Social Psychology

Eric W. Mania

		Graduate Student  -  Primary Advisor: Samuel L. Gaertner Research Interests Recent Publications   emania@udel.edu Office: 111 McKinly Labs (302) 831-3645 -fax Lab: 110 McKinly Labs (302) 831-4581 Preferred contact method - email

Research Interests

Intergroup Relations

Research Summary:

I am interested in a variety of issues relevant to understanding and improving intergroup relations including the role of ideology in influencing intergroup bias, the effect of social categorization on intergroup bias, implicit racial attitudes, and the effects of unequal status on intergroup relations. 

Two particular ideologies that have been examined in relation to intergroup attitudes are color-blind ideology and multicultural ideology.  Research I am currently conducting seeks to understand when and how these ideologies influence intergroup bias.  This research also seeks to understand the relationships between ideology and social categorization.  For instance, do people who endorse a color-blind ideology really avoid using social categories based on race and ethnicity?  

A second area of my research concerns the effectiveness of altering social categorization in order to reduce intergroup bias.  Social categorization plays a fundamental role in the formation of intergroup bias.  As a result many interventions aimed at reducing intergroup biases have sought to alter the way that individuals categorize their social environment.  In particular, research on the Common Ingroup Identity Model (CIIM) has shown that when two groups are made to feel like one group, bias between the groups is reduced.  One limitation of this research is that it has used primarily self-report measures of bias.  One area of my research seeks to test the predictions of the CIIM using implicit attitude measures, which measure attitudes that exist outside of conscious awareness.    

An additional area of my research seeks to understand differences between the perceptions that members of high versus low status groups have of their position in society, and how these perceptions are related to manifestations of intergroup bias.

Recent Publications

Riek, B. M., Mania, E. W., & Gaertner, S. L. (under review). Intergroup threat and the Integrated Threat Theory: A meta-analytic review.

Johnson, K. M., Gaertner, S. L., Dovidio, J. F., Riek, B. M., Houlette, M, & Mania, E. W. (in press). Emotional Antecedents and Consequences of Common Ingroup Identity. In Brown, R. J. and Carpozza, D. (Eds.), Emotional, Cognitive and Behavioral Issues in Social Identity.  Hove, E. Sussex: Psychology Press (Taylor & Francis).

Conference Presentation:

Gaertner, S. L., Riek, B. M., Mania, E. W., Dovidio, J. F.  (2004).  A conceptual puzzle: When does the salience of subgroup boundaries reduce intergroup bias?   Invited talk at conference on Immigration and Social Identity, University of Catania, Italy (February 20, 2004). 

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