Social Psychologist Spotlight: Dr. Greenaway

 Why I chose this person: To be perfectly honest, when looking for someone who matched the criteria, I was looking for a hot minute. Finally, my light to the dark tunnel was Dr. Greenaway. But the reason I chose to stick with her was because she has done research on diversity and stereotypes as we were learning in class today.

background: Valerie Purdie Greenaway is a social psychologist and professor at Columbia University, where she focuses on stereotypes, identity, diversity (Valerie Purdie Greenaway | Department of Psychology, 2024). She earned her Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University, in 2004 (Valerie Purdie Greenaway | Department of Psychology, 2024). She was awarded the Columbia University RISE (Research Initiative in Science and Engineering) award in 2013 for her approach to reducing racial achievement gaps (Valerie Purdie-Greenaway | Presidential Scholars, 2022).

Research: Valerie Purdie-Greenaway studies how people's social identities and stereotypes affect their lives. She focuses on minority groups, like Black women, and how they deal with social structures (Valerie Purdie Greenaway | Department of Psychology, 2024). She helped develop a theory called "intersectional invisibility," which explains that people with multiple minority identities face challenges (Purdie-Vaughns and Eibach 2008). 

In one study, Purdie Greenaway and her team did a study on the impact of self-affirmation and how it effects middle school students and their academics Over three years, they tried to focus on students aged 11 to 14 (Binning et al., 2021). The researchers gave the classrooms writing exercises designed to talk about the students' personal values, aiming to make them feel better about their self-integrity, they were also trying to simultaneously bring up the psychological threats that are during their childhood (Binning et al., 2021). The results showed that kids who did the exercises broke the cycle of feeling bad and not doing well in school therefore these kids ended up with better grades (Binning et al., 2021). This study shows that special activities can help kids, especially those facing stereotypes, and do better in school (Binning et al., 2021).

Another significant contribution from Purdie Greenaway is her research on race, crime, and visual processing. In a team with her fellow researchers, she examined the connection between black individuals and criminality (Eberhardt et al., 2004). They found that both police officers and regular people often link black faces with crime-related objects more easily because of racial biases (Eberhardt et al., 2004). This research helps explain how these biases can lead to racial profiling and unfair treatment in the criminal justice system. 

Personal Information: Born as Valerie Joyce Purdie, she grew up in Brentwood, New York. She lettered in varsity basketball, graduating in 1993 at Colombia University. She married Joseph A. Greenaway Jr., a former United States Circuit Judge, on March 25, 2017. 

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References:

Valerie Purdie Greenaway | Department of Psychology. (2024). Columbia.edu. 

Valerie Purdie-Greenaway | Presidential Scholars. (2022). Columbia.edu. 

Purdie-Vaughns, Valerie, and Richard P. Eibach. “Intersectional Invisibility: The Distinctive Advantages and Disadvantages of Multiple Subordinate-Group Identities.” Sex Roles, vol. 59, no. 5-6, 7 Apr. 2008, pp. 377–391, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9424-4.

Binning, Kevin R., et al. “Securing Self‐Integrity over Time: Self‐Affirmation Disrupts a Negative Cycle between Psychological Threat and Academic Performance.” Journal of Social Issues, vol. 77, no. 3, 24 June 2021, https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12461.

Eberhardt, J. L., Goff, P. A., Purdie, V. J., & Davies, P. G. (2004). Seeing Black: Race, Crime, and Visual Processing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(6), 876–893. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.87.6.876

Honor Code: I have acted with honor and integrity while producing this work and am unaware of those who have not.

Sirena Sauceda

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