Biography
I am a second-year master’s student in Psychological Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Before joining UIUC, I received my B.S. in Psychology from Northwest Missouri State University in 2024. I am working with Dr. Michael T. Rizzo in the Developing Equitable Minds Lab (DEMLab), and am broadly interested in social and moral development in early childhood.
Research Interests
- Moral Development
- Moral Judgement
- Moral Discourse
- Peer Relationships
- Prosocial Behavior
- Social Norms
Research Description
The DEMLab conducts research with the goal to promote social equity and prevent the formation of social biases during childhood. We focus broadly on moral and social development by looking at three interrelated areas: developing conceptions of equity and fairness, preempting social biases, and developing mechanisms and psychological processes.
My research focuses on moral development, with an emphasis on how peer relationships support moral and social growth in early childhood. I am currently leading a study investigating the influence of virtual peer interactions and group norms on children’s moral judgments in common contexts of social exclusion. The goal of this work is to further explore how positive individual and group norms in an online setting can be leveraged to reduce social biases and promote inclusivity from an early age.