Jennifer Richeson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jennifer Richeson
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| Born | September 12, 1972 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S
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| Nationality | American |
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| Doctoral advisor | Nalini Ambady |
Jennifer A. Richeson (born September 12, 1972) is an American social psychologist. She studies how people think about race and how different groups interact. She is currently a professor of psychology at Yale University. There, she leads the Social Perception and Communication Lab.
Before Yale, Professor Richeson taught at Northwestern University. In 2015, she was chosen to be part of the United States National Academy of Sciences. This is a very important group of scientists. She also joined the American Philosophical Society in 2022. Since 2021, she has been a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). This group advises the President on science topics.
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Early Life and Interests
Jennifer Richeson grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. Her neighborhood was mostly white and middle-class. Her father was a businessman, and her mother was a school principal. She has said that she was not a very interested student when she was younger.
Things changed when she moved to schools with more diverse students. She went to a middle school that was mostly Black. Then she attended an all-girls high school. She noticed that advanced classes often had fewer African-American students. This made her want to become a student activist. These early experiences helped her become interested in how people see themselves and how different groups get along.
Education Journey
Jennifer Richeson earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Science (Sc.B.), in psychology from Brown University in 1994. She graduated with honors.
She then went to Harvard University for her advanced degrees. She received her Master of Arts (M.A.) in 1997. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in social psychology in 2000. Her main teacher and guide during her Ph.D. studies was Nalini Ambady.
Academic Career Highlights
After finishing her Ph.D., Professor Richeson started teaching. In 2000, she became an assistant professor at Dartmouth College. This college is in Hanover, New Hampshire. She also spent time as a visiting researcher at Stanford University.
In 2005, she moved to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. There, she taught in the Psychology Department. She also worked with the African American Studies Department. From 2013 to 2016, she held a special position called the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Endowed Chair.
In 2016, she joined the faculty at Yale University. She is now the Philip R. Allen Professor of Psychology. She also directs the Social Perception and Communication Lab at Yale. She works to use her research findings to help solve real-world problems. For example, she is part of the Societal Experts Action Network. This group is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Professor Richeson also writes articles for newspapers and magazines. She shares her ideas on topics related to race. Her articles have appeared in places like The Hill, The Boston Globe, and The Washington Post. She recently wrote an essay for The Atlantic. In it, she discussed the idea that racial progress in the United States is always happening easily. She believes this idea can make us misunderstand reality. She plans to write a book about this topic.
Awards and Recognitions
Professor Richeson has received many important awards for her work. The American Psychological Association gave her the Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology. This award recognized her smart and creative ways of studying prejudice, discrimination, and how groups interact. She uses methods like studying behavior and brain imaging.
In 2006, she received a MacArthur Fellowship. This award is sometimes called a "genius grant." It recognized her work in understanding the challenges faced by all races in America. It also highlighted how prejudice and stereotyping still affect our lives. In April 2015, she was named a Guggenheim Fellow.
Later that same month, she was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences. This is a very high honor for scientists. She was one of only two new Black members that year. She is also a member of other important groups. These include the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 2019, she received the Mamie Phipps Clark and Kenneth B. Clark Distinguished Lecture Award from Columbia University. She also got the Career Trajectory Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology. Her old university, Brown University, gave her an honorary doctorate in the same year. In 2020, she received the SAGE-CASBS Award. She also became a Carnegie Foundation Senior Fellow.
Understanding Social Psychology Research
Professor Richeson is known for her research on cultural diversity. She studies how people belong to social groups. She also looks at how race and racism affect people. Her work explores how people from different racial backgrounds interact.
Her research lab at Yale focuses on three main areas related to diversity:
- How people see and think about unfairness between groups.
- How people deal with living in diverse environments.
- The experiences of people who face discrimination.
Thinking About Inequality
Professor Richeson and her team have shown that the idea of racial progress happening automatically is not always true. They found that believing in a fair world can make people overestimate how much economic and racial equality exists. This is especially true between Black and White individuals. Their research also suggests that learning about unfairness can make people want to support policies that fix these problems.
Her work also explores how people react to information about inequality. She found that two things are important:
People who understand racism as a bigger, structural problem are more likely to act on information about inequality. They are also more likely to support policies to reduce it.
Many people believe that the United States is becoming a "majority-minority" nation. This means that minority groups will eventually make up the majority of the population. Professor Richeson's work looks at how this idea might make some White individuals feel threatened.
Her recent studies show that White Americans who are politically independent may become more conservative. This happens when they become more aware of the declining White population share. This research has been widely discussed in the media. It is seen as important for the future of American politics.
Professor Richeson also uses brain imaging to study how people interact across racial lines. Her work in this area is very advanced. It helps test real ideas about how our brains work during these interactions. For example, she found that White people who have some racial bias use more cognitive control during interracial interactions. This means they work harder to control their thoughts and actions. Even though it takes effort, this self-control helps create a positive environment for interactions.
Experiences of Discrimination
Professor Richeson and her lab have studied how people deal with stressors like discrimination. They found that looking at a stressful situation from a distance can help reduce its negative effects. This can improve both mental and physical health. They suggest that creating a "redemption narrative" can help people lessen the negative impact of discrimination.
She also examined how experiencing group-based discrimination affects relationships with other groups. She found that when discrimination is clear, it can lead to more positive relationships with groups that share a similar identity. For example, among different racial minorities. However, it can also lead to negative attitudes toward groups with different identities. For example, between racial minorities and sexual minorities.
Professor Richeson and her team found ways to bridge these different identities. They suggest recognizing the similarities in the discrimination faced by various groups. She believes this can help build "stigma-based solidarity." This means different groups who face unfair treatment can support each other. This can then reduce negative attitudes between them.
