Our Team

Nilanjana Dasgupta

Principal Investigator

Over the past 25 years, my research group’s work has been in the Lewinian tradition investigating how powerful situations shape the plasticity of attitudes, beliefs, and individuals’ self-concept in response to seemingly small changes in local environments. One branch of my research examines how powerful situations affect individuals’ self-perceptions, especially for members of disadvantaged groups. A second branch examines individuals’ perceptions of disadvantaged outgroups. In both cases we identify what situational forces change people’s self-perceptions and beliefs and attitudes about disadvantaged outgroups.

FUNDING & RECOGNITION

Our work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, American Psychological Foundation, Reboot Representation, and other corporate gifts. The work has been recognized through the Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Research and Creative Activity (2016), the Distinguished Academic Outreach Award in Research from UMass Amherst (2014) and the Hidden Bias Research Prize awarded by the Level Playing Field Institute, a private foundation in Silicon Valley (2012), and through distinguished faculty lectures at the National Science Foundation (2016) and at UMass Amherst (2016).

TRANSLATING KNOWLEDGE FOR PUBLIC GOOD

I spend a lot of time using science for public interest to inform education, law, business, and public policy by giving talks and workshops, advising and consulting, and serving various professional organizations. I have presented our team’s research nationally and internationally to K-12 teachers and administrators, university leaders and faculty, business leaders, legal audiences, and policymakers at the state and federal level. And, I’ve served on national and international organizations focused on translating science for social good.
(Details on the Leadership page of this website)