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News and Events

2023

In a new paper in PSPB led by GISP alumnus, Hyun Joon Park, we assessed undergraduate students' cortisol levels at the beginning and end of four classes around the first exam in a gateway STEM course. Because students reported the class to be stressful, we thought that their cortisol levels might increase in each class and as the exam approached. Instead, cortisol levels declined within classes and across classes. We also thought higher cortisol responses might predict worse performance. Instead, they predicted better performance and a greater likelihood of taking the next course in the sequence - but only for members of underrepresented racial/ethnic minority groups.

As part of the 2023 APS Annual Convention, Jonathan will be a discussant at the symposium, Fostering Equity, Executive Functions, and Math Conceptual Understanding: A Multi-Year Intervention with Black and Latinx Middle School Students, on Friday, May 26th from 10:30–11:50 AM at the Washington Hilton.

Jonathan gave the keynote address at the Spring 2023 Psychology Department Conference at Connecticut College, speaking on Identifying Psychological Risks to Promote Student Success in Higher Education.

Congrats to Dr. Samantha Stevens, who on May 8, 2023 successfully defended her dissertation, A Longitudinal Inquiry into Ph.D. Student Experiences and How Social-Psychological Interventions Differentially Predict Performance and Psychological Outcomes!

GISP lab manager, Michael Ruiz, is a co-author on an article published in PNAS showing that discipline incidents escalate during the school year among middle school students, with the rate increasing more quickly for Black students, especially in schools that have a high degree of racial disparity early in the year.

Congrats to Kevin Wang, who graduated in May 2023 after having successfully completed an honor's thesis with Jonathan, entitled, Belongingness in Graduate School: The Effect of Belonging on the Relationship Between Advisor Trust and Burnout!

Jonathan presented on January 21st on Inclusion in STEM as part of the American Physical Society’s Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics (APS CUWiP) at Penn State!

The GISP Lab welcomes Michael Ruiz, who joins us as our new lab manager!

In a new open-access paper published in PLoS ONE, Samantha, Jonathan, and our collaborators used latent class analysis to identify Ph.D. students experiencing psychological threats at the start of their doctoral education who may be at greater risk of dropping out.

Jonathan and Hyun Joon were featured in a report in Science that highlights their research on the social aspects of being lower SES in Ph.D. education!

Thanks to all who attended the Psychology Department's virtual info night on 10/12 and joining Jonathan, Samantha, and Nathaniel Schermerhorn who led a discussion about career paths and applying to getting a Ph.D. in social psychology.

A new paper from the GISP lab, led by Hyun Joon and published online-first in the Journal of Social Issues, shows that lower-SES Ph.D. students experience higher amounts of social disconnection in graduate school, both from academic colleagues and from their friends and family of origin.

The GISP lab welcomes Fall 2022 RAs - Taryn Green, Lorin Harris, Kaden Litzinger, Patrick Marquet, Alex Olper, Mariana Rodrigues, & Kevin Wang. We appreciate your contributions to our research!

The GISP lab is excited to work with Kevin Wang, a Schreyer Scholar who will be conducting his undergraduate honors thesis with Jonathan during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Our best wishes and congratulations to former GISP lab member, Mikey Pasek, who is starting this fall as Assistant Professor of Psychology at University of Illinois, Chicago!

Congrats to Dr. Hyun Joon Park who became in August 2022 the third member of the GISP lab to earn a Ph.D. We are excited for Dr. Park's transition to his new role as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Connecticut College.

Congratulations and a fond farewell to Nicole Horner, who is leaving her role as GISP lab manager for the past two years to begin as a Ph.D. student in social psychology at Princeton University! Congrats, Nicole! We'll miss you!

Congrats to Dr. Peter Ruberton, who is leaving his position as a postdoctoral scholar with the GISP lab to start a new role as a behavioral researcher for Edward Jones. We are very appreciative for Peter's scholarship and collegiality and wish him the best of luck moving forward.

Congrats to Hyun Joon who successfully defended his dissertation!

Congrats to Samantha, who passed her comprehensive exam and is now ABD (all but dissertation). We're proud of you!

Samantha received a 2021-2022 Matthew Ryan Serafino Graduate Scholarship from the Psychology Department! The award recognizes outstanding performance by a psychology graduate student. Congrats, Sam!

Congratulations to our graduating undergraduate research assistants, Varun Rajan & Jessica Sunds! Thanks for your work in the lab and good luck in your future careers!

Jonathan contributes a section on practical, theoretical, and methodological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on social stigma in a new article in Perspectives on Psychological Science.

Peter gave the talk, Belonging Intervention Mitigates Daily Psychological Threats Among Female PhD Students, at #SPSP2022 as part of a symposium organized by Jonathan and Peter on the social psychology of doctoral education.

