ucla phd social psychology

General Catalog

Social psychology.

Culture and Contact Lab

Social psychology lab at ucla.

       Welcome to CCL!

   News and Achievements

Dr. Brannon in Aspen Colorado with fellow members of the Belonging, Meaning, Wellbeing and Purpose (BMWP) Research Advisory Group- Aspen Institute.

Inclusion and Non-Discrimination: Do You Need Both for Effective Pro-Diversity Work?

In this recording of a June 14, 2023, webinar, we hear from Tiffany Brannon, Kimberly Rios, and Angela Russell about approaches to inclusion and non-discrimination and how they can be employed for effective pro-diversity work.

Listen to Dr. Tiffany Brannon discuss her recent article titled “Pride and Prejudice” Pathways to Belonging: Implications for Inclusive Diversity Practices Within Mainstream Institution” and more with the Stanford Psychology Podcast Here ! (May 2022)

White Intraracial Communication

Peter Fisher presented research on white intraracial communication at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology: It is well known that intergroup contact can be an effective tool in reducing prejudice, but less is known about how intragroup  contact impacts beliefs about race and racism. I am investigating the effect of Whites discussing race on prejudice, racial hierarchy beliefs, and political attitudes, and whether an intervention can change the outcomes of these conversations. I am interested in better understanding how often conversations about race occur in all-White contexts and the conditions in which these conversations reinforce existing biases or increase awareness of racial inequity. A major goal of this research is to develop intervention techniques that promote productive conversations about race within White social groups. 

Anti-racism Strategies & Vaccinations

SPSS_2022_Effect of Anti-racism Strategies on Vaccinations_pdf

Riley Marshall presented anti-racism research at the Intervention Science Pre-Conference during the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology: I am interested in leveraging institutional diversity cues to improve trust and health behaviors. My current research looks at how such cues (specifically, anti-racism strategies within health departments) are related to COVID-19 vaccination rates, and if this is occurring through trust in medical systems. I hope to build this line of work with additional studies in a variety of contexts to more directly show the relationship between institutional diversity cues, institutional trust, and individual behaviors.

Congratulations to Dr. Tiffany Brannon, recipient of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) 2021 Early Career Award! Read more about the award announcement from SPSSI or UCLA . (August 2021)

(August 2021)

Expanding Masculinity

Peter Fisher presented masculinity research at the 2021 Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Conference: I am currently studying the effects of expanding the definition of masculinity to be more inclusive of prosocial intergroup behaviors. I am especially interested in understanding the effects of making masculinity more inclusive in all-male contexts where harmful masculine norms are usually reinforced. One of the aims of this line of work is to create identity-based interventions that motivate men to be allies in confronting sexism.

Congratulations to Drs. Tiffany Brannon and Andy Lin for receiving the SPSSI Otto Klineberg Intercultural and International Relations Award for their article titled “Pride and prejudice” pathways to belonging: Implications for inclusive diversity practices within mainstream institutions.” (May 2021)

Pete Fisher’s Virtual Symposium: Masculinity In The Media

Miguel is a multi-Grammy award winning and nominated R&B artist. Tiffany N. Brannon, PhD is a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at UCLA, with degrees from Stanford University and Florida International University. Through an event organized by UCLA CEC, Dr. Brannon had the honor to interview Miguel and have a stimulating discussion on mental health. Topics discussed included personal mental health, generational and cultural differences, stigmas in marginalized communities, self care and more! (January 2020)

Congratulations to CCL’s graduating seniors: Dreama, Isabel, Rhiannon, Tracy, Evelyn, and Matt! (Spring 2018)

Congratulations to Tracy Saw and Isabel Leamon for being awarded the UCLA Dean’s Prize Award for their presentations during Undergraduate Research Week! (Spring 2018)

Read Dr. Tiffany Brannon’s article “Science Without Disciplinary Borders: How my Interests in the Humanities Have Strengthened my Psychological Science”  here!  

Read Dr. Tiffany Brannon’s  article for the UCLA Bunche Center  here!

Congratulations to CCL’s graduating seniors (Eduardo, Frida, Aaron, and Shani)! (Spring 2017)

Congratulations to Eduardo Lara for being awarded the UCLA Dean’s Prize Award for his presentation during Undergraduate Research Week! (Spring 2017)

Prospective Students

2024-2025  admissions cycle: dr. huo will not be reviewing applications for graduate work in the social relations lab..

Although I will not be reviewing applications this year, I hope the information below will be helpful to you if you decide to apply to UCLA to work with one of my colleagues.

Please visit the Psychology Department Webpage for information about deadlines and the graduate application process. For specific questions about how to apply, please contact our Graduate Admissions Coordinator: [email protected] . Below are my answers to some questions that students typically wonder about. I hope they are helpful.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens after i submit my application.

In the social area, we begin reviewing applications in December and conduct phone or zoom interviews with a short list of candidates. In January/February, a small group of students will be invited to visit, and admissions decisions will be made some time after interview weekend.

What do you look for in prospective students?

I review the entire application packet including the self-statement, letters of recommendation, academic record, and supplementary materials (e.g., writing sample, CV). What I am looking for is evidence of several factors (see below) which together provide a holistic assessment that the applicant’s interests, goals, research skills and training will set them up for success in our social psychology doctoral program. 

