Jason A. Nier
Associate Professor of Psychology
On sabbatical fall 2009

• Intergroup relations
• Contemporary forms of discrimination and the enforcement of civil rights laws
• Reducing intergroup bias
• Social psychology of collective action

Jason Nier is a social psychologist whose research focuses primarily on intergroup relations. As a result, he is concerned with the psychological processes that are responsible for prejudice and discrimination, and the processes through which biases may be reduced. Within this broad area he has several specific interests:

1. The assessment of intergroup attitudes - What different techniques can be used to measure individuals' attitudes toward different groups?
2. Reducing intergroup bias - Through what psychological processes can prejudice and discrimination towards those who belong to different groups be reduced?
3. The social psychology of collective action - How are collective acts perceived? Under what circumstances does collective behavior improve (or worsen) intergroup attitudes? How do collective acts influence an individual's identity as a group member?

Nier has authored or co-authored several articles and book chapters, which have appeared in journals such as the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Nier also co-authored a book chapter which won the 1998 Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize, awarded annually to the best paper in the field of intergroup relations.

He teaches social psychology, research methods, advanced psychological statistics and experimental social psychology.