2006 SPSP Diversity Fund Award Recipients

A total of 45 graduate students applied for a Diversity Fund Award to attend the 2006 SPSP conference. Of these applicants, 12 received an award of up to $800 for conference-related expenses. This page contains a profile of each award winner.

2006 Diversity Fund Award Recipients

Modupe Akinola completed her B.A. and M.B.A. degrees at Harvard University. She is currently a second year Ph.D. student in social psychology and organizational behavior at Harvard. Modupe's research focuses on the effects of stress on emotional and cognitive functioning in managerial and organizational life, biases in decision making, and stigma and its psychological and physiological consequences. With her advisor, Professor Wendy Berry Mendes, she is currently investigating the effects of stress on creativity and memory in addition to exploring the effectiveness of increased intergroup contact on reducing intergroup tension and anxiety. She is also examining the effects of time pressures on decision making with her other advisor, Professor Max Bazerman. After completing her Ph.D., Modupe would like to obtain an academic position at a major research university.

Stephenie Chaudoir is a native of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and received her B.A. from Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2003. She is currently a third-year Ph.D. student in social psychology at the University of Connecticut. In collaboration with her primary advisor, Dr. Diane Quinn, her research largely focuses on self and stigma processes, including self-objectification, perceptions of and reactions to sexism, and the effects of revealing a concealable stigma. In an effort to bridge the research domains of sexism and objectification, some of her current work examines the effect of sexually objectifying sexist stimuli in social interactions. She hopes to someday utilize her research examining the phenomenological experience of women as a stigmatized group to inform educational interventions and policy. Upon completion of her Ph.D., Stephenie plans to obtain a faculty position at a research university where she would also like to pursue a role in academic administration.

Tiffany Griffin was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts. She graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and Communications from Boston College in 2002. Prior to beginning her graduate studies, Tiffany worked at Boston Medical Center as a Research Associate on a NIH-funded study examining the relationship between HIV, Hepatitis C, and alcoholism. An NSF Predoctoral Graduate Fellowship Award recipient, Tiffany is currently a second-year Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan working with Dr. James S. Jackson, Dr. Tabbye Chavous Sellers, and Dr. Richard Gonzalez. Tiffany's research interests include the examination of how perceived permeability of group boundaries influences the group identification of low status groups. In addition, Tiffany is exploring the heterogeneity of racial identity among African-descended individuals in the United States, Brazil, the Caribbean, and South Africa, and has a line of research examining the influence of psychological and contextual barriers to academic achievement in low status college students. Tiffany aspires to be a producer of new knowledge, to answer important questions that few may be asking, to provide a unique viewpoint to the field given her distinct background as a first generation student and African-American female, and to serve as a mentor to upcoming scholars.

Tay Hack was born in Miami, Florida, and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She received her B.A. from Indiana University--Kokomo, and is currently a fourth year student in the social psychology program at Purdue University. Her main research interests revolve around social cognition with an emphasis on impression formation and person perception. Along these lines, she is working in collaboration with her advisor, Dr. Donal Carlston, to investigate the role of schematicity in impressions of social and nonsocial objects. She is also interested in studying racial stereotyping and prejudice, and is presently working with Dr. Stephanie Goodwin to investigate the evaluation of outgroup members along the dimensions of competence and warmth. Upon completion of her Ph.D., she plans to seek an academic position in an institution where she can continue her research as well as expose students to the delights of social psychology.

Ryan Yee-shiun Hong obtained his Bachelor and Master of Social Science degrees from the National University of Singapore. He is currently a third-year Ph.D. student in the personality psychology program at the University of Western Ontario. Ryan has general research interests in personality and psychopathology, and one specific area of inquiry involves exploring the links between personality and social-cognitive vulnerabilities to psychopathology. Together with his advisor, Sampo V. Paunonen, Ryan is currently examining the validity and utility of the Five-Factor Model of personality in the prediction of behavior using a multitrait-multimethod approach. In another line of research, they are exploring how self-efficacy beliefs might be influenced by personality and motivational factors. In addition, he is working with Richard W. J. Neufeld to investigate the interplay between decisional control and its associated cognitive load in the coping process. After completing his Ph.D., Ryan plans to pursue a research and teaching career at a major research university.

Valerie Jones was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She graduated with a B.A. in psychology and African & African American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2002. Valerie is currently a 3rd-year Ph.D. student in social psychology at Stanford University, working with Claude Steele and Jennifer Eberhardt. Her research interests include: (1) coping strategies to reduce the negative effects of interracial interactions, and (2) the influence of race on the perception and detection of human movement. As president of Stanford's Black Graduate Student Association, she is leading this organization's efforts to recruit and retain graduate students and faculty of color at the university level. After completing her Ph.D., Valerie plans to teach and mentor students in social psychology at a major research university.