Fit of research interests with advisor and with the graduate program

You will be happiest and most successful if you and your graduate advisor share compatible interests.  Our lab webpage includes an overview of the type of problems we work on and our approach along with PDFs of publications. Read a publication or two that appeal to you. If after all this, you find yourself excited about the general types of problems we work on and our research approach appeals to you, that’s a good sign that we have mutual research interests. In addition, check out our program requirements and the other faculty in the social psychology program with related interests. It is also important that there is good fit between the training we provide and that you feel the intellectual community here is one that you can see yourself happy being a part of.

Prior research experience

Before you commit to 4-5 years of graduate studies, you should know what it will be like. There is no better way to get a sense of whether the research life is for you then to jump in and try it out.

Evidence of persistence

Research from inception to publication is an extended process with bumps along the way. I look for students who have demonstrated persistence and resilience in the face of adversity and challenges.

Analytical/writing/quantitative skills

All are important to success in graduate studies.

Academic record

The rigor of your coursework and grades are good (but not perfect) indicators of success in graduate school. I take into account this factor in conjunction with all the other factors.

Do you have any tips about what to do or what not to do?

Specify your interest in a graduate advisor in your self-statement.

If you are excited about the type of problems faculty are working on, let us know! It also important to clearly describe your interests and how you think they fit into the work we do.

Obtain letters from faculty who know you well.

Undergraduate or post-bac advisors and instructors in smaller classes are excellent potential letter writers. They can speak to your strengths and provide assessments of your motivation to pursue graduate studies in social psychology and to tell us a bit about you as a person. At least one (more is better) of your letter writers should be able to provide a detailed assessment of your research experiences, your achievements, and your record of achievements and persistence.

Provide a writing sample (e.g., your senior honors thesis, a research paper).

Good luck with the application process!

• PhD in Social Welfare

About Our Doctoral Program

Chair Todd Franke, PhD 

Our doctoral program in social welfare at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs is among the finest in the nation. Each year, we select a small group of scholars from diverse disciplines to join us for a rigorous, tailored study program that includes personalized instruction and applied research experience. Expert mentors guide our doctoral students during their time in the program, and our graduates go on to secure academic positions at top-tier research universities across the world.

Our department has an active plan to address racism and anti-Blackness which can be viewed here . We invite PhD students who are interested in anti-racism work to join us as we continually seek to reflect on and improve our educational and scholarly practices in social work.

Students take advantage of the rich learning resources in the Social Welfare Department and other departments within the Luskin School during their time at UCLA. A distinct advantage of our program is its connection to the larger UCLA campus. Each year, students can take courses in allied disciplines, including medicine, nursing, public health, psychology, and sociology. The purpose of this interdisciplinary approach is to enable our students to develop substantive and methodological knowledge consonant with cutting-edge scholarship in their area of specialization.

Throughout the program, we offer professional development seminars and workshops on a variety of topics. In recognition of the considerable knowledge and skills required of those contemplating academic careers, our students are encouraged to publish in scholarly journals, present at national conferences, and submit extramural proposals to support their independent research. Through these efforts, our students enter the job market with competitive records of scholarly productivity. Students are invited to join our job seekers program in their final year, which provides personalized mentorship to success in the academic job market.

Financial aid packages include full tuition plus stipends in the first four years in the form of fellowship support and paid teaching assistantships. Full-time students will be expected to enroll in twelve units of study each quarter. It is possible to complete the program in four years, although some take a year longer. We also offer a small combined MSW/Ph.D.** program in which prospective students without a master’s degree in social welfare can apply for acceptance into a program of study that leads to both the MSW and the Ph.D. degrees.

The pandemic exerted tremendous pressure on American society, including higher education. It forced a host of changes to how we live, teach and conduct research. Some of our adaptations have accelerated already existing trends, like online teaching and the increase in remote mentoring and advising. Much of the most lasting impact may turn out to be invisible. While it’s likely that the coming-of-age generation will bear long-term consequences, it’s less clear what those might be relative to the Academy. Today’s young scholars may think of health and job flexibility differently from earlier generations, as more common good than something intrinsically personal. Our department is prepared to help our students consider all their options

The due date for application materials is December 15th. For more information, please contact me by email at [email protected]  or by phone at (310) 206-6102. We look forward to receiving your application and welcome your questions of inquiry.

The program has several significant features. Research training, both formal and experiential, is at the core of the program. Flexibility is provided to help students attain in-depth competence in a substantive area of social welfare. Students progress from a common foundation in scholarship and research methods toward a high degree of individualized specialization. This common foundation emphasizes the acquisition of analytic tools needed to understand, appraise and advance knowledge in social welfare. With these analytical tools, the students select a specific area of specialization and develop expertise in that area. Considerable emphasis is placed on the individualized instructional relationship between students and faculty mentors. The learning process involves more than classroom instruction. Students are expected to work closely with faculty in their roles as scholars and researchers. The program is interdisciplinary and students are encouraged to use the rich learning resources of the entire University.

Full-time students usually will be expected to enroll in twelve units of study each quarter. There are approximately two years of coursework prior to the dissertation. Although diversity of backgrounds makes it difficult to predict, students are expected to complete the program in about four years.

