News
Announcement: Thank you to all the CODES Conference speakers, organizers and attendees!
Date: 2025-10-01
Contributors: Chanel Meyers, Curtis E. Phills, Jaylene Vazquez
The first (annual? bi-annual?) CODES conference to bring together Diversity Science Scholars from across Oregon was a success!
Looking forward to building on the connections made there throughout the year!
Keep up with future events here.
Publication: Emerging Adults’ Perception of the Typical Dementia Patient Based on Gender and Race
Date: 2025-09-15
Authors: Angel Collie, Curtis E. Phills
Abstract: Introduction. Though Black Americans are twice as likely as White Americans to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, they may be excluded from the mental representation of a person with dementia. Methods. Participants (N = 143, median age = 19) created visualized mental representations of a person, a man, a woman, a Black man, or a Black woman diagnosed with dementia by repeatedly selecting which among 12 faces looked most like each target category. Results. The visualized representation of a person with dementia was more similar to the representation of a man and a Black woman than to a Black man and a woman, respectively. Discussion. These findings highlight how intersectionality shapes mental representations of dementia, revealing that certain combinations of marginalized identities are perceived differently rather than excluded entirely.
Out now in the American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease & Other Dementias®! Read here.
Announcement: Diversity Science Conference Speakers finalized!
Date: 2025-09-02
Contributors: Chanel Meyers, Curtis E. Phills, Jaylene Vazquez
The CODES Diversity Science conference will take place on Friday, September 26, 2025.
We have eight fantastic speakers lined up plus a keynote.
Learn more about the speakers here.
The last day to register is September 5, 2025. You can register here.
Announcement: Congratulations to Angel Collie for matriculating into a PhD program at the University of Florida!
Date: 2025-09-01
Contributor: Angel Collie
So proud and excited for former masters student Angel Collie to begin her next journey in the swamp!
Presentation: Colorism and Perceptions of Black Women’s Femininity and Attractiveness
Date: 2025-08-15
Contributor: Jaylene Vazquez
Jaylene presented her work at the inaugural Project Implicit Advanced Research Symposium
Publication: Feeling a sense of belonging is associated with more motivation within organizations that value diversity and equity
Date: 2025-07-02
Author: Curtis E. Phills
Abstract: There are two schools of thought about how diversity and equity are related to inclusion. The first argues that diversity and equity foster inclusion. The second argues that diversity and equity engender exclusion. The present research investigated the implications of diversity and equity’s relationship on a component of inclusion, the feeling of belonging, as it is critical for organizational retention and recruitment. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that for students, faculty, and staff at a public university, feelings of belonging were positively associated with perceptions that the university valued diversity, which was related to campus environmental cues. Study 3 demonstrated that interns’ intentions to convert to a fulltime position were related to feeling like they belonged at their employer, which was related to the extent to which they perceived the employer fostered equity. We discuss the implications of these findings for organizational retention and recruitment, especially as they relate to perceptions that the organization values diversity and equity.
Out now in Scientific Reports! Read here.
Presentation: Colorism’s Impact on Perceptions of Black Women’s Femininity
Date: 2025-06-26
Contributor: Jaylene Vazquez, Curtis E. Phills
Jaylene presented a poster at the annual meeting of the Society for the Pschological Study of Social Issues in Portland, OR.
See the program here.
Publication: Multi-region investigation of ‘man’ as default in attitudes
Date: 2025-06-25
Author: Curtis E. Phills
Abstract: Previous research has studied the extent to which men are the default members of social groups in terms of memory, categorization, and stereotyping, but not attitudes which is critical because of attitudes’ relationship to behavior. Results from our survey (N>5000) collected via a globally distributed laboratory network in over 40 regions demonstrated that attitudes toward Black people and politicians had a stronger relationship with attitudes toward the men rather than the women of the group. However, attitudes toward White people had a stronger relationship with attitudes toward White women than White men, whereas attitudes toward East Asian people, police officers, and criminals did not have a stronger relationship with attitudes toward either the men or women of each respective group. Regional agreement with traditional gender roles was explored as a potential moderator. These findings have implications for understanding the unique forms of prejudice women face around the world.
