Tony P. Love, PhD
Dr. Tony Love is an Associate Professor in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas and an honorary lecturer in the School of Sociology at the Australian National University.
Research Interests:
Social Psychology
Experimental methods
Criminology
Education:
2012 Ph.D., Sociology, Texas A&M University
2008 M.S., Sociology, Texas A&M University
2004 B.S., Sociology, Texas A&M University
Biography:
Tony Love was raised near Blossom, Texas, which is a suburb of the sprawling metropolis of Paris, Texas. It was there that he fell in love and married his high school sweetheart, Melissa. In those first years of marriage, Tony worked in a Sara Lee factory to pay the bills. It didn't take long for him to realize that completing college should be a priority in his life. Little did he know that he would spend the rest of his life pursuing his passion in Sociology. Along the way, he became a father to four sons, his greatest treasure and most important ongoing research projects.
Research:
Dr. Love is a social psychologist and a criminologist. He has studied social psychological issues such as role-taking, identity change, and problems in current sociological methodology. Dr. Love enjoys conducting social psychological experiments, and if known outside of the University of Texas at Dallas for anything, it is most likely for his experimental research exploring the relationships among power, gender, race, and the ability to accurately take the role of the other. This line of research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the American Sociological Association Fund for the Advancement of the Discipline. Recently, Drs. Jenny Davis and Tony Love were awarded a generous grant from the Australian National University, where Dr. Davis is employed, to study virtual reality interventions in role-taking propensity and the effect of increased role-taking accuracy on prejudice and tolerance.
On the criminology side of Dr. Love's research agenda, he has partnered with local juvenile justice officials to examine disproportionate minority contact (DMC) in the juvenile justice system and consults with local agencies in an attempt to minimize DMC in feasible ways. Additionally, he has conducted the biennial evaluation of WIndham School District, the education provider for the state prison system in Texas.