Financial Aid

The Doctoral Program of the Department of Social Welfare provides various sources of financial aid, including fellowships, tuition waivers, research and teaching assistantships, and training grants. The basic financial aid package for all new students accepted into the program consists of tuition coverage and at least two years of stipend support.  Additional funding is possible after year two through research and teaching assistantships, private fellowships, competitive campus grants, among other sources. Our students are typically funded for at least the first four years of study.

Eugene V.   Cota-Robles Fellowship   provides 4 years of support for entering doctoral students from cultural, racial, linguistic, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds that are currently underrepresented in graduate education and who are interested in a career in college or university research and teaching.  Applicants must submit a Diversity Statement by December 15.  Instructions are available at Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship | UCLA Graduate Programs.

UCLA Graduate Student Financial Support Travel Grants

• Graduate Research Mentorship Programs
• Graduate Summer Mentorship Programs
• Dissertation-Year Fellowships

Other tuition and stipend award packages are available from the following sources: 

• Luskin Graduate Fellowship Fund
• Olive M. Stone Scholarship Endowment
• Leon and Toby Gold Endowed Fellowship in Care of the Elderly
• James and Judy Bergman Endowed Fellowship

Doctoral students who are interested in acquiring experience in teaching as preparation for an academic teaching role are provided with the opportunity to assist faculty members in the instruction of selected undergraduate and graduate courses. Interested students are encouraged to apply for teaching assistantships after completion of the second year in the program.

The UCLA Financial Aid Office administers grants-in-aid and loans to students. The Fellowship and Assistantship Office of Graduate Division administers University fellowships and is a source of information and application materials for fellowships offered by private foundations and agencies.

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UCLA SOCIAL MINDS LAB  

     , what we do   we're a social psychology lab. our research draws on interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives — from social psychology, cognitive science, + evolutionary anthropology, animal behavior, relationship science— to investigate how people's social minds both create + navigate our social worlds.       dr. krems is planning to accept a graduate student this year (applying december 2024).,   current research projects  .

Lab Director

Patrick Wilson, PhD

Patrick Wilson is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at UCLA. Dr. Wilson is a community and health psychologist and directs the SPHERE Lab at UCLA. His work broadly examines the psychological, social, and cultural factors that shape individual and community-level health outcomes. Prior to coming to UCLA, Dr. Wilson was an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, where he directed the SPHERE Lab and co-directed the Incarceration and Public Health Action Network at the Mailman School. Dr. Wilson earned his PhD in community psychology from New York University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Yale University School of Medicine. His research has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Graduate Students

Manuel Ramirez

Manuel is a rising third-year graduate student in UCLA’s Health Psychology program. He received his undergraduate degree in Psychology from UCLA. Broadly, he is interested in how identity, stigma, and discrimination intersect to differentially affect health outcomes among minority individuals. He is particularly interested in how these forces affect the health and well-being of sexual and gender minorities who also identify as racial/ethnic minorities. Outside of the lab, Manuel loves taking care of his plants, driving along the PCH, and taking hot girl walks.

Eric Cortez

Eric is a rising second-year graduate student in the Health Psychology program. His research uses an intersectionality framework to address social and health disparities among ethnic and sexual minority populations. Specifically, Eric is interested in the relationship between mental health and safe sex practices among the LGBTQ+ Latinx community. Outside of research, Eric likes going to Disneyland, trying out new coffee shops, and watching Grey’s Anatomy.

Maha Al-Suwaidi

Maha (she/her) is a graduate student currently in the Health Psychology program and a certified yoga teacher (RYT200). As a Muslim, Arab, Middle Eastern woman, she is acutely aware of the impact of colonialism and systemic oppression on minoritized communities and is committed to collective action to advocate for systemic change and communal healing. Her research aims to examine how structural factors (e.g., racism, poverty) contribute to mental health disparities, and identify modifiable, scalable tools (e.g., mindfulness, physical activity) that can bolster mental and physical health equity among structurally disadvantaged groups. Overall, her scholarship is rooted in a desire to decrease equity gaps in mental health research, with a focus on increasing the accessibility and cultural competency of psychological treatment for minoritized groups. Her hobbies include yoga, meditation, strength training, and traveling.

Joni just obtained her PhD and graduated from the Health Psychology program! Her research interest is in race, racial discrimination and sociocultural factors affecting Black women’s health, particularly maternal and reproductive health. She is also interested in understanding how African American families socialize Black girls and how those childhood messages relate to reproductive health behaviors and attitudes in adulthood.

Jordan Parker

Jordan is a rising fifth-year graduate student in Health Psychology. Her research focuses on how discrimination influences psychophysiological health outcomes among Black women. Her research uses an intersectionality framework to examine how discrimination affects body image, how it may subsequently influence eating behaviors, and how it longitudinally contributes to disordered eating and related health disparities.

Leezet Matos

Leezet is a rising fifth-year doctoral student in the social area who specializes in social cognitive neuroscience. She is motivated to conduct research that centers the lives and experiences of marginalized communities, particularly the Black community. Her general interests are centered on two main questions: 1) how does learning about how the world is structured around race and racism change the way we see, or neurocognitively make sense of, our racialized social world, and 2) what interventions can facilitate the process of becoming aware of our racialized social world? Her current work within the SPHERE lab tackles these questions by focusing on critical consciousness—a pedagogical tool whereby oppressed peoples become aware of the systemic inequalities they face, and subsequently work to combat those realities. She is specifically interested in qualitative and quantitative ways of measuring critical consciousness, as well as investigating its impact on the health and well-being of Black folks across the lifespan. In her free time, Leezet loves travel, quality time with family and friends, and (importantly) radical rest.

