Michael Inzlicht

Michael Inzlicht is associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto recognized in the areas of stigma and self-regulation. Much of his recent research takes a social neuroscience approach that integrates biological and psychological theories and methods to reach a fuller understanding of his phenomenon of interest^[1] In the early 2000s, Inzlicht and his colleagues demonstrated that small, seemingly benign characteristics of an environment could play a large role in determining how stereotyped groups perform on academic tests. They found, for example, that the number of men in a small group could determine whether women succeeded (fewer men) or failed (more men) a math test.^[2] More recently, Inzlicht has taken a social neuroscience approach to investigate the function, role, and psychological correlates of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a part of the brain located in the medial prefrontal cortex and indexed by an electroencephalographic (EEG) signal called the error-related negativity (ERN). For example, he has examined how the ACC is involved in self-control depletion, how it can lead to a better understanding of an "uncertainty bias," and how it correlates with religious belief.

Awards & Honours

• 2009 - Early Researcher Award, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation
• 2008-2011 - Research Time Stipend, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
• 2007 - Most Valuable Professor, Psychology Grad Student Association (University of Toronto)
• 2006 - Louise Kidder Early Career Award, American Psychological Association (Division 9)
• 2004-2006 - Fellow of the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation
• 2003 - Student Fellow, Summer Institute in Social Psychology, University of Colorado
• 2002 - Society for Experimental Social Psychology, Dissertation Award, finalist
• 1999 - Ethnic Minority Concerns Research Award, American Psychological Society
• 1999 - Student Research Competition, American Psychological Society

Publications - Journal Articles^[3]

• Phills, C.E., Kawakami, K., Tabi, E., Nadolny, D., & Inzlicht, M. (in press). Mind the gap: Increasing associations between the self and Blacks with approach behaviors. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
• Tullett, A. M., & Inzlicht, M. (in press). The Voice of self-control: Blocking the inner voice increases impulsive responding. Acta Psychologica.
• Harmon-Jones, C., Schmeichel, B., Inzlicht, M., & Harmon-Jones, E. (in press). Trait approach motivation relates to dissonance reduction. Social Psychological and Personality Science.
• Nash, K., McGregor, I., & Inzlicht, M. (2010). Line bisection as a neural marker of approach motivation. Psychophysiology. 47, 979–983.
• Inzlicht, M. & Kang, S. K. (2010). Stereotype threat spillover: How coping with threats to social identity affects, aggression, eating, decision-making, and attention. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 467-481.
• Inzlicht, M, & Tullett, A. M. (2010). Reflections on God: Religious affirmations can reduce neurophysiological response to errors. Psychological Science, 21, 1184 - 1190.
• Gutsell, J. N., & Inzlicht, M. (2010). The closed circle of empathy: Outgroups do not activate the neural networks for empathy. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 841-845.
• Robinson, M. D., Schmeichel, B. J., & Inzlicht, M. (2010). How does the self control itself? Questions and considerations based on a cognitive control perspective. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 4, 189-200.
• Hirsh, J. B., & Inzlicht, M. (2010). Error-related negativity predicts academic performance. Psychophysiology, 47, 192-196.
• Kang, S. K., Inzlicht, M., & Derks, B. (2010). Social Neuroscience and Public Policy on Intergroup Relations: A Hegelian Analysis. Journal of Social Issues, 66, 585-601.
• Inzlicht, M., Aronson, J., & Mendoza-Denton, R. (2009).  On being the target of prejudice: Educational implications.  In F. Butera & J. Levine (Eds.) Coping with Minority Status: Responses to Exclusion and Inclusion (pp. 13-36).  Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• McGregor, I., Nash, K., & Inzlicht, M. (2009). Threat, High Self-Esteem, and Reactive Approach Motivation: Electroencephalographic Evidence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 1003-1007.
• Inzlicht, M., McGregor, I., Hirsh, J. B., & Nash, K. (2009). Neural markers of religious conviction. Psychological Science, 20, 385-392.
• Johns, M., Inzlicht, M., & Schmader, T. (2008).  Stereotype Threat and Executive Resource Depletion: The Influence of Emotion Regulation.  Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 137, 691-705.
• Hirsh, J. B., & Inzlicht, M. (2008). The devil you know: Neuroticism predicts neural response to uncertainty. Psychological Science, 19, 962-967.
• Inzlicht, M., Kaiser, C. R., & Major, B. (2008). The face of chauvinism: How prejudice expectations shape perceptions of facial affect. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 758–766.
• Derks, B., Inzlicht, M., & Kang, S. (2008). The Neuroscience of Stigma and Stereotype Threat. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 11, 163-181.
• Inzlicht, M., & Gutsell, J. N. (2007) Running on empty: Neural signals for self-control failure. Psychological Science, 18, 933-937.
• Inzlicht, M., Aronson, J., Good, C., & McKay, L. (2006) A particular resiliency to threatening environments. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 323-336.
• Inzlicht, M., McKay, L., & Aronson, J. (2006) Stigma as ego depletion: How being the target of prejudice affects self-control. Psychological Science, 17, 262-269.
• Ben-Zeev, T., Fein, S., & Inzlicht, M. (2005) Stereotype Threat and Arousal. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 41, 174-181.
• Aronson, J. & Inzlicht, M. (2004) The Ups and downs of attributional ambiguity: Stereotype vulnerability and the academic self-knowledge of African-American students. Psychological Science, 15, 829-836.
• Inzlicht, M. & Ben-Zeev, T. (2003) Do high-achieving female students underperform in private? The implications of threatening environments on intellectual processing. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 796-805.
• Good, C., Aronson, J., & Inzlicht, M. (2003) Improving Adolescents’ Standardized Test Performance: An Intervention to Reduce the Effects of Stereotype Threat. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 24, 645-662.
• Herz, R., & Inzlicht, M. (2002) Gender differences in response to physical and social factors involved in human mate selection: The importance of smell for women. Evolution and Human Behavior, 23, 359-364.
• Inzlicht, M. & Ben-Zeev, T. (2000) A threatening intellectual environment: Why females are susceptible to experiencing problem-solving deficits in the presence of males. Psychological Science, 11, 365-371.