Hyun Joon gave a talk on Academic Integration and Interpersonal Disconnection Among Lower SES Ph.D. Students at #SPSP2022 as part of a symposium organized by Jonathan and Peter on the social psychology of doctoral education.

Jason presented his poster, Concealment Predicts Straight Men’s Honesty Assessments of Sexual Minority Men, co-authored with Jonathan, at #SPSP2022!

Samantha gave a talk on Using Latent Class Analysis to Predict Doctoral Student Attrition Risk at #SPSP2022 as part of a symposium organized by Jonathan and Peter on the social psychology of doctoral education.

Jonathan gave a talk on the Psychology of Incoming Ph.D. Students by Race, Gender, & SES at #SPSP2022 as part of a symposium organized by Jonathan and Peter on the social psychology of doctoral education.

Congrats to Jason on successfully defending his comprehensive exam. You're ABD!

Jonathan gave a talk on Understanding Psychological Phenomena in the Real World: Time and Change to Penn State Ph.D. students studying Social Data Analytics.

Jonathan is a principal investigator (with Ciara Glover and Suazette Mooring) on a newly-funded three-year NSF collaborative proposal that examines the effect of adversity experiences on the motivation, performance, and persistence of STEM college students.

Jonathan received supplemental NSF funding to contribute to ongoing research on social psychological aspects of STEM Ph.D. education.

Jonathan was the keynote speaker at Penn State Greater Allegheny’s inaugural All Campus Day, a professional development and strategic planning initiative in August 2021.

Jonathan gave an invited talk on the Science of Inclusion to instructors in Penn State's Learning Edge Academic Program, which is designed to help students successfully make the transition to college.

Jonathan spoke to members of the Equity Pedagogy Network in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State on the Science of Inclusion .

Jonathan spoke to Penn State's Undergraduate Education Council on the Science of Inclusion.

Congrats to Jason on successfully defending his masters thesis on the implications of sexual identification for well-being and stigma among men with same-sex attractions.

Congrats to Samantha on successfully defending her masters thesis, which used latent class analysis to create risk profiles of incoming STEM doctoral students.

GISP lab RA, Allis Choi, presented the poster, Person-Environment Fit Predicts Better Psychological and Performance Outcomes for Ph.D. Students., co-authored with Jonathan, Peter, and Hyun Joon, at #SPSP2021!

Jason presented the poster, Unpacking Male Non-Heterosexuality: Implications of Sexual Identification for Perceptions of Stigma, Concealment Behaviors, and Well-Being, co-authored with Jonathan, at #SPSP2021!

Samantha presented the poster, Identifying Ph.D. Students at Risk of Attrition: A Latent Class Analysis Approach, co-authored with Jonathan and Peter, at #SPSP2021!

Samantha presented the poster, Leveraging Latent Class Analysis to Explore the Effects of Belonging and Values-Affirmation Interventions in Doctoral Students, co-authored with Jonathan and Peter, at the Intervention Science Preconference of #SPSP2021!

Jonathan spoke on The Science of Inclusion at the All Staff Retreat for Penn State Learning, a tutoring program for undergraduate students.

Jonathan co-authored a publication in Science Advances, led by our collaborator Kate Turetsky, that provides evidence that a brief psychological intervention can strengthen students' social networks in a challenging STEM gateway class.

Congratulations to Hyun Joon for successfully defending his comprehensive exam!

Louisa’s research on how doctoral students’ experience of gender-based stereotype threat, negative affect, and belonging will be exhibited in a poster presentation at the APS Virtual Poster Showcase, online from June 1 to September 1, 2020.

Peter’s research on how affirmation and belonging interventions affect doctoral students’ feelings of belonging in graduate school will be exhibited in a poster presentation at the APS Virtual Poster Showcase, online from June 1 to September 1, 2020.

Former GISP Lab member, Elissa Liguori’s research on the role of mindfulness and student-adviser meetings in doctoral students’ stress levels will be exhibited in a poster presentation at the APS Virtual Poster Showcase, online from June 1 to September 1, 2020.

Congratulations to our graduating undergraduate research assistants: Wei Liu, Juliana Ruta, and Roxy Zhang! We wish you all the best of luck in your future careers!

Hyun Joon presented a poster on the effect of psychological interventions on Ph.D. students’ cortisol levels at #SPSP2020 in New Orleans, LA.

Jason presented a poster on the impact of affirmation interventions on undergraduate students’ daily stress at #SPSP2020 in New Orleans, LA.

Peter presented a poster on the effects of values-affirmation and belonging interventions on doctoral students’ sense of belonging at #SPSP2020 in New Orleans, LA.

