Calvin Lai
LightNews LightNews
banner
calvinklai.bsky.social
Calvin Lai
@calvinklai.bsky.social
2.4K followers 440 following 78 posts

Social psychologist & professor at Rutgers University.
Studying how to reduce prejudice and discrimination.
Opinions are my own. he/him
calvinklai.com

Videos
Psychology 28%
Political science 26%
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
calvinklai.bsky.social
Calvin Lai @calvinklai.bsky.social · Dec 11
What a year! I'm honored to receive both of FABBS' major career awards at the same time: the Craig-Henderson Award for DEI mentorship, service, & research & the Early Impact Award for research & outreach (nominated via SESP).

I'm grateful to the scientific communities that made our work possible.😊
lorapark.bsky.social Lora Park @lorapark.bsky.social · Dec 11
FABBS(Federation of Assoc in Behavior&Brain Sciences) is pleased to honor Calvin Lai, recipient of the Kellina Craig-Henderson Early to Mid-Career Award AND Early Career Impact Award! Dr. Lai’s pioneering work examines implicit bias& applications to policing&hiring. Congrats @calvinklai.bsky.social

Reposted by Linda J. Skitka, Calvin K. Lai, David R. Miller , and 1 more

tjryan02.bsky.social
Timothy Ryan @tjryan02.bsky.social · 1d
Today seems like a nice day to re-up @leahchristiani.bsky.social 's excellent research on when white people approve of blatantly racist political messages. Not sure what made me think of it today, but anyway.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...
When are Explicit Racial Appeals Accepted? Examining the Role of Racial Status Threat - Political Behavior
Evidence has emerged demonstrating that whites no longer reject negative, explicit racial appeals as they had in the past. This seeming reversal of the traditional logic of the powerlessness of explic...
link.springer.com

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Ben H. Ansell, Matthew Bunn , and 38 more

victorerikray.bsky.social
Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 1d
I do want to shout-out my fellow sociologists, who have collectively created a discipline so woke that not a single one of our introductory textbooks can make it past Florida's censors.

Great work everyone.
The Board of Governors decided, unilaterally, that no published textbook in the field of sociology could be used in compliance with the law for an Intro to Sociology class. None. Victor: There's not a single existing textbook on the market that could be used that would qualify under state law? Zachary: Correct. Victor: I'm sorry, that's kind of funny. Like, the absurdity of not a single sociology textbook getting past the censors. I mean, it makes me kind of proud of our colleagues, but...

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Lisa W. Fazio, Michael Barnett , and 15 more

karenho.bsky.social
Karen K. Ho @karenho.bsky.social · 2d
the Epstein files are really devastating because they remind me of how many girls and women miss out on professional opportunities, mentorship and careers because of how many powerful, rich and influential men only view girls and women — and interactions with them — through the lens of sex

Reposted by Calvin K. Lai, Nathan P. Kalmoe

joshuaconfer.bsky.social
joshuaconfer.bsky.social @joshuaconfer.bsky.social · 2d
Why do otherwise rational people disagree about the same evidence? Our new paper finds that group membership is a deeply rooted influence on how we form beliefs, leading even preschoolers to bias their evidential standards and form inaccurate beliefs.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Reposted by Calvin K. Lai

projectimplicit.bsky.social
Project Implicit @projectimplicit.bsky.social · 3d
A generous donor has offered to match $1,000 for any individual or coordinated group donation of $1,000 or more, up to 50 matches total.

Group gifts must be coordinated with the Project Implicit team.

To participate, contact our team: www.projectimplicit.net/contact-us/

Reposted by Efrén O. Pérez

calvinklai.bsky.social
Calvin Lai @calvinklai.bsky.social · 3d
I'm honored to be the recipient of the 2026 Kellina Craig-Henderson Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Accessibility Award from FABBS!🏆

Here's a chat w/ past FABBS president Jeff Zacks about implicit bias, reducing discrimination, & translating research into practice.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbNK...
FABBS 2025 Kellina Craig-Henderson IDEA Award Winner: Calvin Lai, PhD
YouTube video by FABBS
www.youtube.com

Reposted by Calvin K. Lai

cantlonlab.bsky.social
CantlonLab @cantlonlab.bsky.social · 3d
New Epstein files say that Steven Pinker was paid $10,000 to help Epstein’s defense (even though Pinker previously said he wasn't paid).
Epstein doc saying paid Pinker Epstein doc saying Pinker assisted Pinker statement re Epstein

Reposted by Scott L. Greer, Calvin K. Lai, Cameron Brick , and 12 more

johnholbein1.bsky.social
John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · 4d
Are female economists treated differently than males in academic seminars?

These authors wanted to know whether gender shapes how scholars are treated when presenting research.

So they built a massive dataset of 2,000+ economics seminars, job talks, and conference presentations from 2019–2023...

