Much of the discourse on intersectionality in psychology focuses on how best to observe or even “test" intersectionality empirically. The fetishization of methods as the key to “finding” intersectionality often reflects what I have called elsewhere psychology's “epistemic riptide” (Grzanka & Miles, 2016), which prefigures intersectionality to be the complex covariance of multiple social identities. In this sense, psychology’s pursuit of intersectional methods can betray what Bowleg (2008) called a latent investment in positivism and what sociologists Luft and Ward (2009) described as an intersectionality "just out of reach." Rather than focus first on the question of method, I suggest that some of the earliest writing on intersectionality in (Smith & Stewart, 1983) and beyond psychology (Crenshaw, 1991) offers invaluable theoretical contributions that should undergird attempts to witness intersectional dynamics among structurally vulnerable groups. I’ll discuss a range of quantitative projects that have used “person-centered” statistics to imagine intersectionality beyond multiple intersecting identities. Most importantly, I argue that fidelity to intersectionality’s roots in Black feminist thought is dependent upon both methodological ambidexterity and even promiscuity—a willingness to follow the trouble, even if it sometimes goes against what counts as “good” psychology (Grzanka & Cole, 2021; Lewis, 2021).

DEPARTMENT of PSYCHOLOGY

2022-2023 Psychology Department Colloquium Series
and the
DEI Graduate Curriculum Committee

present

Laura Jamison
Doctoral Candidate, Quantitative Psychology
University of Virginia

“Looking for Differences or Commonalities:
How to Use Statistical Methods to Drive Equitable Research”

The history of social statistics is rooted in eugenics. The driving force for much of statistical methodological development in social science research was in the interest of identifying differences between groups of people (specifically, across races). As a result, our field today still focuses heavily on comparison rather than identifying commonalities of psychological phenomena. This adverse systemic methodological philosophy impacts two areas: the education we receive on available methods, and the work we cite to show that our experiments and statistical analyses are sound. In the interest of driving equity, identifying both differences and commonalities may be of use depending on the topic of research. When comparisons are indeed the beneficial hypotheses of interest, this talk will introduce and provide resources on statistical methods (such as measurement invariance) to ensure responsible and sound comparisons are made. When conducting a comparison is not the most beneficial route, effective methods for investigating commonalities and the functioning of phenomena (such as methods for using the individual as the primary unit of analysis) will be discussed.

Friday, March 24, 2023
1:30-2:30pm
390 Gilmer Hall

DEPARTMENT of PSYCHOLOGY

2022-2023 Psychology Department
Rising Star Colloquium Speaker Series

presents

Gorana Gonzalez
(Doctoral Candidate, University
of Massachusetts, Amherst)

Race, Racism, Kids, and Police: Investigating Young Children’s
Beliefs about Police Interactions with Peers

Biased policing disproportionately impacts the Black community; the extent to which children are aware of this fact, however, is empirically unknown. Young children are skilled at integrating complex, social information to make inferences about others, thus making it possible that young children, prior to adolescence, are attuned to the increased risk Black and biracial Black people incur when encountering the police. This study investigates whether children hold different expectations about whether their White, Black, and biracial Black/White peers would choose to interact with a police officer during a time of need, and how those expectations are shaped by the child’s own racial identity and racial and legal socialization. To examine these questions, children between the ages of 5 and 12 (N~ 288) will be told a story where a Black, White, or biracial peer could use assistance, and will be asked whether that peer will solicit assistance from a White male officer. We predict that participants will expect White peers, as compared to Black and biracial peers, to be more likely to solicit assistance from a police officer, that this pattern will be stronger among Black and biracial participants, and that this pattern will strengthen with age. Results from this study can expand our understanding of children’s racialized expectations of how others behave, provide information to guide parents in teaching their children how to safely interact with the police, and inform policy and practices in Departments of Public Safety and Police Departments.

Friday, March 31, 2023
1:30-2:30pm
390 Gilmer Hall

The Rising Star Speakers are a series of talks organized by a graduate student-led committee
which identifies early career scholars (those who are currently in graduate school or in their first
year of their postdoctoral fellowship) who are doing incredibly impressive, cutting-edge research.