Dr. Jacqueline Chen is an Associate Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Utah and the principal investigator of the Social Cognition and Intergroup Perception (SCIP) Laboratory, which uses social psychological methods to investigate topics related to intergroup relations and diversity. Within the SCIP lab, Dr. Chen and her collaborators established the American Multiracial Faces Database (AMFD), a database of multiracial face photos that provides behavioral science researchers with more diverse stimuli and increases the representation of multiracial individuals in research. Dr. Chen earned her PhD in Social Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Dr. Chen’s research explores how people perceive and behave toward outgroup members and how to promote understanding of diverse intergroup interactions. Using methodological and theoretical approaches from the subfields of cultural psychology, social identity, and social cognition, her work reveals the social psychological processes that underscore people’s reactions to diversity. Dr. Chen is considered a leading researcher in multiracial research for her pivotal papers and groundbreaking work investigating the perception of and experiences of multiracial people.
Dr. Chen’s published manuscripts cover identity perceptions, biases, prejudice, and stereotyping across racial, cultural, gender, and sexual-orientation groups. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as well as the American Psychological Association (APA).
Dr. Chen mentors and actively builds an inclusive network of students from underrepresented backgrounds. Her commitment to inclusive mentorship is also the subject of her NSF CAREER award, “Fostering broader participation and thriving in STEM: A comprehensive investigation of faculty mentorship of doctoral students.” The first publication from this grant shows the importance of faculty behaviors in conveying to students that they will be supported in their educational roles.
Dr. Chen has received many accolades for her work, including an NSF RAPID grant to support her innovative research, the Superior Research Award from the University of Utah College of Social and Behavioral Science in 2021, an NSF CAREER Award in 2020, and the Rising Star Award by the Association for Psychological Science in 2016, among other honors awarded by the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP) and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI).
