MEET THE LAB
Dr. Rebecca Littman, Lab Director
Rebecca is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago. She received her PhD in Psychology and Social Policy from Princeton University, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT and Beyond Conflict. Her research focuses on the psychology of conflict and reconciliation, and she studies how behavioral science-informed interventions can be harnessed to reduce conflict and address social problems more broadly.
To learn more about Rebecca’s work, check out the lab research projects and publications!
Contact:
rlittman@uic.edu
Neharika Nair, PhD Student
Neharika is a third-year Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois Chicago. She received an M.A. in Psychology from New York University, and an M.Sc. in Neuroscience from King’s College London. She focuses her research on intergroup conflict and reconciliation, exploring the relationship between perceived victimhood on intergroup attitudes and endorsement of political violence. Through this research, Neharika aspires to identify the factors that impact political violence and enact practical interventions in real-world settings to mitigate them.
Contact:
nnair20@uic.edu
CURRENT PROJECTS
Do they see me as a victim: How the (meta)perceptions of victimhood relate to intergroup attitudes and support for violence: The perception of collective victimhood is a common psychological barrier to conflict resolution. Adopting the identity of collective victim involves the consideration of not one, but two separate perceptions: (1) one’s own perception of collective victimhood, and (2) the perception that others recognize and acknowledge your victimhood, i.e., one’s metaperception of victimhood. While this idea of perceived acknowledgment of victimhood is hinted at and used as the basis for interventions, it is not explicitly conceptualized as a construct in its own right. This project aims to understand whether people do think about this metaperception, and examines how these distinct victimhood perceptions relate to intergroup attitudes and support for violence.
Intervention tournament to reduce victimhood and support for violence: A powerful driver of support for violence is the degree to which individuals feel that they - and their group - are victimized. Individuals who feel highly victimized experience injustices more intensely and negatively, and have an increased willingness to react aggressively. In this project, we developed and are testing nine online interventions aimed at mitigating perceived victimhood and reducing support for political violence.
Predictors of political violence: This is a global project that focuses on learning more about the drivers of support for and engagement in political violence, with a special focus on victimhood (trait victimhood, inclusive or exclusive victim beliefs, competitive victimhood, etc.) and trauma as predictors. This project takes a holistic approach, taking into account dispositional, situational, and contextual factors to understand better which, and under what circumstances, populations are more likely to participate in political violence.
The perception and metaperception of collective victimhood: Development and validation of victimhood perception scales
Vlada Trofimchuk, PhD Student
Vlada is a first-year PhD student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago. Vlada received her B.A. in Psychology and German from Colby College. Vlada’s research interests include the psychology of conflict and reconciliation. More specifically, she is interested in understanding how conflicts affect intragroup relations, as well as the ethical ways to promote peaceful coexistence following conflicts. Through her work, Vlada hopes to inform practical strategies relevant to group relations in post-conflict societies.
Contact:
vtrofi2@uic.edu
CURRENT PROJECTS
Predictors of political violence: This is a global project that focuses on learning more about the drivers of support for and engagement in political violence, with a special focus on victimhood (trait victimhood, inclusive or exclusive victim beliefs, competitive victimhood, etc.) and trauma as predictors. This project takes a holistic approach, taking into account dispositional, situational, and contextual factors to understand better which, and under what circumstances, populations are more likely to participate in political violence.
Intergroup apologies: This project aims to understand how group norms regarding apologies inform how they are perceived. Most previous research focused on the potential of apologies to promote reconciliation and positive intergroup relations, which might be too high of a bar in complex real-world scenarios. However, it is possible that, depending on the group norms, issuing an apology may satisfy basic group needs and lay the foundation for further positive intergroup processes.
Yinqing Zheng, Research Associate / Lab Manager
Yinqing is a research associate in the Littman Lab (previously worked as a lab manager). She graduated from the Masters of Arts Program in the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago with a concentration in Psychology in 2022 and completed her BA in China, majoring in Translation and Interpreting and minoring in Applied Psychology. Her research interests broadly focus on group dynamics and social cognition, especially concepts surrounding inequality. She is leading a project examining how people judge ingroup members’ (vs outgroups members’) norm behavior.
Contact:
yinqing@uic.edu
Lindsay Novak, PhD Student Affiliate
Lindsay Novak is a seventh year PhD student, ABD (Primary advisor: Dr. Linda Skitka). Her research interests primarily focus on the antecedents and consequences of moral conviction, identity processes, and the intersection of identity and morality. With Dr. Rebecca Littman, she is working on a project that examines how ingroup versus outgroup membership affects judgments of norm violations.
Contact:
lkeera2@uic.edu
Kayla Grabowski, Research Assistant
Kayla is third year undergraduate student at the University of Illinois Chicago, majoring in Psychology.
