Title: Professor, Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Planning

Office: 237 Coffey Hall

Phone: 773-508-3028

 

Post-Doctorate Fellowship(s): University of Virginia

Doctorate: Social Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University

Masters: Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University

Bachelors: Psychology, University of Alaska Anchorage

Google Scholar: Robyn Mallett 

Classes Taught
PSYC 275 Social Psychology

PSYC 306 Research Methods for Psychology

PSYC 360 Understanding Prejudice
PSYC 525 Prejudice and Intergroup Relations

Research Interests

My research addresses complex, urgent social issues related to reducing bias and increasing prosocial behavior. Broadly, my research determines how people navigate their social worlds, including how they understand and control the world around them through individual and collective action. My early research investigated how targets of prejudice identify and respond to perceived bias and why people with privilege engage in collective action on behalf of a disadvantaged outgroup. This led to me to test whether expectations can be managed to facilitate positive intergroup contact. For the past several years, most of my research has focused on when people stand up to biased behavior (e.g., confront, protest) and whether doing so makes a difference. I am also interested in finding ways to nudge people toward environmentally conscious behavior and identifying the best practices for teaching and research.

 

Selected Publications

Monteith, M.J., Mallett, R.K., & Hildebrand, L.K. (2022). Confronting Intergroup Biases: Validity and Impugnment as determinants of other-confrontation consequences. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 66, 1-57. Elsevier.

Mallett, R.K., Ford, T., & Woodzicka, J. (2016). What did he mean by that? Humor decreases attributions of sexism and confrontation of sexist jokes. Sex Roles, 75(5), 272-284.

Mallett, R.K. & Melchiori, K.J.(2016). Creating a water-saver identity reduces water use for students living in residence halls. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 47, 223-229.

Mallett, R.K. & Melchiori, K.J. (2014). Goal Preference Shapes Confrontations of Sexism. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(5), 646 - 656.

Mallett, R.K., & Wilson, T.D. (2010). Increasing Positive Intergroup Contact. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 382-387.

Mallett, R.K., Wilson, T.D. & Gilbert, D. (2008). Expect the unexpected: Failure to Anticipate Similarities Leads to an Intergroup Forecasting Error. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 265-277.