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Gordon Pennycook, Linda J. Skitka , and 2 more

ninawang.bsky.social
Nina Wang @ninawang.bsky.social · 5d
Interested in doing a postdoc on misinfo/belief change with me and @gordpennycook.bsky.social? We are looking for candidates to apply for a Connected Minds Postdoctoral Fellowship, based at York University. Contact me for more details! #PsychJobs
Connected Minds Postdoctoral Fellowships - Connected Minds
INTRODUCTION: New technologies are revolutionizing society, creating a 'techno-social collective' where humans and intelligent technologies are deeply interconnected. While such advances present excit...
www.yorku.ca

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Calvin K. Lai

laurenaulet.bsky.social
Lauren Aulet @laurenaulet.bsky.social · 6d
I was curious about the fact that there were seemingly no women scientists mentioned, even of equivalent caliber, and came across what is, seemingly, beef between Epstein and Brockman debating whether "the women are all weak" or not

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Ben H. Ansell, Colin F. Camerer , and 17 more

donmoyn.bsky.social
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 7d
New from me: It is not just that the US is experiencing democratic backsliding. Authoritarianism has emerged more quickly than in other benchmark countries.

This graph from John Burn-Murdoch sums it up. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/autocracy-...
graph tracking democratic backsliding is occuring more quickly in the US than elsewhere.

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Ben H. Ansell, Scott L. Greer , and 11 more

cingraham.bsky.social
Chris Ingraham @cingraham.bsky.social · 8d
Here’s Duke behavioral economist Dan Ariely asking Jeffrey Epstein for “the name and email of the redhead that was here with you.” This is four years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for procuring a child for prostitution.
kjhealy.co Kieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 8d
Doo do doo

Reposted by Calvin K. Lai

greene.haus
Greg Greene (he/him/his) @greene.haus · 8d
Alas.

Reposted by Calvin K. Lai

projectimplicit.bsky.social
Project Implicit @projectimplicit.bsky.social · 10d
From a Project Implicit participant: "Took an IAT today. Results showed something about how I think that I didn’t realize was there. Grateful to you for the insight. Still thinking about it a few hours later."

To support realizations like this, please consider donating:
4agc.com/donate/impli...

Reposted by Calvin K. Lai, Nils Gustafsson, Patrick Präg

johnholbein1.bsky.social
John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · 10d
If someone paid you $4.75 every night you slept 7+ hours, would you sleep more?

And--more importantly--would that increase in sleep change your behavior in other meaningful ways?

This new paper ran an experiment to find out.

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Jan W. Mueller, Stephan Lewandowsky , and 3 more

erinwestgate.bsky.social
Erin Westgate @erinwestgate.bsky.social · 10d
Did Trump’s 2024 re-election make it okay to be openly prejudiced? New work from @chriscrandall.bsky.social suggests it did. The more negatively Trump spoke about a group, the more okay it became to express prejudice (and the more prejudiced people were) towards that group after the election.
Changing Norms Following the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election: The Trump Effect on Prejudice Redux Samuel E. Arnold, Jenniffer Wong Chavez, Kelly S. Swanson, and Christian S. Crandall Abstract Following the 2016 U.S. Presidential election of Donald Trump, prejudice toward groups targeted during his campaign (e.g., Asian Americans, Mexicans) become more acceptable. By contrast, both Trump and Clinton voters reported less prejudice of their own. We conducted a 2024 conceptual replication, measuring perceived norms of prejudice and own-prejudice toward 128 groups, both before (N = 362) and after (N = 261) the U.S. election. We separately measured the negativity of Trump's campaign rhetoric toward these groups (N = 188). Levels of prejudice and perceived norms of prejudice acceptability were mostly stable pre-/post-election, but Trump's negative rhetoric predicted an increase in perceived acceptability of prejudice among targeted groups (replicating the 2016 results), and a rise in selt-reported prejudice in the same groups post-election (reversing the 2016 results). Despite changes in the sociopolitical context between elections, the election of a leading politician who campaigned on prejudice was again associated with increases in the acceptability of prejudice.

Reposted by Elizabeth Stokoe, Calvin K. Lai, Gernot Wagner , and 4 more

epopppp.bsky.social
Beth Popp Berman @epopppp.bsky.social · 15d
"In St. Paul, at least one-fourth of students from Spanish-speaking homes have missed every day of school since Dec. 12."
8 weeks under siege in Minnesota • Minnesota Reformer
Frank has a hard time explaining to his 8-year-old daughter why they rarely leave their home in the Twin Cities. Why she can’t go to school, and why he can’t work. “The only thing we tell her is that ...
minnesotareformer.com

calvinklai.bsky.social
Calvin Lai @calvinklai.bsky.social · 16d
Congratulations Jessie!!!