Michelle Chang

Michelle (she/her) is a rising fourth-year graduate student in Clinical Psychology. Her research interests lie in racial disparities in the burden of loss and grief over the lifetime, as well as the collective grieving practices that communities of color engage in to tend to loss through a healing justice framework. In her free time, she enjoys birdwatching, making anything crafty (earrings, zines, papercuts!), and learning traditional Chinese medicine.

David Figueroa

David is a rising second-year graduate student in UCLA’s Health Psychology program. He received his undergraduate degree in Psychology from UCLA in 2021. His research broadly focuses on socioeconomic-based health disparities. He is currently interested in investigating how social class stigma negatively impacts health. Outside the lab, David enjoys cooking breakfast, critiquing movies, and caring for his carnivorous plants.

Nicole Montañez

Nicole is a doctoral student in Community Health Sciences within the Fielding School of Public Health specializing in Health Psychology. Nicole is a consultant and junior investigator with research and programmatic interests including identifying gaps in clinical research for better participant outcomes, training on coping skills for those living with an acute or chronic disease (i.e., TB and HIV) mental health distress and/or disability, stigma, and/or violence. Nicole believes in the incorporation of social and behavioral sciences and mindfulness within clinical research through creating informed, diverse, equitable, and inclusive studies and training to enhance community and participant experiences and outcomes. Nicole holds a Master of Social Work Health-Care from the University of Pretoria in South Africa and is an investigator of record within the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials (IMPAACT) Network. Nicole’s public health background spans over ten years of domestic and international experiences with infant, adolescent, and adult populations.

Post-bacc Research Fellows

Serenity Owens

Serenity graduated from UCLA in 2023 with double majors in Psychology and Gender Studies. Her research interest in Health, Community, and Developmental Psychology. Specifically, the health impacts of undiagnosed mental-health disorders among Black and Latinx youth populations and implementing parent-centered interventions into communities. A fun fact about her is that she named her two puppies after the Backyardigans characters, Pablo and Tyrone! She also loves to cook and read.

Thomas Jones

Thomas obtained his B.A. in Psychology in 2024. The research he wants to conduct focuses primarily on rehabilitation among incarcerated individuals, and expanding substance and alcohol use treatment interventions to the carceral system. He also loves playing tennis and binge-watching Netflix.

Adwoah Yeboah

Adwoah obtained her B.A. in Psychology with minors in Global Health and African-American studies from UCLA in 2024. She was born in Ghana, still has a baby tooth, and wants to learn how to DJ. In her free time, Adwoah enjoys working out, writing poems, and going to concerts and festivals.

Katie obtained her B.A. from UCLA in 2024, double majoring in Psychology (with a focus on developmental psychology) and Political Science (with a concentration in American Politics). Her research interests include how early life adversity and trauma exposure play a role in the development of psychological disorders and how those factors influence juvenile delinquency. Currently, she is Vice President of Philanthropy for Alpha Gamma Delta, Director of Community Building for Globemed, and Internal Outreach and Coordination Chair for the Reproductive Justice Center. In her free time, she enjoys going on runs, spending time with her dogs, volunteering, and going out with friends.

Jazmin Mojica-Navarrete

Jazmin obtained her B.A. in Psychology from UCLA in 2024 and plans to pursue grad school. Her interests revolve around trauma, parent-child interactions, and their impact on a person’s development. She is also interested in researching disparities in the effectiveness and accessibility of treatment for substance use disorders and mental health disorders among different demographic groups. In her free time, Jazmin plays guitar, attends local music shows, writes poetry, enjoys thrifting, and hanging out with close friends.

Isaac Membreno

Isaac graduated from UCLA in 2023 with a B.S. in Psychobiology and minor in Central American studies. His research interests are in Community, Health, and Social Psychology. He is interested in how relationships, community, and cultural organizations impact the physical and mental health of minority groups. Isaac plans to obtain a Ph.D. in Health/Social Psychology and pursue a career in academia. In his free time, Isaac loves to spend time in nature, volunteer, read, and hang out with his friends.

Undergraduate Research Assistants

David Berin

David is a rising fourth-year student studying psychobiology but hopes to add a minor. He is poised to graduate in 2025. His research interests are community psychology and sexual and gender-based misconduct and its correlates. He is also interested in re-entry among formerly incarcerated individuals and post-traumatic stress disorder. Some fun facts about David are that he is originally from Upstate New York and he can speak Russian.

Spencer Liu

Spencer is a rising fourth-year undergraduate Psycho-Biology major at UCLA. His research interests are centered around long term substance use and its effect on cognition and neuroplasticity. In addition, Spencer is interested in exploring the effects of trauma on the developing mind, and how parent-child interactions shape an individual’s personality. He is considering pursuing a career in the field of clinical psychiatry with an emphasis on psychotherapy. Outside of the lab, Spencer enjoys skateboarding, playing guitar, lifting weights, thrift shopping, and going to the beach with his friends.

