Research

Racial Diversity

The racial landscape in North America is drastically changing: Racial diversity is increasing in many Western countries. While most of the previous theorizing and research has assumed a homogeneous society with low levels of diversity, our research examines the impact of diversity on social cognitive processes related to racial attitudes, behaviors, and categorization.

Publications:

Meyers, C., Uyeda, K., & Pauker, K. (2025). Living in Paradise: Social Perceptions of the Major Racial/Ethnic Groups in Hawai‘i. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220221251353693 | PDF | Infographic

Meyers, C., Kim, J., & Kawakami, K. (2024). Diversity perceptions and neighborhood preferences for visual representations of mixed racial groups. Scientific Reports. 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-76599-0 | PDF | Infographic

Meyers, C., Williams, A., Pauker, K., & Weisbuch, M. (2023). Bias contagion across racial group boundaries. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-023-00439-4 | PDF

Meyers, C., Thai, S., & Pauker, K. (2022). Navigating race in a racially diverse environment: An experience sampling study on the daily use of race in Hawai‘i. The Journal of Social Psychology. http://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2022.2159783 | PDF

Meyers, C., Aumer, K., Schoniwitz, A., Janicki, C., Pauker, K., Chang, E. C., Gaither, S. E., & Williams, A. (2020). Experiences with microaggressions and discrimination in racially diverse and homogeneously white contexts. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 26(2), 250–259. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000293 | PDF

Pauker, K., Carpinella, C., Meyers, C., Young, D., & Sanchez, D. (2017). The role of diversity exposure in Whites’ reduction in race essentialism over time. Social Psychology and Personality Science, 9(8), 944–952. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550617731496 | PDF

Race-related Norms

A wealth of research demonstrates that social norms are critical in determining behavior. In our second line of research, we examine how features of a context (like racial diversity) drive race-related norms and behaviors. Understanding the factors that influence race-related norms provides a unique opportunity to predict and even change behavior.

Publications:

Meyers, C., Williams, A., Pauker, K., & Apfelbaum, E. (2021). The impact of social norms on navigating race in a racially diverse context. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430220984228 | PDF

Meyers, C., Leon, A., & Williams, A. (2020). Aggressive confrontation shapes perceptions and attitudes toward racist content online. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 23(6), 845-862. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430220935974 | PDF

Social Perception

In our third line of work, we investigate social perception processes of typically underrepresented groups. For example, we examine multiracial individuals, one of the fastest growing populations across North America. We examine the malleable nature of racial categorization.

Publications:

Meyers, C., Garay, M. M., & Pauker, K. (2024). Hawai‘i face database: a racially and ethnically diverse set of facial stimuli. Self and Identity. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2024.2417664 | PDF

Kawakami, K., Meyers, C., & Friesen, J. P. (2024). Impact of Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles on perceived trustworthiness of Black and White faces: A Black perspective. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001597 | PDF

Chen, J. M., Meyers, C., Pauker, K., Gaither, S. E., Hamilton, D. L., & Sherman, J. W. (2023). Intergroup context moderates the impact of White Americans’ identification on racial categorization of ambiguous faces. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672231190264 | PDF

Meyers, C., Gaither, S. E., Remedios, J., & Pauker, K. (2023). Detecting Biracial identity: Perceived phenotypicality is inaccurate. Self and Identity. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2022.2146742 | PDF

Garay, M., Meyers, C., Remedios, J. & Pauker, K. (2019). Looking like vs. acting like your race: Social activism shapes perception of multiracial individuals. Self and Identity. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2019.1659848 | PDF

Pauker, K., Meyers, C., Sanchez, D. T., Gaither, S. E., & Young, D. M. (2018). A review of Multiracial malleability: Identity, categorization, and shifting racial attitudes. Social and Personality Psychology Compass. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12392 | PDF

Other areas of interest

We also conduct research on other related areas on the topic of bias, essentialism, and racial discourse online.

Publications:

Phills, C. E., Miller, J. K., Buchanan, E. M., Williams, A., Meyers, C., Brown, E. R., ... & Kekecs, Z. (2025). Multi-region investigation of ‘man’as default in attitudes. PLoS One, 20(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0323938

 | PDF

Chang, E. C., Polanco-Roman, L., Meyers, C., Jeglic, E. L., & Hirsch, J. K. (2025). Outcome Expectancy and Mental Health in Dominican, Puerto Rican, and South American Adults: Distinguishing Robust Predictors Across Three US Latinx Groups Using Dominance Analysis. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-025-10618-w | PDF | Infographic

Chang, E. C., Meyers, C., Jeglic, E. L., & Hirsch, J. K. (2025). A preliminary examination of interpersonal factors and psychological pain as predictors of suicidal behaviors in multiethnoracial college students: When does being ethnoracially diverse contribute to greater suicide risk? Journal of Counseling Psychology, 72(2), 184–191. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000774 | PDF | Infographic

Kawakami, K., Vingilis-Jaremko, L., Friesen, J. P., Meyers, C., & Fang, X. (2022). Impact of similarity on recognition of faces of Black and White targets. British Journal of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12589 | PDF

Wilton, L., Bell, A., Young, D., Carpinella, C., Meyers, C., & Clapham, R. (2018). Lay theories of gender influence support for Women and Transgender people’s legal rights. Social Psychology and Personality Science. 10(7), 883–894. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550618803608 | PDF

Williams, A., Oliver, C., Aumer, K., & Meyers, C. (2016). Racial microaggressions and perceptions of internet memes. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 424-432.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.067 | PDF