Employment:
Lehigh University. August, 2001 - Present
Princeton University. August, 1994 - July, 2001
University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany. September 1993 - August, 1994
Max-Planck-Institute for Psychological Research, Munich, Germany, May 1992 - September 1993
Research
I am a social psychologist whose research interests examine thought processes that occur effortlessly and unconsciously, which nonetheless direct how we perceive the world (often without us realizing we have been influenced in any way). A primary focus of this research examines unconscious influences on our impressions of others. For example, the unconscious nature of stereotyping causes people -- even egalitarian-minded people -- to be influenced by stereotypes without them realizing it. This leads to questions regarding how people can control stereotypes from (a) ever entering the mind and (b) influencing evaluations and actions toward others. I also have an interest in more general types of "snap judgments" people make when hearing about, meeting, or observing others. These types of preconscious social judgments lead not only to questions regarding the "automatic" nature of human inferential processes, but the extent to which such unconscious operations can be controlled. For this reason my colleagues and I develop interventions aimed to reduce bias, and test the efficacy of these interventions. My research has also focused on the issue of minority influence, examining how and when a person in the minority can persuade the majority. I also have a continued interest in creativity, especially in how creativity relates to stereotyping and egalitarianism, and the role of consciousness (more precisely, the benefits of removing consciousness) in creative pursuits. This underscores a more general interest in consciousness and how lacking consciousness can often benefit goal pursuit more generally.
Published Books
Balcetis, E. & Moskowitz, G.B. (2022). Handbook of Impression Formation. New York: Psychology Press/Taylor and Francis.
Moskowitz, G.B., & Grant, H. (2009). The Psychology of Goals. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Moskowitz, G.B. (2005). Social Cognition: Understanding Self and Others. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Moskowitz, G.B. (2001). Cognitive Social Psychology: The Princeton symposium on the legacy and future of social cognition. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Selected Publications
Moskowitz, G.B., & Vitriol, J.A. (2021). A Social Cognition Model of Bias Reduction. In A. Nordstrom & W. Goodfriend (Eds.), Innovative Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Programs (pp. 1-39). Oxon, UK: Taylor and Francis.
Vitriol, J., & Moskowitz, G.B. (2021). Reducing Defensive Responding to Implicit Bias Feedback: On the Role of Perceived Moral Threat and Efficacy to Change. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 96, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104165
Olcaysoy Okten, I., & Moskowitz, G.B. (2020). Easy to Make, Hard to Revise: Updating Spontaneous Trait Inferences in the Presence of Trait-Inconsistent Information. Social Cognition, 38(6), 571-624.
Olcaysoy Okten, I., & Moskowitz, G.B. (2020). Spontaneous goal versus spontaneous trait inferences: How ideology shapes attributions and explanations. European Journal of Social Psychology, 50(1), 177-188.
Olcaysoy Okten, I., Schneid, E., & Moskowitz, G.B. (2019). On the Updating of Spontaneous Impressions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 117(1), 1-25.
Olcaysoy Okten, I., & Moskowitz, G.B. (2018). Goal vs. Trait Explanations: Causal attributions beyond the trait-situation dichotomy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 114 (2), 211-229.
Moskowitz, G.B., Olcaysoy Okten, I., & Gooch, C.M. (2017). Distortion in time perception as a result of concern about appearing biased. PLOSOne, 12(8): e0182241. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0182241.
Moskowitz, G.B., & Olcaysoy Okten, I. (2016). Spontaneous Goal Inference (SGI). Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 10 (1), 64–80. DOI: 10.1111/spc3.12232
Moskowitz, G.B. (2014). The Implicit Volition Model: The Unconscious Nature of Goal Pursuit. In J. Sherman, B. Gawronski, and Y. Trope (Eds.), Dual Process Theories of the Social Mind (pp. 400-422). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Bean, M.G., Focella, E.S., Covarrubias, R., Stone, J.A., Badger, T.A., & Moskowitz, G.B. (2014). Documenting Nursing and Medical Students’ Stereotypes about Hispanic and American Indian Patients. Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice, 7, 14-22.
Moskowitz, G.B., & Balcetis, E. (2014). The Conscious Roots of Selfless, Unconscious Goals. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 37(2),151. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X13002100.
Bean, M.G., Stone, J., Moskowitz, G.B., Badger, T.A., & Focella, E.S. (2013). Evidence of Nonconscious Stereotyping of Hispanic Patients by Nursing and Medical Students. Nursing Research, 62(5), 362-267.
Moskowitz, G.B., Stone, J., & Childs, A. (2012). Implicit Stereotyping and Medical Decisions: Unconscious Stereotype Activation in Practitioners’ Thoughts About African Americans. American Journal of Public Health, 102 (5), 996-1001.
Moskowitz, G.B., & Stone, J. (2012). The Proactive Control of Stereotype Activation: Implicit Goals to Not Stereotype. Journal of Psychology, 220(3), 172-179.
Moskowitz, G.B., & Li, P. (2011). Egalitarian goals trigger stereotype inhibition: A proactive form of stereotype control. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47(1), 103-116.
Moskowitz, G.B., Li, P., Ignarri, C., & Stone, J. (2011). Compensatory cognition associated with egalitarian goals. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47(2), 365-370.
Galinsky, A.D., & Moskowitz, G.B. (2007). Further ironies of suppression: Stereotype and counter-stereotype accessibility. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 833-841.
Sassenberg, K. & Moskowitz, G.B. (2005). Do not stereotype, think different! Overcoming automatic stereotype activation by mindset priming. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 41 (5), 317-413.
Moskowitz, G.B., Salomon, A.R., & Taylor, C.M. (2000). Preconsciously controlling stereotyping: Implicitly activated egalitarian goals prevent the activation of stereotypes. Social Cognition, 18, 151-177.
Moskowitz, G.B., Gollwitzer, P.M., Wasel, W., & Schaal, B. (1999). Preconscious control of stereotype activation through chronic egalitarian goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 167-184.
Uleman, J.S., Newman, L.S., & Moskowitz, G.B. (1996). People as flexible interpreters: Evidence and issues from spontaneous trait inference. In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Volume 28, pp. 211-280). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Gollwitzer, P.M., & Moskowitz, G.B. (1996). Goal effects on action and cognition. In E.T. Higgins & A. Kruglanski (Eds.) Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles (pp. 361-399). New York: Guilford
Thompson, E.P., Roman, R.J., Moskowitz, G.B., Chaiken, S., & Bargh, J.A. (1994). Accuracy motivation attenuates covert priming effects: The systematic reprocessing of social information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 474-489.
