to White American’s status, such that participants who perceived more threat expressed more racial bias. In a time marked by “Don’t Say Gay” bills, along with other anti-trans/nonbinary legislature, recent statistics also point to increasing gender and sexual diversity in the United States. Thus, in a new line of research, our lab seeks to answer whether purported increases in trans and non-binary-identifying people (Williams Insitute, 2021) elicit threat responses in cis and binary-gendered people due to beliefs like gender essentialism.
Role: Students will act as research assistants (RAs) for Haas Intersectionality, Group Hierarchy, and Emotions Research (HIGHER) Lab, a social psychology research laboratory directed by Professor Hudson. As a part of this apprenticeship, students will assist in the production and publication of experimental social psychological research for a minimum of 7 hours/week, including literature reviews, survey design, data management, stimuli creation, and running experiments. Students will also attend weekly, mandatory in-person lab meetings (Thursdays, 10:00 - 11:00 AM) facilitated by the lab manager and meet at least monthly with their assigned mentor(s). At the end of the semester, all students will write a final paper and present a research poster summarizing their work.
Qualifications: An ideal candidate is interested in graduate school in Social Psychology, Management, and Organizational Behavior, or a career in behavioral research. Experience with SPSS/R (or other coding languages) is beneficial but not required. All technical knowledge necessary to do well in the position will be taught throughout the semester.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Teresa Campbell, Staff Researcher
Hours: 9-11 hrs
Related website: www.sakierahudson.com
Related website: https://www.higherlaboratory.com