Gretchen Sechrist

Personal Statement:  

• I obtained my Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Maryland in 2000. I joined the faculty at Mansfield University in the Fall of 2009. Prior to coming to MU, I completed a NIH-funded postdoctoral fellowship at The Pennsylvania State University and was an Assistant Professor at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. 

• My research interests are in the general domains of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination, and their applications in everyday life. I have two primary lines of research. The first addresses the development, maintenance, and change of stereotypes and prejudice from the perceiver’s perspective; that is, the person who holds prejudicial or stereotyped beliefs. This line of research focuses on the influence of social consensus information (information about the beliefs held by other people) on individuals’ intergroup attitudes and behaviors. My other line of work explores issues of prejudice and discrimination from the target’s perspective; that is, the perspective of a person who is the target of a perceiver’s prejudicial or stereotyped beliefs. Specifically, my research concerns how people come to decide that they or others have been targets of prejudice or discrimination, the consequences of being a target of discrimination or recognizing others’ experience with discrimination, and how people cope with the experience of being a target of prejudice. 

• Research I have conducted has been published in several journals, including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Basic and Applied Social Psychology, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, and Sex Roles. I also am an active member of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

• I teach a variety of courses at MU, including: Introduction to General Psychology, Social Psychology, Research Methods, Stereotyping and Prejudice, and Introduction to Leadership Studies.

• On a personal note, I am an avid sports fan and enjoy athletics of all kinds.  I am especially passionate about college football and college basketball.