Publications - Book Chapters^[3]

• Inzlicht, M., & Schmader, T. (in press). Introduction to the theory and phenomenon of stereotype threat. In M. Inzlicht & T. Schmader (Eds.). Stereotype Threat: Theory, Process, and Application. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Gutsell, J. N., & Inzlicht, M. (in press). A Neurocognitive perspective on why people fail to live a sustainable lifestyle. In H. van Trijp, & D. Stapel. (Eds.). Encouraging Sustainable Behavior: Psychology and the Environment. London: Psychology Press.
• Inzlicht, M., Tullett, A., & Gutsell, J. N. (in press). Stereotype threat spillover. In M. Inzlicht & T. Schmader (Eds.). Stereotype Threat: Theory, Process, and Application. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Inzlicht, M., Aronson, J., & Mendoza-Denton, R. (2009).  On being the target of prejudice: Educational implications.  In F. Butera & J. Levine (Eds.) Coping with Minority Status: Responses to Exclusion and Inclusion (pp. 13-36).  Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Inzlicht, M. & Good, C. (2006). How environments threaten academic performance, self-knowledge, and sense of belonging. In S. Levin & C. van Laar (Eds.), Stigma and Group Inequality: Social Psychological Approaches (pp. 129-150). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
• Ben-Zeev, T., Carrasquillo C. M, Ching, A., Kliengklom, T. J., McDonald, K. L, Newhall, D. C., Patton, G. E., Stewart, T. D., Stoddard, T, Inzlicht, M., & Fein, S. (2005). “Math is hard!” (Barbie, 1994): Responses of threat vs. challenge mediated arousal to stereotypes alleging intellectual inferiority. In A. M. Gallagher & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), Gender differences in mathematics (pp. 189-206). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Publications - Books^[3]

• Inzlicht, M. & Schmader, T. (forthcoming). Stereotype Threat: Theory, Process, and Application. New York: Oxford University Press.

References

External links

• Michael Inzlicht's Academic Website at the University of Toronto