Valerie Jones Taylor, Ph.D.

Dr. Taylor's research areas include intergroup relations, stereotype/social identity threat, stereotyping and discrimination, cultural psychology, and applied VR/AR/XR research methodology. Specifically, research in her lab examines three distinct but interrelated issues: how people 1) engage in interracial interactions, 2) experience and perceive race and gender in academic, workplace, and social contexts and in racialized physical spaces, and 3) learn about and engage in social justice action. Across these areas, she examines virtual reality (VR) as an antiracism tool to reduce bias and systemic racism in individuals, interracial interactions, and institutions. 

Broadly, work in the SSI-VR research lab integrates two theoretical traditions -- stereotype / social identity threat and intergroup contact -- to understand how people engage with outgroup members and perceive the world. While research has shown the benefits of intergroup contact, greater contact among individuals with different social identities creates opportunities for social identity threat—the concern or worry that one may be treated or judged negatively based on one’s social group membership. Moreover, when people experience social identity threat, particularly in interpersonal contexts that reinforce the United State’s legacy of racism, sustained interracial contact, cross-race understanding, and openness and commitment to addressing systemic racial inequities can be elusive. Addressing this multifaceted issue across several lines of research, her team answers various identity-related questions, including: 

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• How do people engage in interracial interactions when negative group stereotypes are salient? Do our concerns and anxiety immobilize us, motivate us to disprove stereotypes, or lead us to avoid future interracial interactions? 

• Can we capture interracial interaction processes in VR and integrate VR exposure therapy methodologies to improve dominant group members’ racial attitudes and interpersonal behaviors?

• Can interracial encounters that infuse valued aspects of people’s cultural backgrounds improve racially minoritized group members’ cross-race interactions and increase collective action? 

• How might negative stereotypes impede people’s ability to fully engage, perform, and persist in academic and professional settings?

• How do perceptions of physical space (neighborhoods, schools) reinforce interpersonal and systemic racism?

• Does learning about critical race history in the US (both in person and through VR) increase engagement with social justice issues, improve racial attitudes, and contribute to sustained collective action? 

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