Principal Investigator:
Dr. Elena Stepanova
Dr. Stepanova is a social cognitive psychologist and a Principal Investigator at the Social Cognition and Behavior Lab (SCBL) at the University of Southern Mississippi, Department of Psychology. She obtained her B.A. in Psychology from La Sierra University (Riverside, CA), and A.M. and Ph.D. in Social and Personality Psychology from Washington University in Saint Louis (St. Louis, MO). She also completed postdoctoral training in addictions at the University of Missouri (Columbia, MO).
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CURRENT GRADUATE STUDENTS
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Shiza Shahid-MA
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Shiza is a fourth-year student in the experimental psychology Ph.D. program. She received her Masters in Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi in December 2023. She did her master's thesis on stereotypes about poor individuals. Her thesis title was "Assessing Stereotype Content and Accuracy of the Poor: Interpersonal Warmth and Social Competence Dimensions." Currently, she is working on her dissertation proposal in which she is assessing stereotypes and stereotype accuracy of wealthy individuals. She is also working on four projects: (a) Social Dominance Orientation, Ambivalent Sexism, and Prejudice toward Working Women in Pakistan and the United States (b) Acculturative Stress and Socio-Cultural Adjustment of International Students in the United States (c) The Role of Personality Traits and Ambivalent Sexism in Acceptance of Gender Income Inequality in Pakistan, Japan and the United States and (d) The role of gender and experience in attitudes toward male and female leaders in Pakistan, India and the United States. Her research interests include:
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Prejudice/Stereotypes/Discrimination
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Stereotypes of Social Class
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Ambivalent Sexism
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Gender Equity
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Cross-Cultural Research​
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FORMER GRADUATE STUDENTS
Raegan Bishop, PhD
Jinhao Chi, PhD
Mario Herrera, PhD
Lillian Spadgenske, M.A.
FORMER HONORS COLLEGE STUDENTS
Christian Phillips
William Agent
Maya Rex
Danielle Stamps
FORMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
Former lab members accepted to graduate programs (students trained 2011-2017): M.S.W., The University of Southern Mississippi; M.A. in Counseling Psychology, The University of Southern Mississippi (2); MSc. Program in Public Policy and Human Development, Maastricht University; M.A. program in counseling psychology, William Carey University; M.A. program in counseling psychology, University of Kentucky; M.S. in epidemiology, University of South Florida; M.S.W., Florida Gulf Coast University (3); Ed.S., Florida State University; M.A./Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology, Florida Atlantic University; Ph.D. in Psychology (2), The University of Southern Mississippi; J.D., University of Alabama; J.D., Tulane
CURRENT AND FORMER COLLABORATORS
Saleem Alhabash, Michigan State University
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Bruce Bartholow, University of Missouri
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Marija A. Bekafigo, Northern Arizona University
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Amy L. Brown, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
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Dee Lisa Cothran, Alabama State University
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Ron Dotsch, Philips Research
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David Drobes, University of South Florida
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Yarrow Dunham, Yale University
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David Echevarria, William Carey University
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Ronald Friedman, University at Albany, State University of New York
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Nao Hagiwara, Virginia Commonwealth University
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Kenji Noguchi, The University of Southern Mississippi
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Lawrence Patihis, The University of Southern Mississippi
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Hans Stadthagen-Gonzalez, The University of Southern Mississippi
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Michael Strube, Washington University in Saint Louis
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Timothy Schofield, University of Melbourne
J. Scott Saults, University of Missouri - Columbia
Gregory Yablonsky, Saint Louis University & Washington University in Saint Louis