Samantha presented a poster on the effects of an image-based smartphone intervention on doctoral students’ belonging uncertainty at the Intervention Science preconference at #SPSP2020 in New Orleans, LA.

Danfei presented a data blitz on the value of trust in student-advisor relationships at the Motivation Science preconference at #SPSP2020 in New Orleans, LA.

Jonathan and former GISP-lab member Mikey Pasek are authors on a new article in Nature Human Behavior that examines effects of intergroup contact on members of socially advantaged and disadvantaged groups in 69 countries.

The GISP lab welcomes Nicole Horner, who joins us as our new lab manager!

Congratulations and best wishes to Jackson Harper, our erstwhile lab manager, who will be leaving us to study information and library science as a graduate student at Indiana University at Bloomington! We are very thankful for all that he has done for the lab.

Jonathan and former GISP-lab member, Lauren Spencer, co-authored an article in the International Journal of MS Care showing that chronic illness stigma decreases across the lifespan.

Jonathan is the guest editor of an issue of the International Journal of MS Care that examines the role of stigma in multiple sclerosis.

The GISP lab is excited to welcome Samantha Stevens, who joins us as a first-year Ph.D. student this fall!

Jonathan and former GISP lab member Mikey Pasek wrote a blog post for the SPSP Character & Context Blog, The Negative Spiral of Religious Intolerance.

Jason published an article in Journal of Bisexuality reviewing Ritch Savin-Williams’s book Mostly Straight: Sexual Fluidity Among Men.

Check out all the presentations by GISP lab members and affiliates at #SPSP2019 in Portland, OR!

Danfei presented a poster (with Hyun Joon, Peter, and Jonathan) on student-advisor relationships at the Motivation Science preconference at #SPSP2019 in Portland, OR.

Peter gave a competitively-awarded single-paper presentation on his research on hedonic spending variety and well-being at #SPSP2019 in Portland, OR.

Hyun Joon gave a talk about the association between cortisol and academic performance in the classroom setting at #SPSP2019.

Hyun Joon and Jonathan co-chaired a symposium, New Insights into the Association of Cortisol with Performance, at #SPSP2019.

Congratulations to Dr. Michael Pasek, who successfully defended his dissertation, “Identity Threat, Belonging, and the Buffering Effects of Values Affirmation: An Intensive Longitudinal Approach”!

Hyun Joon successfully defended his master’s thesis, “Investigating Cortisol in the Classroom: The Association Between Cortisol and Academic Performance.”!

Jonathan presented research conducted with Kate Turetsky on the effect of social psychological interventions on academic social networks at the annual SESP conference on Saturday October 6th in Seattle, WA.

Jonathan has been elected to be a member of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology!

Congratulations to Dr. Julia Dahl on her graduation and new position as a postdoctoral scholar at the U.S. Army Research Institute! The GISP lab wishes her the best of luck in her career moving forward.

Meg and Jonathan published an article in Social Science & Medicine showing that stigma prospectively predicts depression in people living with MS.

Jonathan was on the panel “Promoting Psychophysiological Resilience in the Face of Discrimination” at the conference of the American Psychosomatic Society.

Hyun Joon presented the poster Higher cortisol levels predict better academic performance for Black and Hispanic students at #SPSP2018.

Congratulations to Dr. Julia Dahl, who successfully defended her dissertation, “Women’s Under-Confidence and Men’s Over-Confidence in STEM”!

Michael and Jonathan discuss the psychological and societal consequences of the president’s anti-Muslim tweets in an article for The Conversation.

Michael and Jonathan explore how religion can be a consequential source of social identity threat in an article in Social Psychological and Personality Science.

Hyun Joon has received a Graduate Travel Award to attend the annual Society for Personality and Social Psychology Convention in Atlanta!

Jonathan is an author on an article in PNAS, showing that affirmation interventions delivered in middle school can reduce racial achievement gaps years later in high school and college.

Michael, Gabrielle, and Jonathan explore the conflicting multilevel forces around concealment and disclosure decisions in a review article in Journal of Social Issues.

Our new article in Journal of Social Issues shows that for people living with chronic illness, identity concealment is a strategic choice that can affect health.

Jonathan and Diane Quinn edited an issue of Journal of Social Issues, Identity Concealment: A Multilevel Perspective on Causes and Consequences.

Michael successfully defended his comprehensive exam! “Do Core Needs Explain Wise Interventions? An Integrated Theory for Social Psychological Intervention Science.”

Michael was selected to attend SISPP 2017 at the University of Southern California!

Michael gave a talk about religion-based social identity threat at the convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in San Antonio, TX.

