ASSISTANT PROFESSOR Social Psychology

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Sophie Trawalter is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  She is interested in psychological phenomena related to group diversity.  Her research takes a multi-level approach.  For example, in some of her work, Dr. Trawalter considers how concerns about appearing prejudiced affect visual attention to outgroup members, and how these concerns affect physiological stress and behavior during intergroup contact.  More recently, she has begun to explore how intergroup anxiety “gets under the skin” to affect health and well-being over time.  Ultimately, the aim of her research is to develop strategies that will enable individuals to thrive in diverse spaces.  In time, such strategies may not only improve outcomes for traditionally stigmatized and non-stigmatized group members but reduce intergroup tensions as well.   

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Trawalter received her BA in psychology and BS in mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in 2002, and her PhD in psychological and brain sciences from Dartmouth College in 2006.  In 2007, she received a three-year National Service Research Award (NRSA) postdoctoral grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.  She conducted her postdoctoral work at the Institute for Policy Research's Cells to Society (C2S): The Center on Social Disparities and Health at Northwestern University.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Trawalter, S., Richeson, J.A., & Shelton, J.N. (forthcoming). Predicting behavior during interracial interactions: A stress and coping approach. Personality and Social Psychology Review.

Trawalter, S., Todd, A., & Richeson, J.A. (2008). Attention to threat:  Race, eye-gaze, and selective attention. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 1322-1327.

Trawalter, S., & Richeson, J.A. (2008). Let’s talk about race, baby!  When Whites’ and Blacks’ contact experiences diverge. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 1214-1217.

Richeson, J.A., Todd, A.R., Trawalter, S., & Baird, A.A. (2008). Eye-gaze direction modulates race-related amygdala activity. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 11, 233-246.

Richeson, J.A., & Trawalter, S. (2008). The threat of appearing prejudiced and race-based attentional bias. Psychological Science, 19, 98-102.

Trawalter, S., & Richeson, J.A. (2006). Regulatory focus and executive attention after interracial interactions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 406-412.

Richeson, J.A., & Trawalter, S. (2005). On the categorization of admired and disliked exemplars of admired and disliked racial groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 517-530.

Richeson, J.A. & Trawalter, S. (2005). Why do interracial interactions impair executive function? A resource depletion account. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 934-947.

Richeson, J.A., Trawalter, S., & Shelton, J.N. (2005). African Americans’ racial attitudes and the depletion of executive function after interracial interactions. Social Cognition, 23, 336-352.