Our lab is working on issues related to how the expression of prejudice is different from the underlying "genuine" prejudice. We began studying prejudice against fat people as a starting point to understand a wide variety of prejudices; in addition to the usual study of racism and sexism, we are studying prejudice against socially unacceptable groups, such as murderers, rapists, and sex offenders.

We have been studying the justification of prejudice, particularly through ideology, values, stereotypes, and the kinds of explanations people make for bad outcomes. When a person is seen to be responsible for their behavior and life outcomes, then discrimination, hatred, and rough treatment is not only justified, but seen as natural, ethical, and good.

We are also working on the underlying psychological nature of political ideology--how natural, normal, non-political social-cognitive processes affect political ideology, and working on the naive perception of political process, testing the perceptual theory of legitimacy. Part of this is a social cognition approach to ideology, including the propensity to confuse "the way things are" with "the way things ought to be" (e.g., status quo bias, naturalistic fallacy, existence bias).

Finally, we are continuing to work on the perceptual theory of political legitimacy (Crandall & Beasley, 2001). In the perceptual theory, we apply the processes described by Heider (1958)—consistency, balance, perception of units, attribution—to political cognition and perception. The theory has been successfully applied to areas as diverse as candidate perception, attitudes toward impeachment, and to American conduct of covert wars and assignment of suspects to torture or "mere" detainment.

Primary Interests:

Attitudes and Beliefs
Close Relationships
Group Processes
Intergroup Relations
Persuasion, Social Influence
Political Psychology
Prejudice and Stereotyping

Attitudes and Beliefs
Close Relationships
Group Processes
Intergroup Relations

Persuasion, Social Influence
Political Psychology
Prejudice and Stereotyping

Books:

Adams, G., Biernat, M., Branscombe, N. R., Crandall, C. S., & Wrightsman, L. S. (Eds.). (2008). Commemorating Brown: The social psychology of racism and discrimination. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Crandall, C. S., & Schaller, M. (Eds.). (2005). The social psychology of prejudice: Historical and contemporary perspectives. Seattle, WA: Lewinian Press.
Schaller, M., & Crandall, C. S. (Eds.). (2004). The psychological foundations of culture. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Journal Articles:

Crandall, C. S. (1995). Do parents discriminate against their own heavyweight daughters? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 724-735.
Crandall, C. S. (1994). Prejudice against fat people: Ideology and self-interest. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 882-894.
Crandall, C. S. (1988). Social contagion of binge eating. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 588-598.
Crandall, C.S. Bahns, A., Warner, R. & Schaller, M. (2011). Stereotypes as justifications of prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. doi:10.1177/0146167211411723
Crandall, C. S., Eidelman, S., Skitka, L., & Morgan, G. S. (2009). Status quo framing increases support for torture. Social Influence, 4, 1-10.
Crandall, C. S., & Eshleman, A. (2003). A justification-suppression model of the expression and experience of prejudice. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 414-446.
Crandall, C. S., Eshleman, A., & O'Brien, L. T. (2002). Social norms and the expression and suppression of prejudice: The struggle for internalization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 359-378.
Eidelman, S., Crandall, C. S., & Pattershall, J. (2009). The existence bias. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 765-775.
Ferguson, M. A., & Crandall, C. S. (2007). Trends in graduate training in social psychology: Training social psychology’s trainers. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 29(4), 311-322.
O'Brien, L. T., & Crandall, C. S. (2005). Perceiving self-interest: Power, ideology, and maintenance of the status quo. Social Justice Research, 18, 1-24.
O'Brien, L. T., & Crandall, C. S. (2003). Stereotype threat and arousal: Effects on women's math performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 782-789.

Other Publications:

Biernat, M., & Crandall, C. S. (1999). Racial attitudes. In J. Robinson, P. Shaver & L. Wrightsman (Eds.), Measures of political attitudes. New York: Academic Press.
Crandall, C. S., & Beasley, R. K. (2001). The perceptual basis of legitimacy of governmental leaders, the justice system, and prejudice: Psychological balance, attribution, and the perception of essence. In J. Jost & B. Major (Eds.), The psychology of legitimacy.

Courses Taught:

General Psychology
Group Dynamics
History of Social Psychology
Prejudice and Discrimination
Social Influence
Social Stigma

General Psychology
Group Dynamics
History of Social Psychology

Prejudice and Discrimination
Social Influence
Social Stigma

Chris Crandall
Department of Psychology
1415 Jayhawk Boulevard
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045
United States

Phone: (785) 864-9807
Fax: (785) 864-5696