Yareen Hagay-Nevel

Yarin (Yareen) Hagay Nevel is a rising fourth-year psychology student and former Head of International Admissions for BINA, a progressive liberal arts program with emphases in social work-oriented volunteering and Israeli-Palestinian dual narrative studies. Most recently, Yarin was awarded a grant through UCLA’s Initiative to Study Hate for research studying linked fate, stress, and Islamophobic and antisemitic Instagram posts. In the future, Yarin hopes to pursue her research interests in inter-group relations and mediation by being the first in her family to complete a doctorate! In her free time, Yarin enjoys weekly coffee dates with friends, inline skating (preferably near a beach), and visiting loved ones abroad.

Angelina Meng

Angelina is a rising fourth-year undergraduate student at UCLA majoring in Psychology with a minor in Brain and Behavioral Health. Her research interests center on exploring the influence of early experiences on individuals’ development throughout their lifespan. Anticipating graduation in 2025, she hopes to pursue further research in graduate school. In her free time, Angelina loves watching musicals, hiking, and spending time with her friends.

Nicole Tacher Lois

Nicole is a rising fourth-year Psychology and Public Affairs double major with plans to pursue grad school. Her main interests surround collective trauma, Adverse Childhood Experiences, (ACES) and art education. She has a strong passion for social justice advocacy and hopes to one day help inform policy that increases health outcomes for at risk populations. Nicole enjoys dancing, listening to music, and watching French films in her free time.

Rachel Szeto

Rachel is a rising fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Psychology at UCLA and is expecting to graduate in 2025. She hopes to pursue a career in Market Research and Data Analytics after graduation. Her interests include weight-lifting, listening to music: RnB, Kpop, Rap, and Pop, skincare/beauty, and binge-watching Netflix/Youtube. Some fun facts about Rachel are that she is ambidextrous and loves Popeyes fried chicken.

Alejandra Lopez

Alejandra graduated from UCLA in June 2021 with a B.A. in Psychology and is currently a Clinical Psychology PhD student at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Outside of research, Alejandra enjoys going to concerts, exercising, and playing with her dog.

Christy Wang

Christy graduated from UCLA in June 2022 with a B.A. in Psychology. She joined the SPHERE lab in the Winter of 2022 as a post-bacc research assistant. Broadly, she is interested in how individuals regulate and process their emotions, cope with stress, and how these processes interact with their physical and psychological well-being. She plans to obtain a Ph.D. in Health/Clinical Psychology and pursue a career in academia. Outside of research, Christy likes to spend time with her cats, search for good restaurants in LA, and sleep.

Lauren Perlmutter

Lauren graduated from UCLA in 2023 with a B.A. in Psychology, where she was part of the Psychology Departmental Honors cohort. Within this program, Lauren presented her research at numerous conferences, completed a culminating honors thesis, and graduated with highest honors. Lauren is interested in how mental health such as stress, anxiety, and PTSD affect physical health and well-being. Lauren plans on attending graduate school, specializing in clinical psychology in the near future. In her free time, Lauren loves to read and explore the outdoors.

Michelle Tang

Michelle graduated from Columbia in 2020 with majors in Computer Science and English Literature. She treasures the research experience and, most of all, the support and friendships she received as the research coordinator in the SPHERE Lab from 2023 to 2024. This fall, Michelle will start her PhD at Harvard. She’s excited to continue her studies on the East Coast but will dearly miss the SPHERE Lab. In her free time, Michelle loves learning to play the viola and going on runs.

Visiting Scholar

Hudson role models curiosity and enthusiasm for SPHERE.

Our Collaborators

Columbia University, New York, NY

Valerie Purdie-Greenaway

Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY

Kathy Sikkema ,  Jennifer Hirsch, Claude Mellins, Kate Elkington, Alwynn Cohall, Justin Knox, Niall Bolger, Carole Hutchinson

University of California, San Francisco

Emily A. Arnold, Cherrie Boyer

University of Cape Town

Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Gertraud (Turu) Stadler

[email protected]

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Social Psychology

The Diversity Science Initiative informs social psychology through the study of intergroup relations, social cognition, and close relationships.The UCLA Department of Psychology is home to over 70 faculty. In these sections, we highlight members with research most relevant to diversity issues. Mouse over each badge to see the faculty member’s research direction, and click through for their respective lab websites.

Leveraging Cultural Identity to Address Social Inequality

Research Questions: How can identity serve as a resource to enhance important life outcomes (e.g., achievement, health)? How can inclusive and diverse settings facilitate improved inter-group outcomes?

Neural processes underlying racial discrimination

Research Questions: How do individuals cope with being the target of discrimination? How are they affected by seeing others experience discrimination?

Social context, motivation, and relations within and between groups

Research Questions: How do individuals in diverse groups negotiate multiple, cross-cutting identities? What are the consequences for inter-ethic conflicts and individual well-being?

Relationship satisfaction in diverse populations

Research Questions: How do stress, personality, and couple interactions predict success of intimate relationships? Do white, black, and Hispanic couples define relationship success differently?

Gender, sexual orientation, and identity

Research Questions: How do gender and sexual orientation affect identity, sexuality, and close relationships? How are sexual identity and well being linked in same-sex and heterosexual relationships?

