Maureen Alyson Craig CV

My work focuses on understanding how people navigate an increasingly diverse and often inequitable social world. In my lab, we investigate how members of different social groups relate to one another, particularly in environments in which they may feel that their identities are under threat, such as in the context of salient intergroup inequality or growing diversity. Who do we see as allies and part of our “team” and when do we see other groups as likely to join forces against us? What sparks solidarity and support for egalitarianism, and what sparks backlash and support for entrenching or even expanding group-based hierarchies?

My research tackles these questions and advances our understanding of how diversity, inequality, and discrimination shape people’s attitudes and relations with people from other social groups, policy preferences, and support for social change. I explore these intergroup dynamics, both from the perspective of people belonging to groups that are culturally-devalued (stigmatized) and those belonging to groups that are culturally-valued (socially-dominant)—all the while taking into account that due to the sheer number of different identities people have, most people possess both valued and devalued identities.