Dr. Kimberly Rios, with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Department of Psychology, will give a talk on Tuesday, March 5, at 3:30 p.m. in 48 DeGarmo Hall.
Rios is an experimental social psychologist who focuses on social identity, including but not limited to religion, ethnicity, race, gender, and sexuality; and intergroup relations. She received her Ph.D. in organizational behavior in 2008 from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and was previously employed at Ohio University (2013-23), the University of Chicago (2010-13), and the Ohio State University School of Communication (2008-10). She serves as associate editor for several academic journals and, starting in January 2024, is editor-in-chief of the journal Self and Identity. Her talk is titled “Harnessing the many facets of white identity to reduce feelings of threat and improve intergroup relations.”
Whiteness in the U.S. is often conceptualized largely as the absence of meaningful cultural identity. Research from Rios’s own lab suggests that overlooking the nuances inherent in white identity (e.g., differences between ethnic groups) can induce feelings of threat and backlash against multiculturalism among dominant group members. Based on this research, Rios argues that conceptualizing whiteness as multifaceted—for example, by acknowledging not only interethnic but also religious and socioeconomic differences—may mitigate dominant group members’ threat perceptions and increase their comfort amidst growing discussions of diversity, equity, and inclusion in institutions and benefit groups that are classified as “white” on demographic forms but often do not perceive themselves as such (e.g., Middle Eastern and North African Americans, Jewish Americans).
If you need a special accommodation to participate in this program, contact the Department of Psychology at (309) 438-8651. Please allow sufficient time to arrange the accommodation.