Race and ethnicity in American politics

Research Questions: How do attitudes of racial groups affect their voting behavior? Did racial prejudice interfere with whites voting for Barack Obama?

Identify activation and psychological processes

Research Questions: How do social identities affect how people interpret the meaning of different situations? How do people react when they think they are being stereotyped?

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In the Health Psychology area at UCLA, we pursue innovative and collaborative biopsychosocial research on the dynamic interactions among psychological, social, behavioral, and biological factors, and their impact on health and disease.

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From the Management and Organizations Chair

"As the Management and Organizations area chair, I want to extend to you a warm welcome. You will find that our faculty members study the topics of management, organizations and organizational behavior from a wide array of perspectives and disciplines, including psychology, sociology, economics and history. If a career conducting and publishing groundbreaking research at an elite institution drives you, I invite you to get in touch and apply."

Noah Goldstein Ph.D. Associate Professor of Management and Organizations Area Chair

Explore the Program

Milestone publications.

Employing Bureaucracy: The Transformation of Work in the Twentieth Century. Distinguished Professor Sanford Jacoby

Howard Noble Distinguished Professor of Management and Organizations Sanford Jacoby wrote the seminal 1985/2004 book “Employing Bureaucracy: The Transformation of Work in the Twentieth Century.” The book won the George Terry Book Award from the Academy of Management. Combining social and business history with economic analysis, the book demonstrates a shift in the 20th century American workplace from a market-oriented system to a bureaucratic one.  

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Diversity is What You Want it To Be: How Social Dominance Motives Affect Diversity Construals Associate Professor Miguel Unzueta (with E.D. Knowles and G.C. Ho) Psychological Science in 2012

Published in Psychological Science in 2012, the paper’s findings suggest that diversity may not have a fixed meaning and that, without a specific delineation of what the concept means in particular contexts, people may construe diversity in a manner consistent with their social motivations.  

Reciprocity by Proxy: A Novel Influence Strategy for Stimulating Cooperation. Associate Professor and Area Chair Noah Goldstein Administrative Science Quarterly

Administrative Science Quarterly published an innovative paper written by Associate Professor and Area Chair Noah Goldstein in 2011. Entitled “Reciprocity by Proxy: A Novel Influence Strategy for Stimulating Cooperation,” the paper (with V. Griskevicius and R.B. Cialdini) found that hotel guests were more likely to reuse their towels when the hotel’s environmental conservation program used a reciprocity-by-proxy strategy than when it used an incentive-by-proxy or standard environmental strategy. This confirmed its hypothesis for greater effectiveness over traditional reciprocity, in which benefactors provide direct benefits to target individuals to elicit reciprocity.  

Working to Reduce Stigma: Identity Management Strategies in Organizational Contexts Professor Margaret Shih and Associate Professor Maia Young American Psychologist

Professor Margaret Shih and Associate Professor Maia Young had the opportunity to jointly author a paper (with A. Bucher) that was quite recently published in American Psychologist. The 2013 article, “Working to Reduce Stigma: Identity Management Strategies in Organizational Contexts,” introduces two classes of identity management strategies individuals use to mitigate the negative consequences of discrimination: identity switching (i.e., deemphasizing target identities and recategorizing to a more positively valued identity) and identity redefinition (i.e., stereotype reassociation and regeneration). The paper also outlines steps organizations can take to reduce the need for identity management strategies and to facilitate identity management when necessary.  

Alumni Success

Thomas Altura (’15)

Dissertation: The Social Facticity of Partner-Status: The Case of Local Governments and Investment Banks

Thomas Altura’s research focuses on organizational and institutional change and has been published in the leading journal,  Business & Society . He earned his MBA at UCLA Anderson before completing his Ph.D. in 2015, when he joined the faculty of San Jose State University.

Elissa Grossman (’05)

Dissertation: New Venture Creation and Network Tie Formation: A Longitudinal Study of Nascent Entrepreneurs' Efforts in Business-Building

Elissa Grossman's research concerns social networks in new venturing, encompassing traditional network development for startup resource acquisition and crowdfunding. Her work has been published in journals including the Journal of Management and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice .

Angélica S. Gutiérrez (’12)

Dissertation: The Effect of Social Dominance Orientation on Reactions to University and Employment Recruitment and Selection Policies

Angélica Gutiérrez was named one of Poets and Quants ' 2015 Best 40 Under 40 Professors. She has published in various journals, including the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , and serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , Psychological Science , Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , and Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy .

Nicholas Hays (’12)

Dissertation: Social Climbing: A Contextual Approach to Understanding the Effects of Social Hierarchy on Individual Cognition and Behavior

Nicholas Hays' research interests include the effects of social hierarchy on individuals' decisions and behaviors. His work has been published in journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly and Organization Science , where he published " Status Conflict in Groups ."

Neha Shah (’10)

Dissertation: The Individual Effect of Multiplex Relationships in Workplace Social Networks

Counter to most research on social networks, Neha Shah examines how interactive problem-solving assistance with coworkers can make you a better employee. Her work focuses on the antecedents and consequences of workplace relationship networks, with a focus on the trade-offs associated with workplace relationships, such as job performance.

