Kristin Pauker
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- SPN Mentor
My research examines the malleability of person perception across context and time, and the effects of such malleability on intergroup cognition and behavior. I am interested in how motivations, social context, and individuals’ lay theories affect basic social perception and the resultant consequences for intergroup relations. My research can be divided into two main lines of inquiry: (1) racial ambiguity, and (2) the development of race-related knowledge.
I utilize a multimethod approach, ranging from eye-tracking to examining nonverbal behavior in dyadic interactions, with a variety of populations, including children. By integrating insights from both social and developmental psychology, I aim to advance our theoretical understanding of social perception and intergroup processes and apply this knowledge to create effective interventions to minimize negative outcomes due to stereotyping, interpersonal friction, and persistently biased social perceptions.
Honors and Awards
Research and Writing
- Board of Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Research, University of Hawaii, 2016
- Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (Division 9 of American Psychological Association) Dissertation Award, First Prize, 2010
Teaching and Mentoring
- Board of Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Teaching, University of Hawaii, 2018
Fellow of Associations
- Fellow, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 2020
- Fellow, Society of Experimental Social Psychology, 2015
Primary Interests:
- Applied Social Psychology
- Attitudes and Beliefs
- Culture and Ethnicity
- Group Processes
- Intergroup Relations
- Nonverbal Behavior
- Person Perception
- Prejudice and Stereotyping
- Social Cognition
Research Group or Laboratory:
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Video Gallery
In Blind Pursuit of Racial Equality?
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7:19 In Blind Pursuit of Racial Equality?
Length: 7:19
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3:34 How Do Caregivers Apply "Prejudice Mindsets" Research to Raising Kids?
Length: 3:34
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52:36 Ending Racism, Starting With Kids
Length: 52:36
Journal Articles:
- Adams, R. B., Jr., Pauker, K., & Weisbuch, M. (2010). Looking the other way: The role of gaze direction in the cross-race memory effect. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 478-481.
- Apfelbaum, E. P., Pauker, K., Ambady, N., Sommers, S. R., & Norton, M. I. (2008). Learning (not) to talk about race: When older children underperform in social categorization. Developmental Psychology, 44, 1513-1518.
- Apfelbaum, E. P., Pauker, K., Sommers, S. R., & Ambady, N. (2010). In blind pursuit of racial equality? Psychological Science, 21, 1587-1592.
- Brey, E. L., & Pauker, K., (2019). Teachers’ nonverbal behaviors influence children’s stereotypic beliefs. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 188, 104671
- Carr, P. B., Dweck, C. S., & Pauker, K. (2012). “Prejudiced” behavior without prejudice? Beliefs about the malleability of prejudice affect interracial interactions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103-452-71.
- Chen, J. M., Pauker, K., Gaither, S. E., Hamilton, D. L., & Sherman, J. W. (2018). Black + White = Not White: A minority bias in categorizations of Black-White multiracials. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 78, 43-54.
- Freeman, J. B., Pauker, K., & Sanchez, D. (2016). A perceptual pathway to bias: Interracial exposure reduces abrupt shifts in real-time race perception that predict mixed-race bias. Psychological Science, 27, 502-517.
- Freeman, J., Pauker, K., Apfelbaum, E., & Ambady, N. (2010). Continuous dynamics in the real-time perception of race. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 179-185.
- Gaither, S. E., Schultz, J. R., Pauker, K., Sommers, S. R., Maddox, K. B., & Ambady, N. (2014). Essentialist thinking predicts decrements in children’s memory for racially-ambiguous faces. Developmental Psychology, 50, 482-488.
- Johnson, K. L., Freeman, J., & Pauker, K. (2012). Race is gendered: How covarying phenotypes and stereotypes bias sex categorization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 116-131.
