Faculty Profiles

Bettina Spencer

Bettina Spencer

Professor
Psychology
Gender and Womens Studies
65 Spes Unica Hall, Rm 326 W

Phone 

Education 

PhD, New School for Social Research
MA, New School for Social Research
BA, Eugene Lang College

Research Interests 

  • Sexism
  • Classism
  • Victim blame
  • Dehumanization
  • Stereotype threat

Courses Recently Taught 

  • PSYC 156: Introduction to psychology: culture and systems
  • PSYC 237: Cultural Psychology
  • PSYC 337: Social psychology
  • PSYC 437: Psychology of violence
  • PSYC 438: Stereotyping and prejudice
  • PSYC 485: Independent research in psychology

Creative and Scholarly Work 

Select publications and presentations:

  • Spencer, B. (2021). "Perceptions of race and gender in the 2008-2020 U.S. presidential elections." Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy.
  • Goyette, S.& Spencer, B. (2021). "The effects of susceptibility to influence and college year on perceptions of college hook-up culture." Psi Chi Journal of International Research.
  • Spencer, B. (2020). "Getting schooled: Working-class students in Higher Education." Routledge International Handbook of Working-Class Studies.
  • Spencer, B. (2019). "Stereotyping and Political Decision Making." Oxford Encyclopedia of Political Decision Making, Oxford University Press. 
  • Spencer, B.& Verdeja, E. (2017). Nevertheless, she persisted: Mobilization after the Women’s March. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Equality & Diversity.
  • "Racism and sexism in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 U.S. presidential elections." (2017). Association for Psychological Science Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.
  • Spencer, B. (2016). The impact of class and sexuality-based stereotyping on rape blame. Sexualization, Media, and Society.
  • Spencer, B. (2016). Intelligence testing and ethnicity. In H. Miller (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Theory in Psychology, SAGE Publications.
  • "Warm, but stupid: Sexism in “sister-schools” and their affiliated institutions." (2015). Association for Psychological Science Annual Meeting, New York, NY.
  • Spencer, B., Barrett, C., Storti, G., & Cole. M. (2013). "Only girls who want fat legs take the elevator. Body image in single-sex and mixed-sex colleges." Sex Roles, 69, 469-479.
  • Loughnan, S., Haslam, N., Sutton, R., & Spencer, B. (2013). "Dehumanization and social class: Animality in the stereotypes of 'white trash', 'chavs' and 'bogans." Social Psychology, 45, 54-61.
  • "Sexism and 'sister-schools': Differences in perceived warmth and competence." (2013). Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
  • Castano, E., Leidner, B., Bonacossa, A., Nikkah, J., Perrulli, R., Spencer, B. & Humphrey, N. (2011). "Ideology, fear of death, and death anxiety." Political Psychology, 32, 601-621.
  • "Body image at single-sex and mixed-sex colleges." (2011). Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX.
  • "Class(room) matters: Cross-disciplinary pedagogical approaches to class." (2009). Working Class Studies Association Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Spencer, B. & Castano, E. (2007). "Social class is dead. Long live social class! Stereotype threat among low-socioeconomic status individuals." Social Justice Research, 20, 418-432.

Professional Memberships 

Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
Society for Personality and Social Psychology
Working-Class Studies Association
Association for Psychological Science
Society for the Psychology of Women
Association for Women in Psychology
Gender and Political Psychology Network