Out now in PLOS One! Read here.
Announcement: Drs. Meyers and Phills were awarded a grant to host a Diversity Science Conference!
Date: 2025-05-23
Contributors: Chanel Meyers, Curtis E. Phills
Details to come, but the goal is to bring together Diversity Science scholars from a vareity of disciplines across Oregon.
Presentation: Wanted dead or dead: The one true evaluation
Date: 2025-05-06
Contributor: Curtis E. Phills
Curtis presented some of his work to the UO Linguistics Department!
Publication: Of donkeys, elephants, and dehumanization: exploring the content and implications of stereotypes of Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and independents
Date: 2025-03-11
Author: Curtis E. Phills
Abstract: Within the United States (U.S.), the political landscape is polarized between two major parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Elite polarization has led to legislative gridlock and labeling the ‘other’ major party as different, which hinders social change because less receptivity to the other party’s ideas and less willingness to accept criticism from members of the other party. Non-major political groups and political independents are essential but understudied routes to social change because they may not be perceived as electoral and viewpoint competition to major political groups. Previous literature has examined the stereotypes of major as opposed to non-major political groups and political independents. The present research examines how fundamental stereotypes (warmth and competence) are associated with Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and political independents and the implications of those stereotypes for a critical intergroup outcome (i.e., dehumanization). In a sample of undergraduates (agemedian = 20) and a sample of older adults (agemedian = 34), fundamental stereotypes about major political groups but not Libertarians or independents reflect perceived competition. The pattern of fundamental stereotypes applied to Libertarians and independents is consistent with stereotypes of admired groups and our hypothesis that non-major political groups and political independents can be a vector for social change. Further, fundamental competence stereotypes about one’s own major political group were associated with the dehumanization of the other major political group. In contrast, fundamental stereotypes of major political groups were not associated with the dehumanization of Libertarians or independents. Given that non-major political groups and political independents are not viewed as competition to major political groups, future research should examine how non-major political groups and political independents could reduce political polarization in the U.S.
Out now in Frontiers in Social Psychology! Read here.
Presentation: Mental representations of Black women and men
Date: 2025-02-20
Contributor: Curtis E. Phills
Dr. Phills gave a talk at the Social Cognition Pre-Conference before the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in Denver, CO.
Dr. Phills presented a poster at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in Denver, CO.
See the program here.
Announcement: I’ve joined the University of Oregon!
Date: 2024-09-15
Contributor: Curtis E. Phills
Excited to announce that I’ve joined the Department of Psychology at the University of Oregon!
Learn more about the Department here.
Publication: Measuring and reducing implicit prejudice against Black women and people with intersectional identities
Date: 2024-07-02
Author: Curtis E. Phills
Abstract: This paper addresses a critical gap in measuring and reducing implicit prejudice: biases against Black women and people with intersectional identities. Though social psychologists have published many methods to measure and interventions to reduce implicit prejudice against Black people, these methods often target biases against Black people or Black men rather than Black women. Thus, these methods may leave Black women out because the mental representations of Black women and Black men differ and the mental representation of Black people is more similar to the mental representation of Black men than Black women. This paper advocates for an intersectional approach to measuring and reducing implicit prejudice that accounts for the unique prejudices faced by Black women. Specifically, this paper argues that researchers should tailor their methods to account for how the mental representations of Black women and Black men differ including differences in stereotypic content and ambivalence. The paper concludes by acknowledging the difficulties related to developing long-lasting interventions, the need to move beyond reducing implicit prejudice, and the value of studying the men and women of additional racial and ethnic groups and other intersections like sexual orientation and socioeconomic status.
Out now in Social and Personality Psychology Compass! Read here.