Justin Lehmiller is a third-year graduate student at Purdue University working toward his Ph.D. in social psychology. He completed his B.A. at Gannon University, and his M.S. at Villanova University. Justin’s research interests include close relationships, prejudice, and discrimination. In collaboration with his academic advisor, Dr. Christopher Agnew, Justin is developing a line of research that addresses the impact of various social biases on people’s romantic involvements. Specifically, their preliminary work in this area examined the degree to which perceptions of relationship marginalization predict romantic commitment and relationship stability. He also works closely with Dr. Michael Schmitt on a variety of research projects examining prejudice from a social identity perspective. Upon completing his doctorate, Justin intends to pursue an academic career at a research-oriented university.

Jamaal McDell was born and raised in Rochester, New York. He received a B.S.E. in operations research and financial engineering from Princeton University in 2001, where he also minored in applied mathematics. Upon graduating, he worked in the financial services industry gaining experience in the fixed income credit markets and equity research. During this period of flux on Wall Street, Jamaal became particularly interested in the social forces driving markets and human behavior more generally. Subsequently, he entered the doctoral program in social psychology at Harvard University in the fall of 2003, from which he received an M.A. in 2005. Currently, Jamaal is a third year graduate student whose advisor is Dr. Mahzarin Banaji. His research focuses on understanding the drivers of implicit attitude change and developing frameworks for understanding the ways in which implicit attitudes and explicit attitudes fundamentally differ from each other. One line of research is exploring how the notion of choice may differentially influence implicit and explicit attitudes. A more recent line of research is centered on understanding how attitudes and beliefs about outgroup members that are derived from Bayesian considerations may constitute a brand of prejudice distinct from more traditional measures of explicit bias. In his academic career, Jamaal plans on conducting research at the interface of social psychology and economics while exploring the implications of basic research in business contexts.

Zayra N. Longoria was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. She graduated with a B.A. in psychology from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2003. Zayra is currently in her second year at Purdue University working toward her Ph.D. in Social Psychology (primary advisor: Dr. Stephanie A. Goodwin). Her primary research interests include examining the social costs associated with confronting discrimination and the effect of group prototypicality on intergroup inclusion. Upon completion of her Ph.D., her goal is to obtain a job in an academic setting were she can combine teaching and research on issues related to social bias.

Tamar Saguy was born and raised in Tel-Aviv, Israel. She received her B.A from Tel-Aviv University in Psychology and Communication and her M.A., working with Dr. Arie Nadler, in Social Psychology. Currently, Tamar is in her second year of the doctoral program in Social Psychology at the University of Connecticut. In collaboration with her advisors, Dr. Jack Dovidio and Dr. Felicia Pratto, she is studying group members' willingness to discuss inequality and how that willingness relates to their motivation for social change. Tamar's interest in intergroup relations was inspired during her graduate training in Israel, where she was facilitating Palestinian-Israeli identity-based encounters. In addition to her research, which is also conducted in the area of gender and objectification theory, she enjoys teaching, particularly research methods. Upon completion of her degree, Tamar plans to pursue a career in academia to further conduct research and pass on important social psychological knowledge to students. Furthermore, she is planning to apply her research conclusions to actual encounters between ethnic groups in Israel.

Francine Segovia, a Los Angeles native, obtained her B.A. in Spanish literature and psychology at Pomona College in Claremont, California. An NSF and Ford Graduate Fellowship Research Award recipient, Francine is currently a second-year PhD student in the Social Psychology program at the University of Michigan. Under the guidance of Dr. Robert Sellers and Dr. James Jackson, Francine is working on incorporating the role of physiognomy and skin tone into the conceptual and methodological issues affecting Latinos. She is specifically examining the role of skin tone and physiognomy on the ethnic categorization of Latinos with a special emphasis on understanding their contribution to ethnic identity and discrimination amongst this group. Additionally, Francine has a second line of research she is pursuing under the guidance of Dr. Denise Sekaquaptewa. Using the common ingroup identity model (based on social identity theory) as their theoretical framework, they are investigating intervention strategies that may ameliorate the negative consequences of solo status (being the only person of one's social category) in an effort to prevent detrimental performance and psychological effects. After completing her Ph.D., Francine plans to teach and conduct research, contributing to psychology's understanding of issues affecting people of color.

Jennifer Thorpe was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in psychology from Columbia University in 2004. She is currently a second-year doctoral student at New York University, working with Susan Andersen on the use of mental representations of significant others in interpreting new people, and with Gabriele Oettingen on the self-regulatory strategy of mental contrasting and its implications for goal setting and goal achievement. Once she completes her Ph.D., Jennifer intends to get an assistant professorship in social/personality psychology at a research university, as well as be intimately involved in the promotion of psychological science.