Kenneth S Michniewicz Associate Professor, Psychology |
Education
Teaching Interests
At Muhlenberg, I teach throughout the psychology curriculum with courses such as Introductory Psychology, Psychological Statistics, Research Methods, and Advanced Research (CUE). I also teach Social Psychology, Personality Psychology, and Group Processes. My main teaching interests in independent work with students focus on better understanding of how status and inequality can result in our judgments of other individuals and groups, particularly with a focus on gender and sexual identities as representations of inequality.
Research, Scholarship or Creative/Artistic Interests
My research interests are varied but focus on this theme of status and inequality. One line of research focuses on the psychology of underdogs (individuals, groups, or entities at a competitive disadvantage in some context). I work collaboratively with Dr. Laura Edelman on the perceptions of underdog musicians.
A second line of work focuses on the way that people's pet dogs help form our impressions of these pet owners. Connected to gender literature, I am currently exploring when and why men specifically distance from smaller dogs to the extent that being seen with a smaller dog challenges men's status as a "man."
Third, I am exploring psychological mechanisms that cause reluctance in accepting a 'feminist' identity. This work suggests thus far that people's perception of a feminist identity depends on knowledge of other identities.