Hilary Bergsieker

BA (Stanford) MA, PhD (Princeton)

Contact information

View my profile on academia.edu, Google scholar, or ResearchGate.

Website of Diversity and Intergroup Relations Lab

Research interests

My research examines the interpersonal dynamics of intergroup interactions and relationships -- probing impression management, strategic communication, nonverbal behavior, affect, depletion, and trust -- to understand when and why problems can arise even in the absence of animus. I use a relational approach to analyze asymmetries in experiences of individuals from different groups as they interact and develop relationships (e.g., as friends, classmates, coworkers). Because distrust between societal groups is pervasive and close relationships normally involve conflicts that could undermine trust, investigating how trust is established, maintained, and repaired in intergroup close relationships is a timely, crucial challenge in our increasingly multicultural society. Another line of work focuses on collaborative social cognition, identifying covert channels through which negative impressions and stereotypes propagate from communicators to audiences. Criticism and stereotypes can be strategically suppressed (negativity omission) and then inferred (via innuendo) in conversation, limiting opportunities for individuals from historically stigmatized groups.

Selected publications and presentations

• Fiske, S. T., Bergsieker, H. B., Constantine, V., Dupree, C. H., Holoien, D. S., Kervyn, N., Leslie, L., & Swencionis, J. K. (in press). Talking up and talking down: The power of positive speaking. Lewin Award Address, Journal of Social Issues.
• Garcia, R. L., Bergsieker, H. B., & Shelton, J. N. (in press). Racial attitude (dis)similarity and liking in same-race minority interactions. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations.
• Kervyn, N., Bergsieker, H. B., Grignard, F., & Yzerbyt, V. (in press). An advantage of appearing mean or lazy: Amplified impressions of warmth or competence after mixed descriptions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
• Holoien, D. S., Bergsieker, H. B., Shelton, J. N., & Alegre, J. M. 2015. Do you really understand? Achieving accuracy in interracial relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108, 76-92.
• Murphy, M. C., Richeson, J. A., Shelton, J. N., Rheinschmidt, M. L., & Bergsieker, H. B. (2013). Cognitive costs of contemporary prejudice. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 16, 560-571.
• Bergsieker, H. B., Leslie, L. M., Constantine, V. S., & Fiske, S. T. (2012). Stereotyping by omission: Eliminate the negative, accentuate the positive. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 1214-1238.
• Kervyn, N., Bergsieker, H. B., & Fiske, S. T. (2012). The innuendo effect: Hearing the positive but inferring the negative. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 77-85.
• Bergsieker, H. B., Shelton, J. N., & Richeson, J. A. (2010). To be liked versus respected: Divergent goals in interracial interactions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 248-264.
• Shelton, J. N., Trail, T. E., West, T. V., & Bergsieker, H. B. (2010). From strangers to friends: The interpersonal process model of intimacy in developing interracial friendships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 27, 71-90.
• Fiske, S. T., Bergsieker, H. B., Russell, A. M., & Williams, L. (2009). Images of Black Americans: Then, "them" and now, "Obama!" DuBois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 6, 83-101.
• Shelton, J. N., Richeson, J. A., & Bergsieker, H. B. (2009). Interracial friendship development and attributional biases. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 26, 179-193.
• Stephens, N. M., Hamedani, M. G., Markus, H. R., Bergsieker, H. B., & Eloul, L. (2009). Why did they "choose" to stay? Perspectives of Hurricane Katrina observers and survivors. Psychological Science, 20, 878-886.
• Townsend, S. S. M., Markus, H. R., & Bergsieker, H. B. (2009). My choice, your categories: The denial of multiracial identities. Journal of Social Issues, 65, 185-204.
• Uchida, Y., Townsend, S. S. M, Markus, H. R., & Bergsieker, H. B. (2009). Emotions as within or between people? Lay theory of emotion expression and emotion inference across cultures. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 1427-1439.