Intergroup Relations Lab

Dr. Alison Chasteen

Principal Investigator

Alison Chasteen received her BA from Kalamazoo College and her PhD from Washington University in St. Louis.  She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan before joining the University of Toronto. She is a social psychologist with specialized training in aging and cognition. She is a consulting editor for the journal Psychology and Aging and serves as a reviewer for numerous social psychology and aging journals.

Dr. Caroline Erentzen

Post-Doctoral Fellow

My research explores the gendered dimensions of Islamophobia and religious equality rights for Muslims in North America. This research takes two general streams. The first research stream focuses on the gendered-based aspects of Islamophobic attitudes, and how stereotypes of Muslim men might differ from those of Muslim women. The second general stream focuses on reactions to religious equality rights for Muslims in North America, and the role that symbolic threat, moral foundations, and a common ingroup identity might play in our responses to requests for religious accommodation.

Jordana Schiralli

Doctoral Student

I have two main lines of research in the area of prejudice and stereotyping. My first line of research examines how targets are perceived when confronting prejudice, particularly when prejudice is benevolent. In this research, I am interested in investigating how women can effectively confront benevolent forms of sexism (e.g., paternalistic or condescending attitudes). In a second line of research, I am investigating how racial stereotypes may influence how sexism is expressed toward and experienced by women of colour. 

Veronica Bergstrom

Doctoral Student

My interests lie very broadly in the area of prejudice and stereotyping. My primary research focuses on religious (Christian, Muslim) and nonreligious (atheist, agnostic) group biases and ways to reduce intolerance between these groups. I am also working on projects involving stereotype intersectionality, where I am investigating how intersecting identities affect stereotype content.

Joel Le Forestier

Doctoral Student

Broadly speaking, I am interested in social psychological factors that prevent members of marginalized groups from thriving and how we can leverage knowledge of these factors to intervene to promote equity. More specifically, I am interested in how our identities—and how we engage with them—impacts outcomes in the domains of academics, health, and general well-being. My work involves topics including concealable social identities, prejudice, and social belonging.

Hannah Gans

Doctoral Student

Broadly speaking, my research interests are geared towards examining perceivers’ ageist stereotypes, while accounting for the target’s race and gender. More specifically, I am interested in how age can either compound or contradict the pre-held stereotypes that perceivers hold about the targets. 

Tim Chao

Lab Manager

My research interests lie in the subfields of social and cognitive psychology. Specifically, I’m interested in examining how human cognitive processes are influenced by social factors such as stereotypes, group memberships, and perceived consequences. In my third year, I completed an ROP399 at the IRL, in which I investigated the role of ally gender in sexism confrontation. Additionally, I will start working on an honors thesis under Dr. Chasteen’s supervision. As the IRL Manager, my role is to ensure that both Graduate and Undergraduate students are provided with the necessary resources to fulfill their research needs.

Project Students and Research Assistants

Lab Alumni

Former Graduate Students

Former Undergraduates