Luis Rivera

Dr. Rivera joined Rutgers University-Newark in fall 2010. His experimental research investigates the implicit social cognitive processes that underlie stereotyped attitudes and how these processes shape the self, identity, and education of individuals from stigmatized groups. His research elucidates the contextual and motivational factors that shape individuals’ stereotyped-based cognition about themselves and others. His research has implications for the development and maintenance of stigmatized individuals’ social identities, the expression of implicit (and explicit) stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination, and the presence and persistence of health and STEM inequities that disproportionately members of socially disadvantaged groups.

Publications:

• Rivera, L. M., *Vu, H. A. & *Laws, V. (in press). Self-esteem, ingroup favoritism, and outgroup derogation: A meta-analysis. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations.

Media Appearances/Speaking Engagements:

• University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras

Accomplishments:

• AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow

Upcoming Projects:

• Investigating an integrative model of colonial-based implicit and explicit racial identities

Social justice will be achieved when all members of society enjoy a fair opportunity to be healthy, educated, and safe. However, the depths of the pandemic that disproportionately hit communities of color and the height of the racial unrest resulting from the unjustified deaths of too many Black individuals revealed to many and reminded others of the longstanding social inequities in the United States. My research seeks to understand and address social inequities through the lens of social psychological science. My research primarily investigates the social cognitive processes, with a special emphasis on those that operate implicitly, that underlie intergroup relations as well as the self-concept and identity of individuals from stigmatized and disadvantaged groups. My research acknowledges that these processes do not operate in a vacuum, but in contexts that motivate individuals to engage their group identities and to express implicit stereotypes and prejudices that manifest in discriminatory actions. Moreover, these processes and actions contribute to the formation, persistence, and reduction of inequities in health, STEM, and the criminal justice system.

Led by Luis Rivera, this research group will investigate if white individuals express implicit and explicit biases to down-regulate collective guilt and protect their group’s image, privilege, and power. Findings from this project will have implications for how to improve racial justice education and, in turn, reduce implicit and explicit biases. 

https://globalracialjustice.rutgers.edu/what-we-do/research-groups-and-projects

Dr. Rivera recently used the data from a previous ISGRJ project to secure a three-year $850K National Science Foundation grant to dig deeper into these questions in collaboration with Social/Community Psychologist Teófilo Espada-Brignoni from the University of Puerto Rico–Rio Piedras.

Rivera and Espada-Brignoni, along with RU-N Psychology Post-doctoral Associate Eduardo Rivera Pichardo, will conduct five related studies to develop and test a model evaluating the relationship between the history of colonialism and present-day racial identities, providing insights into how these identities impact the quality of life for individuals from low-status and disadvantaged groups in Puerto Rico, which has a mix of native Tainos, decendants of African slaves, and residents of colonial Spanish ancestry.

https://sasn.rutgers.edu/news/luis-rivera-wins-nsf-grant-study-relationship-between-colonial-history-and-racial-identity