Jennifer Eberhardt facts for kids

Jennifer Lynn Eberhardt, born on May 29, 1965, is an American social psychologist. She is a professor at Stanford University in the Department of Psychology. Dr. Eberhardt is known for her important work on how race and crime are sometimes unfairly linked in people's minds. She studies how hidden biases, called unconscious bias, affect how we see the world.

Her research shows how ideas about race can influence society and justice. Her findings have helped train police officers and other agencies. This training, called implicit bias training, helps them make fairer decisions. Dr. Eberhardt's work also highlights unfair treatment in communities caused by these biases.

She wrote a book called Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do. In 2014, she received a special award called the MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship. She was also named one of Foreign Policy's 100 Leading Global Thinkers. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2023, she was also chosen for the American Philosophical Society.

Early Life and Inspiration

Jennifer Eberhardt was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She is the youngest of five children. She grew up in a neighborhood called Lee–Harvard, which was mostly African-American and middle-class. When she was twelve, her family moved to Beachwood, Ohio. She later graduated from Beachwood High School.

Dr. Eberhardt says her interest in race and fairness started when her family moved. She noticed big differences between her old neighborhood and Beachwood. Even though they were close, they had different resources and opportunities. She saw that her life and the lives of her non-African-American classmates were very different. For example, her father and brothers were stopped by police more often than other people. These experiences made her want to understand racial inequality better.

Education and Family

After high school, Jennifer Eberhardt went to the University of Cincinnati. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1987. Then, she attended Harvard University. She received her Master of Arts degree in 1990 and her PhD in 1993.

She is married to Ralph Richard Banks, who is a law professor at Stanford University. They knew each other as children in elementary school and reconnected at Harvard. Today, they live in the San Francisco Bay Area with their three sons.

Career Journey

From 1993 to 1994, Dr. Eberhardt was a researcher at the University of Massachusetts. There, she studied stereotyping and how different groups of people interact. From 1994 to 1995, she was a researcher at Stanford University. She looked at how stereotype threat affects how well students do in school.

From 1995 to 1998, Dr. Eberhardt was an assistant professor at Yale University. She taught in the Psychology Department and African Studies. In 1998, she joined Stanford University as an assistant professor in Psychology. She became an associate professor in 2005 and later a full professor.

Dr. Eberhardt also helps lead Stanford's SPARQ program. SPARQ stands for "Social Psychological Answers to Real-World Questions." This program brings together leaders and researchers. They use ideas from psychology to create positive changes in society. Through SPARQ, Dr. Eberhardt shows how racial ideas affect the justice system, education, and business.

Important Research Areas

Dr. Eberhardt's research helps us understand how hidden biases work. She focuses on how these biases affect people's lives, especially in areas like justice and education.

Understanding Hidden Biases

Dr. Eberhardt and her team have explored new ways to think about race. In 2008, she published a study about how beliefs about race affect social interactions. The study found that people who believe racial differences are biological are less interested in friendships with people of other races. They are also more likely to use stereotypes and defend unfairness. This shows that believing race is biological can create barriers between groups.

Another study by Golby and Eberhardt looked at why people are better at recognizing faces from their own race. They used brain scans (fMRI) on African-American and European-American people. They found that a part of the brain, the fusiform face area (FFA), was more active when looking at same-race faces. This suggests our brains react differently to faces based on race.

Bias in the Justice System

Dr. Eberhardt's work shows how hidden racial stereotypes can affect what people see. In one study, people were shown images related to crime. They were then asked to focus on White or Black faces. The study found that people, especially police officers, focused more on Black faces when thinking about crime.

Another study looked at police officers. Officers who were thinking about crime were more likely to misremember a Black suspect as having more stereotypical Black features. But if they saw a White suspect, they were less likely to identify a less stereotypical White suspect. Instead, they might link the crime to a more stereotypical Black face. This shows how racial ideas can change how people remember things, even evidence.

In a 2006 study, Dr. Eberhardt and her team looked at court cases in Philadelphia. They found that Black defendants with more stereotypical Black features (like thick lips or dark skin) were more likely to be sentenced to death. This was especially true if the victim was White. This research shows that physical appearance can unfairly influence serious court decisions.

A 2008 study analyzed newspaper articles about people on death row. They found that "ape imagery" (describing someone as a beast or wild) was much more common for African-American convicts. This imagery also predicted who would get the death penalty. This research highlights unfair treatment and a lack of civil rights for African-Americans in the justice system.

In 2012, Dr. Eberhardt studied how racial stereotypes affect how jurors see young offenders. White participants were more likely to support harsh sentences for Black juvenile offenders than for White ones. They saw White offenders' actions as youthful mistakes. But they saw Black offenders as having adult criminal intentions.

In 2014, Dr. Eberhardt and a colleague, Hetey, found that just seeing racial differences can change people's views on criminal justice. White participants watched videos with different percentages of Black inmates. Those who saw more Black inmates were less likely to sign a petition to make strict laws less harsh. This suggests that seeing more Black people in prison can make some people support harsher laws.

In 2015, Dr. Eberhardt worked with the Oakland Police Department. They analyzed police stop data to find racial differences. They found that officers used more positive words with White drivers. With Black drivers, officers used more negative terms and less clear language. Her team made many recommendations for changes, and many have been put into place. By 2017, Dr. Eberhardt and her team had given bias training to most of Oakland's police officers.

Bias in the Education System

Okonofua and Eberhardt (2015) studied how teachers respond to student misbehavior. They found that Black students are more often labeled as "troublemakers" than White students. Even for similar behaviors, actions by students of color were seen as more serious. Black students' misbehaviors were also more likely to be seen as a repeating pattern. This research suggests that teachers' responses can lead to unfair differences in discipline.

In 2016, Okonofua, Walton, and Eberhardt reviewed past research. They looked at how social factors affect teacher-student relationships. They found that negative stereotypes can cause mistrust between teachers and students from certain racial groups. For example, if Black students are often called "troublemakers," they might feel unfairly judged. This can lead to distrust and more misbehavior. This creates a cycle of punishment and misbehavior, leading to fewer learning opportunities for Black students.

Awards and Recognition