Reposted by Michael Barnett, Jennifer Bussell, Joshua S. Weitz , and 7 more

maxkozlov.bsky.social
Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 16d
🚨 New from me: Grant review at more than half of NIH's institutes could be frozen by the end of the year.

That's because crucial NIH grant-review panels are slated to be empty at those institutes by Jan 2027.

A wonky bureaucratic problem with big implications.

A short 🧵
Exclusive: key NIH review panels due to lose all members by the end of 2026
Thirteen of the agency’s advisory councils, which must review grant applications before funding is awarded, are on track to have no voting members.
www.nature.com

Reposted by Calvin K. Lai

spiantado.bsky.social
steven t. piantadosi @spiantado.bsky.social · 22d
Maybe the real "free inquiry" university was the one we had all along

calvinklai.bsky.social
Calvin Lai @calvinklai.bsky.social · 22d
Despicable.

www.thetimes.com/uk/education...
Oxford University ‘withheld information about harassment claims’
Miles Hewstone, who quit in 2019 but retained his emeritus titles for years, is accused of making unwanted advances towards students and researchers
www.thetimes.com

Reposted by David G. Rand, Caroline Krafft, Calvin K. Lai , and 1 more

johnholbein1.bsky.social
John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · 26d
These authors wanted to know whether people with physical disabilities face discrimination in hiring: even when they are equally qualified.

So they ran an experiment.

Reposted by Calvin K. Lai

thomastalhelm.bsky.social
Thomas Talhelm @thomastalhelm.bsky.social · 29d
In our recent study, we found that young people in Mainland China are bicultural. But their parents' generation does not. bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Reposted by Calvin K. Lai

brendannyhan.bsky.social
Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · Jan 9
There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect

Reposted by Elizabeth Stokoe, Calvin K. Lai, David Chester , and 2 more

jayvanbavel.bsky.social
Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · Jan 8
We should no longer trust data collected on MTurk
link.springer.com/article/10.3...

My guess is that other online data is going to drop in quality due to LLMs. This is going to be an existential crisis for the behavioral sciences.

Reposted by Brian A. Nosek, Jordan Axt, Calvin K. Lai , and 1 more

jinxungoh.bsky.social
Jin X. Goh | 吴晋勋 @jinxungoh.bsky.social · Jan 8
Have you used Project Implicit for class demo or research? I know I have. Project Implicit fundamentally changed social psych research and public discourse. Its impact is too big to write in one post. But all this work is in jeopardy, so pls join me in donating to sustain Project Implicit!!

Reposted by Brian A. Nosek, Jacob Montgomery, Kate A. Ratliff

calvinklai.bsky.social
Calvin Lai @calvinklai.bsky.social · Jan 8
Project Implicit is facing an existential threat. After almost 30 years, 60 million visitors, and hundreds of published papers, funding for our work has disappeared.

We’ve never held a fundraising drive before, but we need your support to keep our site running. Please consider donating! 🙏
projectimplicit.bsky.social Project Implicit @projectimplicit.bsky.social · Jan 6
Project Implicit is a research nonprofit behind tools millions use to understand bias. Like many public science orgs, sustaining this work has become increasingly difficult. We are at risk of closing without additional support.

Help protect this impt work by donating here: 4agc.com/donate/impli...

Reposted by Calvin K. Lai, Kate A. Ratliff

briannosek.bsky.social
Brian Nosek @briannosek.bsky.social · Jan 7
Please consider a donation sustain this critical service for research and education about implicit social cognition. The website has generated very useful data and discussion to understand the strengths, weaknesses, and processes of implicit measurement.
projectimplicit.bsky.social Project Implicit @projectimplicit.bsky.social · Jan 6
Project Implicit is a research nonprofit behind tools millions use to understand bias. Like many public science orgs, sustaining this work has become increasingly difficult. We are at risk of closing without additional support.

Help protect this impt work by donating here: 4agc.com/donate/impli...

Reposted by Brian A. Nosek, Calvin K. Lai, Kate A. Ratliff , and 1 more

projectimplicit.bsky.social
Project Implicit @projectimplicit.bsky.social · Jan 6
Project Implicit is a research nonprofit behind tools millions use to understand bias. Like many public science orgs, sustaining this work has become increasingly difficult. We are at risk of closing without additional support.

Help protect this impt work by donating here: 4agc.com/donate/impli...

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Brendan Nyhan, Laura K. Taylor , and 3 more

andreicimpian.bsky.social
Andrei Cimpian @andreicimpian.bsky.social · Jan 6
🧵New preprint: Adults often agree with their ingroup even when evidence says otherwise. Why?

To find out, we studied kids, who show the same tendency but *before* political identities take hold. With developmental data, we can see the basic psychological ingredients.

doi.org/10.31234/osf...

1/11
OSF
doi.org