Columbia University (1998)
Associate Professor, Social and Health Psychology
Office Hours: Fall 2009 (Wed. 11;40-12:40; Fri. 11:40-1:40)
Phone Number: (631) 632-4355
e-mail: Sheri.Levy@stonybrook.edu
Website: http://www.psychology.stonybrook.edu/slevy-/
Areas of Interest:
Lay Theories and Intergroup Relations; Social-Developmental Determinants of Prejudice; Prejudice Reduction; Sexism; Racism; Helping and Volunteerism.
Editor of Journal of Social Issues:
See http://www.spssi.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewpage&pageid=950
Current Research:
“Lay theories” are used by people in their every day life. They are often captured by folk sayings, such as A Leopard never changes its spot, The early bird gets the worm, and You can’t tell a book by its cover. Such lay theories often reflect the core beliefs of people living in a given culture or environment. Increasingly, research shows that lay theories are central to our social thought and behavior.
Dr. Levy is interested in understanding the pivotal role that lay theories can play in intergroup relations. Lay theories, in filtering social information and guiding judgment and behavior, have the potential to give rise to and maintain prejudice or tolerance and, therefore, the study of lay theories can help provide a fuller understanding of intergroup relations. In exploring lay theories, Dr. Levy has adopted an integrative social-developmental approach. This approach addresses the enduring social psychological question of how contexts shape judgments and behavior, as well as the enduring developmental question of how experience influences judgments and behaviors.
How might lay theories foster prejudice or tolerance toward groups? In Dr. Levy’s early work, she and her collaborators showed that when people have a relevant lay theory in mind in a particular collaborators have shown that lay theories can be dynamic and thus their intolerant or tolerant implications can be shaped by age and experience.
Dr. Levy and her collaborators have shown that different lay theories and ideologies (e.g., entity and incremental theories, the Protestant work ethic, the colorblind theory, multiculturalism), foster a wide range of intergroup effects (influencing affect, attributions, cognitions, and behavior) toward many groups (e.g., African Americans , women , gay men, homeless persons) on the part of different groups of theory holders (racially diverse children , adolescents, and adults).
The questions driving Dr. Levy’s research are: How do lay theories influence intergroup attitudes and behaviors? Do the same lay theories affect intergroup processes from childhood through adulthood? How do lay theories operate during different life phases? What role does culture play in how these lay theories are interpreted? Does the study of lay theories have implications for improving intergroup relations?
Edited Journal Issues:
Aboud, F.E., & Levy, S.R. (Issue Editors, 1999). Reducing racial prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping: Translating research into programs. Journal of Social Issues, 55.
Hong, Y.Y., Levy, S.R., & Chiu, C.Y. (Issue Editors, 2001). The role of lay theories in group perception. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5.
Levy, S.R., Chiu, C.Y., & Hong, Y.Y. (Issue Editors, 2006). Lay theories and intergroup relations. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 9.
Rutland, A., Abrams, D., & Levy, S.R. (Issue Editors, 2007). Social identity and intergroup attitudes in children and adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Development.
Representative Journal Articles:
Levy, S.R., & Dweck, C.S. (1998). Trait- versus process-focused social judgment. Social Cognition, 16, 151-172.
Levy, S.R., Stroessner, S.J., & Dweck, C.S. (1998). Stereotype formation and endorsement: The role of implicit theories. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1421-1436.
Levy, S.R., & Dweck, C.S. (1999). The impact of children's static vs. dynamic conceptions of people on stereotype formation. Child Development, 70, 1163-1180.
Hong, Y.Y., Levy, S.R., & Chiu, C.Y. (2001). The contribution of the lay theories approach to the study of groups. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 98-106.
Levy, S.R., Plaks, J.E., Hong, Y.Y., Chiu, C.Y., & Dweck, C.S. (2001). Static vs. dynamic theories and the perception of groups: Different routes to different destinations. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 156-168.
Levy, S. R., Freitas, A.L., & Salovey, P. (2002). Construing action abstractly and blurring social distinctions: Implications for perceiving homogeneity among, but also empathizing with and helping, others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 1224-1238.
Karafantis, D.M., & Levy, S.R. (2004). The role of children’s lay theories about the malleability of human attributes in beliefs about and volunteering for disadvantaged groups. Child Development, 75, 236-250.
Levy, S.R., West, T., Bigler, R., Karafantis, D., Ramirez, L, & Velilla, E. (2005). Messages about the uniqueness and similarities of people: Impact on U.S. Black and Latino youth. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.
Levy, S.R., West, T., & Ramirez, L. (2005). Lay theories and intergroup relations: A social developmental perspective. In W. Stroebe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), The European Review of Social Psychology, 16, 189-220.
Haslam, N. & Levy, S.R. (2006). Essentialist beliefs about homosexuality: Structure and implications for prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 471-485.
Levy, S.R., Chiu, C.Y., & Hong, Y.Y. (2006). Lay theories and intergroup relations. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 9, 5-24.
Levy, S.R., Freitas, A.L., Mendoza-Denton, R., & Kugelmaas, H. (2006). Hurricane Katrina’s Impact on African Americans’ and European Americans’ Endorsement of the Protestant Work Ethic. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 6.
Levy, S.R., West, T., Ramirez, L., & Karafantis, D.M. (2006). The Protestant work ethic: A lay theory with dual intergroup implications. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 9, 95-115.
Hughes, J.M., Bigler, R.S., & Levy, S.R. (2007). Consequences of learning about racism among European American and African American children. Child Development. 78, 1689-1705.
(Winner of American Psychological Association’s Early Research Award to the first author.)
Rutland, A., Abrams, D., & Levy, S.R. (2007). Introduction: Extending the conversation: Transdisciplinary approaches to social identity and intergroup attitudes in children and adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31, 417-418.
Plaks, J., Levy, S.R., & Dweck, C. (online Sept. 2009). Lay theories of personality: Cornerstones of meaning in social cognition. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 3, xx-xx.
Rosenthal, L., & Levy, S.R. (in press). Understanding women’s risk for HIV infection using social dominance theory and the four bases of gendered power. Psychology of Women Quarterly.
Edited Book:
Levy, S.R., & Killen, M. (Editors, 2008). Intergroup Attitudes and Relations in Childhood through Adulthood. Oxford University Press.
(Honorable Mention for Otto Klineberg Intercultural and International Relations Prize competition by SPSSI )
Research Support:
National Science Foundation (GSE/RES Research on Gender in Science and Engineering)
9/1/07 - 91//10
Bonita London-Thompson (Principal Investigator)
Sheri Levy (Co-Principal Investigator)
Marci Lobel (Co-Principal Investigator)
Survey Research Center at Stony Brook University
9/1/09 – 9/1/10
Sheri Levy (Principal Investigator)
National Science Foundation (NSF 02-2, Social Psychology Division; partial funding from Developmental and Learning Sciences Division)
9/1/02 - 9/1/06
Sheri Levy (Principal Investigator)
Frances Aboud, McGill University (Co-Principal Investigator)
Rebecca Bigler, UT-Austin (Co-Principal Investigator)
