Research & Publications

Broadly, I'm interested in understanding stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. My work is inspired by U.S. immigration history. 

More ways to check out my research:

Stereotypes and Prejudice

My research focuses on understanding and documenting various stereotypes and attitudes toward nationality groups and immigrants. In doing so, I incorporate prevalent stereotype content models and examine numerous facets such as perceived warmth, status, Americanness, and political orientation. My research highlights the heterogeneity of how people stereotype others on the basis of nationality and demonstrate the importance of disaggregating nationality from race/ethnicity when assessing stereotypes and attitudes.

Interested in learning more? Check out 8,415 t-tests comparing stereotypes of 34 racial/nationality groups here.

Stereotypes and Attitudes Toward Nationality Groups in the United States 

Selin Toprakkıran, Calvin K. Lai

PsyArXiv

Immigrant Experiences

Immigrants constitute 14% of the U.S. population, and the U.S. currently houses the largest immigrant population in the world. In fact, more than 1 in 4 Americans identify as immigrants or children of immigrants. While attitudes toward immigrants and perceptions of immigrants are widely studied, research on experiences of immigrants is lacking in a variety of psychological domains. One line of my work aims to understand first and second generation immigrants' meta-perceptions (i.e., how they think U.S.-born Americans view them) and experiences with stressors such as policy changes. In another line of work with Moving Stories - A Programmatic Grant, I focus on immigrant narratives and how interacting with them can help immigrants feel like they belong and improve U.S.-born Americans' attitudes toward immigrants.

Cultural stress and immigrant well-being: The role of sense of purpose

Partick L. Hill, Jennifer F. Beatty, Selin Toprakkıran, Megan Wilson Wolk

Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology