Doctoral student in the Sidanius Lab pursuing a PhD in social psychology
Kiera is a third year doctoral student in the Sidanius Lab. Over the last five years she's developed an interest in studying power hierarchies and intergroup relations. She received her BA in Biology and Psychology from Williams College. After graduating from college she spent two years as a lab manager for Dr. Jenessa Shapiro in the social psychology department at UCLA honing her research skills. She is currently pursuing a PhD in social psychology under the guidance of Drs. James Sidanius and Mahzarin Banaji. In the Sidanius lab she is interested in the biological underpinnings of social dominance by exploring the relationship between social dominance orientation and testosterone levels. In a separate line of work, she is examining how racial and gender hierarchies intersect as it relates to experiencing prejudice. In the Banaji lab she is looking at the origins of social hierarchical perception by asking when and how children come to represent social categories of race, gender, and religion, as social dominance hierarchies.