Allison Skinner Ph.D.

Allison Skinner, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the University of Georgia, and the director of the Georgia Attitude, Bias, and Behavior Acquisition Lab. Her research examines how biases are established, maintained, and facilitated through subtle messages present in everyday life. She is particularly interested in how situational cues in our social environments shape our perceptions, attitudes, and biases against other individuals and groups. These cues range from nonverbal signals demonstrated in interpersonal interactions (e.g., warmth and friendliness) to explicit messages that may appear to be positive but are actually ironically negative (heightening intergroup bias). She utilizes correlational and experimental approaches and employs multiple methods to identify the basic cognitive, affective, and perceptual processes that lead to the establishment, maintenance, and activation of attitudes and biases among both children and adults.