Daniel Walters (’17)

Dissertation: Known Unknowns in Judgment and Choice

Dan Walters' research focuses on consumer judgment and decision making, with a focus on understanding how people make inferences about missing information in the context of making product decisions, investment judgments, and intertemporal choices. He earned his MBA at UCLA Anderson in 2011, completed his Ph.D. in 2017, and joined the faculty of INSEAD in August of 2017. His work has been published in top academic journals such as Management Science and The Leadership Quarterly . He has presented his research at the Society for Consumer Psychology, the Subjective Probability, Utility, and Decision Making Conference, and the Society for Judgment and Decision Making.

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UCLA Department of Psychology

Please review all questions prior to beginning the application as there are several open-ended questions that you may want to prepare in advance for. Please keep in mind that you will have to complete the application in one sitting as you will not have the ability to save in-progress work or make updates once you submit.

Complete applications are due by 12pm on Tuesday, October 24, 2023.  Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted or reviewed.

If you have any questions about the application process, please email us at [email protected] .

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If you are selected to participate in the program, you will need to have a Psychology Department Faculty Advisor who will oversee your research project for the Winter and Spring 2024 quarters. Applicants must reach out to faculty on their own during the application period to secure a research position. Please list three Psychology faculty members that you plan to contact during this application period. You may check the  Psychology Department website   to find a list of faculty and their area of interest. If you are already working with a Psychology Faculty member and would like to continue in their lab, please specify.

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Ramsen Golpashin returns to UCLA as defensive analyst

By Owen Yancher

August 16, 2024

A familiar face will be back on the UCLA sideline at the Rose Bowl this fall.

Following a multi-year coaching stint with the Green Bay Packers, Ramsen Golpashin has returned to Westwood, joining first-year head coach Deshaun Foster’s Bruin football staff as a defensive analyst.

A member of the School of Education and Information Studies’ first Transformative Coaching and Leadership (TCL) program cohort, Golpashin spent several years at UCLA, working under former head coach Chip Kelly before taking his talents to the NFL ranks.

In Green Bay, he worked alongside Pro Bowlers and future Hall of Famers, including Aaron Rodgers and former UCLA stars, Kenny Clark and Marcedes Lewis.

Preparing some of the best players in the game, Golpashin says he was initially surprised by the yearn for coaching he discovered from the league’s best.

“The job was not for the faint of heart,” he explains. “There were days when you didn’t go to sleep. Days where you went home for 40 minutes and went right back to the office. 

“But on days when it was 2:00 a.m. and you’re drawing pictures and you hate it, you’re thinking about how Aaron Rodgers is going to be looking at this in the morning and how it has to be right.”

Born just north of the Los Angeles area in Santa Clarita, Golpashin made a name for himself on the gridiron at Saugus High School. A no-corners-cut type of guy, he matriculated to the University of Oregon, where members of the Ducks’ coaching staff took note of his talents at a team tryout his freshman year. 

He would go on to earn a walk-on spot on Oregon’s star-studded roster. And, just over a year later, he was awarded an athletic scholarship. 

But his passion for football soured shortly thereafter. 

Suffering a torn ACL his senior season, he felt burnt out.

“I honestly didn’t want anything to do with football at that point,” he admits. “Especially coaching.”

Funny how things turned out.

His first fall after graduation, Golpashin was back in his hometown of Santa Clarita, working for his father’s contracting business. 

Needless to say, it was only a matter of months before he began to feel the football “itch.”

Encouraged by his former high school mentor to help the team out, Golpashin hit his stride working with the Centurions. And after two seasons of coaching high school ball, he jumped at an opportunity to join the University of Hawaii football staff as a graduate assistant. 

With the Rainbow Warriors, a midseason coaching staff shakeup saw him elevated to Offensive Line Coach, a role he would leverage in the years to come, which featured coaching stops at his alma mater, Oregon, Cal and eventually UCLA.

It was during that time, while he was working with the Bruins as an assistant, that he began pursuing a Master of Education degree in Transformative Coaching and Leadership.

“Ramsen was actually involved in a focus group we held when we were beginning to create the TCL program,” Dr. Arif Amlani recalls. 

With Golpashin emphasizing ties between teaching and coaching, his input helped shape coursework that was later developed.

“I didn’t have much expectation,” he says. “You’re thinking, ‘It’s the first year of this, what am I going to learn from the gymnastics coach or the softball coach that I wouldn’t already learn from being around football coaches all day?’ 

“And I couldn’t have been more wrong.” 

“Sue Enquist, Miss Val and all our instructors taught me so much.” 

“You’re learning from people who have won multiple national championships and are the best at what they do. I remember Sue brought in Dawn Staley – one of the best coaches in the country. In your head, you’re like ‘These are the experiences and connections you can only get at a place like UCLA.” 

“And I realized I’d been so enthralled in the coaching world and the football world, that I’d become underdeveloped in other areas.”

One of the spaces he found lacking was his interpersonal communications skills — a part of his coaching toolkit he says was essential when he worked in the NFL.

“How to interact with people and not be such a hermit X’s and O’s guy,” he jokes. “It really helped me in that regard.”

Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic, Golpashin says the time he spent away from players served as an opportunity to better develop his coaching philosophy. 

“I was able to revisit my whole career and ask myself ‘What am I trying to help players get out of me coaching?’ 

“The TCL program emphasizes just that–asking yourself the ‘why’ of your coaching and then developing a philosophy that is authentic and true to your own values” Amlani adds.

“If you take time and invest time into developing that philosophy and articulate what you want to be about as a person – that’s really important.”

Being able to develop that outlook early in your career is huge,” he says. “And living up to that philosophy is key — not switching up depending how the wind blows and being somebody different.”

“The program helped me organize my thoughts. As a coach you have a lot of thoughts in your head; a lot of X’s and O’s. And having the time to put those down for a second and think about your career – that was huge for me.”

Now tasked with engineering the Bruins game day management, Golpashin says he’s reveling the opportunity to work with Foster during his inaugural year as head coach. 

“In college, you still have an opportunity to affect lives on a personal level and help develop guys,” he explains. “You can still mold them and shape them and help them.

“We’ve built a staff of guys who want to help guys earn that degree, first and foremost, but also put them on track to continued success, whether that’s playing ball at the next level or not.”

Getting to do so in Westwood is just icing on the cake, he says. 

“A place like this attracts people who have been able to do great things. In your head, you’re like ‘These are the experiences and connections you can only get at a place like UCLA.’”

In addition to his Master of Education from UCLA in TCL, Golpashin earned his undergraduate degree in General Business at Oregon, later adding a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Sports Marketing. 

Learn more about UCLA’s Transformative Coaching and Leadership Master of Education program.

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From academia to addiction: understanding the mechanism behind how academic stress fuels social media addiction in PhD students

• Published: 16 August 2024

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• Along He 1 &
• Lili Zhu 1  

PhD life is a challenging phase and often faced with heavy academic stress. Indulging in social media may be one of the coping styles to relieve this stress. However, the underlying mechanisms by which academic stress affects social media addiction among PhD students are not fully understood. In this study, 431 PhD students (male: n  = 243, 56.38%; female: n  = 188, 43.62%; mean age = 27.34 years, SD = 2.70 years) completed online self-report measures of academic stress, anxiety, desire thinking, loneliness, and social media addiction. Grounded in general strain theory and the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model, we conducted mediation and moderated mediation model analysis to examine the associations among these variables. The results indicated that academic stress was positively associated with social media addiction and this association was sequentially mediated by anxiety and desire thinking. Furthermore, loneliness moderated and strengthened the positive association between academic stress and social media addiction. We provided empirical support for the feasibility of integrating desire thinking into the I-PACE model. Our research also calls on society to pay attention to the mental health issues affecting these populations and encouraging them to actively participate in offline activities, seek social support, reduce their dependence on social media, and improve stress management and psychological adjustment.

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He, A., Zhu, L. From academia to addiction: understanding the mechanism behind how academic stress fuels social media addiction in PhD students. Curr Psychol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06457-9

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The program includes an initial two-year core curriculum of formal instruction followed by additional experience/instruction in the student’s chosen major area of study. The SDSU/UC San Diego JDP in Clinical Psychology curriculum is based on a twelve-month academic year. Students typically complete the program within five to six years, including an American Psychological Association (APA)-accredited internship.

Completion of the core curriculum ensures that all students have a common background in:

• Empirical psychology (biological, cognitive, affective, developmental, and social bases of behavior).
• Conceptualizations of psychopathology.
• Theory and techniques of psychological assessment.
• Therapeutic interventions and therapeutic skills.
• Experimental design and statistics.

Clinical activities, integrated with formal instruction, begin in the second year. Students will acquire higher clinical proficiency through practicum placements at nearly 30 training sites supervised by SDSU/UC San Diego joint-doctoral faculty representing research and clinical expertise in virtually every topic relevant to clinical psychology.

Major Areas of Study:

Specialized training is conducted through seminars, tutorials, and extensive research and clinical experience under faculty supervision. The APA-accredited clinical internship typically occurs in the fifth or sixth year. Whenever possible, clinical practica and therapeutic activities are coordinated with the student’s progression through courses and research activities. Summers are utilized to offer more concentrated research and clinical training.

For more information about the three areas, visit our Major Areas of Study page.

Program History

The SDSU/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology began in 1985, was first accredited by APA in 1990, and has been reaccredited consistently since then. Since 1949 and 1964, SDSU and UC San Diego, respectively, have been regionally accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Senior College and University Commission . In addition, the School of Medicine at UC San Diego is accredited by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) .

The program emphasizes and appreciates broadly defined human diversity and offers extensive opportunities for students to become involved in research and clinical activities focused on diverse, underserved populations.

Recently, rankings calculated by the National Research Council (NRC) placed the SDSU/UC San Diego joint doctoral program among the top five psychology programs in the country, regardless of whether they were clinical or nonclinical. Similar rankings have been reported by Academic Analytics in 2010 and by Stewart, Roberts, and Roy (2007).

This program is a good-standing member of the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology (CUDCP), the Academy of Psychological Clinical Science (APCS), the Council of Clinical Health Psychology Training Programs (CCHPTP), and the Association of Psychology Training Clinics (APTC). These organizations strive to provide quality education and training at the doctoral level, ensuring the doctoral program stays abreast of changes and developments in the field. 

Questions related to the program’s accredited status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation:

Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation American Psychological Association 750 1st Street NE Washington, DC 20002 Phone: (202) 336-5979 E-mail: [email protected]