Profile
Michael Pasek is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Psychology department. Beginning August 2022, Michael will be an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
A social psychologist, he studies intergroup relations with a particular focus on the ways in which religion, as both a group membership and system of beliefs, affects moral decision-making, social attitudes, and behaviors in intergroup contexts. He also studies intergroup relations along racial, political, and sexual orientation lines, with an emphasis on how social psychological theory can be leveraged to advance social change and promote equality. You can find out more about Michael on his website at www.michaelhpasek.com.
Degrees Held
PhD 2018, The Pennsylvania State University
MS 2015, The Pennsylvania State University
BA 2012, Bates College
Recent Publications
For a complete list of publications, including preprints, please visit Michael's Google Scholar page.
Smith, J., Pasek, M. H., Vishkin, A., Johnson, K. A., Shackleford, C., & Ginges, J. (in press). Thinking about God discourages dehumanization of religious outgroups. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Preprint available at https://psyarxiv.com/dvpn4.
Moore-Berg, S. L., Bernstein, K., Gallardo, R., Hameiri, B., Littman, R., O’Neil, S., & Pasek, M. H. (in press). Translating social science for peace: Benefits, challenges, and recommendations for conducting translational research. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology.
Al-Kire, R. L., Pasek, M. H. [shared first author], Tsang, J., & Rowatt, W. (2021). Christian no more: Christian Americans are threatened by their impending minority status. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 97, 104223. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104223.
Hässler, T., Ullrich, J., Sebben, S., [and 40 other authors, including Pasek, M. H.] (2021). Needs satisfaction in intergroup contact: A multi-national study of pathways toward social change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/pspi0000365.
Al-Kire, R. L., Pasek, M. H., Tsang, J., Leman, J. & Rowatt, W. (2021). Protecting America’s borders: Christian nationalism, threat, and attitudes toward immigrants in the United States. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/1368430220978291.
Geiger, N., Pasek, M. H., Gruszczynski, M., Ratcliff, N., & Weaver, K. (2020). Political ingroup conformity and pro-environmental behavior: Evaluating the evidence from a survey and mousetracking experiments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 72. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101524.
Pasek, M. H., Shackleford, C., Smith., J., Vishkin, A., Lehner, A, & Ginges, J. (2020). God values the lives of my outgroup more than I do: Evidence from Fiji and Israel. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 11(7), 1032-1041. doi:10.1177/1948550680904516.
Hässler, T., Ullrich, J., Bernardino, M., [and 39 other authors including Pasek, M. H.] (2020). Large-scale test of the link between intergroup contact and support for social change. Nature Human Behavior, 4, 380-386. doi:10.1038/s41562-019-0815-z.
Pasek, M. H., & Cook, J. E. (2019). Religion from the target’s perspective: A portrait of religious threat and its consequences in the United States. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 10(1), 82-93. doi:10.1177/1948550617739089.
Cohen, A. B., Mazza, G., Johnson, K. A., Enders, C. K., Warner, C., Pasek., M. H., & Cook, J. E. (2017). Theorizing and measuring religion across cultures. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43(12), 1724-1736. doi:10.1177/0146167217727732.
Pasek, M. H., Filip-Crawford, G., & Cook, J. E. (2017). Identity concealment and social change: Balancing advocacy goals against individual needs. Journal of Social Issues, 73, 397-412. doi:10.1111/josi.12223.