Terri Vescio studies stereotyping and prejudice. Within this context, her recent work has focused on the following three questions: (1) how do global societal stereotypes influence judgments of and behavior toward individual members of stereotyped groups?, (2) how does contact with individual outgroup members affect stereotypic representations of outgroups and intergroup prejudice?, and (3) when do people in positions of power stereotype the relatively powerless and with what consequences?

Primary Interests:

Attitudes and Beliefs
Gender Psychology
Person Perception
Prejudice and Stereotyping
Self and Identity
Sexuality, Sexual Orientation
Social Cognition

Attitudes and Beliefs
Gender Psychology
Person Perception
Prejudice and Stereotyping

Self and Identity
Sexuality, Sexual Orientation
Social Cognition

Research Group or Laboratory:

PSU Social Cognition Laboratory
Interactive Map

Journal Articles:

Vescio, T. K., & Biernat, M. (2003). Family values and antipathy toward gay men. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33, 833-847.
Vescio, T. K., Gervais, S. J., Snyder, M., & Hoover, A. (2005). Power and the creation of patronizing environments: The stereotype-based behaviors of the powerful and their effects on female performance in masculine domains. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 658-572.
Vescio, T. K., Judd, C. M., & Kwan, V. S. Y. (2004). Categorization and intergroup bias in crossed contexts: Examining the benefits of crossed categories. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 478-496.
Vescio, T. K., Sechrist, G., & Paolucci, M. P. (2003). Perspective taking and prejudice reduction: The mediational role of empathy arousal and situational attributions. European Journal of Social Psychology, 33, 455-472.
Vescio, T. K., Snyder, M., & Butz, D. A. (2003). Power in stereotypically masculine domains: A social influence strategy X stereotype match model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 1062-1078.

Courses Taught:

Attitudes and Persuasion
Basic Research Methods
Intergroup Processes
Power and the Maintenance of the Status Quo
Stereotyping and Prejudice I: Classic Theorizing and Research
Stereotyping and Prejudice II: Contemporary Theorizing and Research

Attitudes and Persuasion
Basic Research Methods
Intergroup Processes

Power and the Maintenance of the Status Quo
Stereotyping and Prejudice I: Classic Theorizing and Research
Stereotyping and Prejudice II: Contemporary Theorizing and Research

Theresa K. Vescio
Department of Psychology
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
United States

Phone: (814) 863-1714
Fax: (814) 863-7002