The Social Complexity Lab focuses on social justice issues and marginalized social groups through three main areas of research. One focus is how cognitive complexity relates to perceptions of social justice issues. A second focus is social identity, including marginalized social identities and identity complexity. The third focus is social power and psychological needs.
To be eligible for the lab a student must have taken a course with Dr. Foels and demonstrated strong critical thinking and organizational skills.
Current Projects:
- Cognitive complexity, social power, and language
- Social identity complexity and authenticity (collaboration with Nick Zambrotta at Berkeley)
Future Projects:
- Cognitive complexity versus need for cognition
- Social identity depth
- Psychological needs theories
- Political hypocrisy