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Resultant Publications

Gender Dynamics in Human-AI Role-Taking. Advances in Group Processes. Forthcoming

Abstract Role-taking is a basic social process underpinning much of the structural social psychology paradigm—a paradigm built on empirical studies of human interaction. Yet today, our social worlds are occupied by bots, voice assistants, decision aids, and other machinic entities collectively referred to as artificial intelligence (AI). The integration of AI into daily life presents both challenges and opportunities for social psychologists. Through a vignette study, we investigate role-taking and gender in human-AI relations. Participants read a first-person narrative attributed to either a human or AI, with varied gender presentation based on a feminine or masculine first name. Participants then infer the narrator’s thoughts and feelings and report on their own emotions, producing indicators of cognitive and affective role-taking. Overall, participants score higher on role-taking measures when the narrator is human versus AI. However, gender dynamics differ between Human and AI conditions. When the text is attributed to a human, masculinized narrators elicit stronger role-taking responses than their feminized counterparts, and women participants score higher on role-taking measures than men. This aligns with prior research on gender, status, and role-taking variation. When the text is attributed to an AI, results deviate from established findings and in some cases, reverse. We supplement results with qualitative analysis from two open-ended survey questions. This first study of human-AI role-taking tests the scope of key theoretical tenets and sets a foundation for addressing group processes in a newly emergent form.

Racial Differences in Women's Role-Taking Accuracy: How Status Matters. Sociological Science. 2021

Abstract Role-taking is the process of mentally and affectively placing the self in the position of another, understanding the world from the other's perspective. Role-taking serves an expressive function within interpersonal interaction, supporting others to pursue instrumental tasks that are recognized, valued, and rewarded. In the present work, we compare role-taking accuracy between white women and black women across status-varying interactional arrangements. Data for this study come from a series of two laboratory experiments. Experiment 1 establishes racial differences in white and black women's role-taking accuracy, showing that women of color are significantly more attuned to others within social encounters. Experiment 2 implements an intervention to undermine racial disparities in role-taking accuracy, showing that expressive labors equalize when black women are empowered within the social structure. Findings highlight the entwinement of status structures with interpersonal processes while demonstrating the efficacy and value of structural reforms.

Self-in-Self, Mind-in-Mind, Heart-in-Heart: The Future of Role-Taking, Perspective Taking, and Empathy.  Advances in Group Processes. 2017

Abstract Role-taking, perspective taking, and empathy have developed through parallel literatures in sociology and psychology. All three concepts address the ways that people attune the self to others’ thoughts and feelings. Despite conceptual and operational overlap, researchers have yet to synthesize existing research across the three concepts. We undertake the task of theoretical synthesis, constructing a model in which role-taking emerges as a multidimensional process that includes perspective taking and empathy as component parts. We review the literatures on role-taking, perspective taking, and empathy across disciplines. Focusing on definitions, measures, and interventions, we discern how the concepts overlap, how they are distinct, and how they work together in theoretically meaningful ways.

The Effect of Status on Role-Taking Accuracy.  American Sociological Review. 2014

Abstract We conducted two experiments to test the effects of status on the relationship between gender and role-taking accuracy. Role-taking accuracy is conceptualized as the accuracy with which one can predict the behavior of another. In Study 1, we examined self-evaluative measures of role-taking accuracy and found that self-evaluative measures do not correlate with actual role-taking accuracy. In addition, women were more accurate role-takers than men, regardless of interaction history. In Study 2, we disentangled gender differences from status differences, hypothesizing that role-taking accuracy is structurally situated. To test this hypothesis, we examined variations in role-taking accuracy under conditions in which interaction partners were assigned differential status. Results indicate that status differentials account for variations in role-taking accuracy while gender and gender composition of the dyad do not.

Internet Data Tools

Youtube Comments Scraper

Youtube comments can be an interesting measure of attitudes, sentiments, and emotions. To scrape Youtube comments by entering the url of the video of interest, use this application created by Philip Klostermann.

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