- Lamer, S. A., Dvorak, P., Biddle, A., Pauker, K., & Weisbuch, M. (2022). The transmission of gender stereotypes through televised patterns of nonverbal bias. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 123(6), 1315–1335
- Pauker, K., & Ambady, N. (2009). Multiracial faces: How categorization affects memory at the boundaries of race. Journal of Social Issues, 65, 69-86.
- Pauker, K., Ambady, N., & Apfelbaum, E. P. (2010). Race salience and essentialist thinking in racial stereotype development. Child Development, 81, 1799-1813.
- Pauker, K., Ambady, N., & Freeman, J. (2013). The power of identity to motivate face memory in biracial individuals. Social Cognition, 31, 778-789
- Pauker, K., Apfelbaum, E. P., Dweck, C. S., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2022). Believing prejudice can change increases children’s interest in interracial interactions. Developmental Science, 25, e13233.
- Pauker, K., Apfelbaum, E. P., & Spitzer, B. (2015). The race talk dilemma for racial minority children. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6, 887-895
- Pauker, K., Carpinella, C. M., Lick, D. J., Sanchez, D. T., & Johnson, K. L. (2018). Malleability in biracial categorizations: The impact of geographic context and targets’ racial heritage. Social Cognition, 36, 461-480.
- Pauker, K., Carpinella, C. M., Meyers, C. K., Young, D., & Sanchez, D. T. (2018). The role of diversity exposure in Whites’ reduction in race essentialism over time. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 9, 944-952.
- Pauker, K., Meyers, C. K., Sanchez, D. T., Gaither, S. E., & Young, D. M. (2018). A review of multiracial malleability: Identity, categorization, and shifting racial attitudes. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 12, e12392.
- Pauker, K., Weisbuch, M., Ambady, N., Sommers, S. R., Adams, R. B. Jr., & Ivcevic, Z. (2009). Not so Black and White: Memory for ambiguous group members. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 795-810.
- Pauker, K., Williams, A., & Steele, J. R. (2016). Children’s racial categorization in context. Child Development Perspectives, 10, 33-38.
- Pauker, K., Xu, Y., Williams, A., & Biddle, A. M. (2016). Race essentialism and contextual differences in children's racial stereotyping. Child Development, 1409-1422
- Sanchez, D. T., Young, D. M., Pauker, K. (2015). Exposure to Racial Ambiguity Influences Lay Theories of Race. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6, 382-390.
- Weisbuch, M., Lamer, S. A., Treinen, E., & Pauker, K. (2017). Cultural snapshots: Theory and method. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 11, e12334.
- Weisbuch, M., & Pauker, K. (2011). The nonverbal transmission of intergroup bias: A model of bias contagion with implications for social policy. Social Issues and Policy Review, 5, 257-291.
- Weisbuch, M., Pauker, K., Adams, R. B., Jr., & Lamer, S. (2017). Race, power, and reflexive gaze following. Social Cognition, 35, 619-638.
- Weisbuch, M., Pauker, K., & Ambady, N. (2009). The subtle transmission of race bias via televised nonverbal behavior. Science, 326, 1711-1714.
- Xu, Y., Farver, J. M., & Pauker, K. (2014). Ethnic identity and self-esteem among Asian and European Americans: When a minority is the majority and the majority is a minority. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45, 62-76.
- Young, D. M., Sanchez, D. T., Pauker, K., & Gaither, S. E. (2021). A Meta-Analytic Review of Hypodescent Patterns in Categorizing Multiracial and Racially Ambiguous Targets. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 47, 705-727.
Other Publications:
Courses Taught:
- Children's Understanding of Race (undergraduate seminar)
- Research in Developmental Psychology
- Research in Social Psychology
- Social Psychology Foundations (graduate level core course)
- Social Psychology: Advanced Topics
- Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Intergroup Relations (graduate level seminar)
- Survey of Psychology (undergraduate introductory psychology)
Kristin Pauker
Department of Psychology
Sakamaki Hall, C400
2530 Dole Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
United States of America
- Phone: (808) 956-9366