Jonathan presented on, The Science of Inclusion, as part of the Penn State 2D Cyrstal Consortium Materials Innovation Platform webinar series funded by NSF on November 29th.

Jonathan presented at the Social Psychology Brownbag meeting at the University of Pittsburgh on October 14th.

A new article in Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, which includes the GISP lab, suggests that affirmations can improve academic performance for students low in belonging, regardless of their race/ethnicity.

Michael received a Research Seed Grant from the Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (APA Division 36)!

Jonathan gave a talk on social identity threat and health at the annual conference of the Society for Experimental Social Psychology in Santa Monica, CA.

Julia successfully defended her comprehensive exam! “Masculinity May Be an Important but Unstable Self-Concept that Men Psychologically Defend”

Michael received a Graduate Travel Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology!

Jonathan led a discussion on navigating social identity in the classroom at the summer conference of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues in Minneapolis.

Michael presented findings from a national study of religious stigma at the Association for Psychological Science convention in Chicago!

Check out the four GISP LAB posters authored by undergraduate researchers at this year’s convention of the Association for Psychological Science in Chicago!

Jonthan spoke about, Lasting Impact of Brief Psychological Interventions: New Findings and Insights, at Rutgers University Newark’s Psychology Department Spring Colloquium series.

Gabrielle gave a talk on stereotyping gay men and lesbians as contagious at the convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in San Diego, CA.

Michael spoke about the relations between Christian fundamentalism, perceived stigma, and outgroup attitudes at the Religion and Spirituality Preconference for the convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in San Diego, CA.

Julia gave a talk on masculinity threat and ideological dominance over women at the Political Psychology Preconference for the convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in San Diego, CA.

Our recently published paper in Psychological Science shows how psychological interventions that help reduce the effects of social identity threat can have ecological effects that benefit entire classrooms.

Jonathan is an author on a new publication showing that in the presence of psychological stress, a values-affirmation intervention can prevent endothelial damage (a precursor to cardiovascular disease).

A recently published pilot study from the GISP lab suggests that many people living with MS anticipate stigma and this motivates disease concealment.

Meg received the 2015 Scott and Paul Pearsall Scholarship from The American Psychological Foundation to join the GISP Lab and study the relationship between stigma, depression, and disease progression in individuals with multiple sclerosis!

Michael succesfully defended his master’s thesis! “When Faith Hurts: Stigma, Social Identity Threat, and Religion.”

Check out Gabrielle’s paper in PSPR examining people’s perceptions of homosexuality and pro-gay ideology as pathogens!

Julia published a paper in Social Psychology on how threats to masculinity sequentially cause public discomfort, anger, and ideological dominance over women!

Jonathan spoke at the weekly meeting of the social psychology area at the University of Connecticut.

Michael received an honorable mention for the Association for Psychological Science’s Student Research Award!

Julia attended the Summer Institute in Social and Personality Psychology!

Jonathan gave a talk on the health benefits of affirmation interventions at the meeting of the Association for Psychological Science in New York, NY.

Julia chaired a symposium and gave a talk on masculinity and gender relations at the meeting of the Association for Psychological Science in New York, NY.

Julia gave a talk on masculinity threat and ideological dominance at the meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association in Chicago, IL.

Jonathan gave a talk on the consequences of concealing a chronic illness at the meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in Long Beach, CA.

Julia published a paper on group-based biases in leadership decisions about whom to relinquish power!

Julia received a graduate student travel award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology!

Jonathan and his collaborators were awarded a three-year NSF grant!

Michael gave a talk on school-based interventions at the annual meeting of the New England Psychological Association at Bates College.

Michael received a student research award from the Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Division 36 of the American Psychological Association!

Jonathan presented at the Groups Preconference of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology annual conference in Columbus, OH.

Jonathan presented on identity concealment as part of an invited symposium on stigma and public health at the ICAP conference in Paris.

Jonathan gave a talk on “A Psychological Perspective on Structural Change” at the SPSSI conference in Portland, OR.

Julia was accepted to the 2014 SPSSI policy workshop in Portland, OR!

Jonathan led a symposium and gave a talk on psychological interventions to reduce social stigma at the APS convention in San Francisco, CA.

Michael received a 2014 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship!

Jonathan published a paper on interventions to reduce the impact of stigma on public health.

Jonathan mentioned in New York Magazine article on racial achievement gaps.

Jonathan led a symposium on identity concealment at the annual SPSP conference in Austin, TX.

Jonathan was an author on a paper finding that writing about belonging is an “active ingredient”? in the success of affirmation interventions.

Jonathan wrote an article on the future of print news for The European magazine.

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Join the Lab

News and Events

2023