Stephanie R. Mallinas, M.S.
Doctoral Candidate at Florida State University
Research Interests
Ideology, Morality, & Social Judgment
How do people's moral and political beliefs influence the ways they perceive others? My research considers morality as a component of intergroup attitudes. That is, people's moral beliefs regarding the behaviors associated with a social group are related to but distinct from their attitudes toward individuals based on their group identity. Similarly, political ideology is a chronically salient value system. My work considers how liberals and conservatives converge and differ in their social thinking.
Individual Differences in Impression Formation
How do people decide whether someone is similar or dissimilar? How do they form an evaluation of that person? My research considers how individual differences in beliefs, attitudes, and cognition impact the ways in which people form impressions of others.
Threat & Intergroup Cognition
How do people navigate the groups to which they belong? How do they manage social threats? These questions may appear unrelated at first glance, but an expanding line of my work considers how people draw ingroup/outgroup lines in response to perceived threats. I am currently examining whether individuals shift their categorizations of others as ingroup or outgroup members depending on contextual threats.