Research Interests

My area of research is the psychology of attitudes. Currently, in the domain of communication and persuasion, I am conducting research on overcoming resistance to change (e.g., subliminal priming and persuasion, self-affirmation and persuasion, hypocrisy and persuasion, and narrative persuasion). In the domain of implicit attitudes I am conducting research on aversive racists (i.e., those low in explicit prejudice, but high in implicit prejudice) and on individuals with defensive self-esteem (i.e., those high in explicit self-esteem, but low in implicit self-esteem). Finally, in the domain of health, I am conducting research testing a 'safer sex' intervention, evaluating Canada's new cigarette warning labels, and investigating the subtle effects of smoking in feature films on implicit cognition (e.g., implicit attitudes and implicit norms).

Recent Publications (since 2007)

Papers

• Zanna, M. P. (in press). While waiting for nature to take her course: There's nothing so practical as a good…design. Journal of Social Issues.
• Son-Hing, L. S., Bobocel, D. R., Zanna, M. P., et al. (in press). The merit of meritocracy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
• Peach, J. M., Yoshida, E., Spencer, S. J., Zanna, M. P., & Steele, J. (2011). Recognizing discrimination explicitly while denying it implicitly: Implicit social identity protection. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 283-292.
• Jonas, E., Graupmann, V., Niesta Kayser, D., Zanna, M. P., et al. (2009). Culture, self-construal and the emergence of reactance: Is there a "universal" freedom? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 1068-1080.
• Ebel-Lam, A. P., MacDonald, T. K., Zanna, M. P., & Fong, G. T. (2009). An experimental investigation of the interactive effects of alcohol and sexual arousal on intentions to have unprotected sex. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 31, 226-233.
• Kay, A. C., Gaucher, D., Peach, J. M., Laurin, K., Friesen, J., Zanna, M. P., & Spencer, S. J. (2009). Inequality, discrimination, and the power of the status quo: Direct evidence for a motivation to see the way things are as the way they should be. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 421-434.
• Son Hing, L. S., Chung-Yan, G. A., Hamilton, L. K., & Zanna, M. P. (2008). A two-dimensional model that employs explicit and implicit attitudes to characterize prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 971-987.
• Strahan, E. J., Lafrance, A., Wilson, A. E., Ethier, N., Spencer, S. J., & Zanna, M. P. (2008). Victoria's dirty secret: How sociocultural norms influence adolescent girls and women. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 288-301.
• Stinson, D. B., Logel, C., Zanna, M. P., et al. (2008). The cost of lower self-esteem: Testing a self-and-social-bonds model of health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 412-428.
• Dal Cin, S., Gibson, B., Zanna, M. P., et al. (2007). Smoking in the movies, implicit associations of smoking with the self, and intentions to smoke. Psychological Science, 39, 559-563.
• Son Hing, L. S., Bobocel, D. R., Zanna, M. P., et al. (2007). Authoritarian dynamics and unethical decision making: High SDO leaders and high RWA followers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 67-81.

Chapters

• Zanna, M. P. (2011). "Risky business": On the adventures of simultaneously manipulating sexual arousal and intoxication. In R. M. Arkin (Ed.), Most Underappreciated: 50 Prominent Social Psychologists Describe Their Most Unloved Work (pp. 241-244). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Spencer, S. J., Peach, J., Yoshida, E., & Zanna, M. P. (2010). Learning what most people like: How implicit attitudes and normative evaluations are shaped by motivation and culture and influence meaningful behavior. In J. Forgas, J. Cooper, & W. Crano (Eds.), The Psychology of Attitudes and Attitude Change (pp. 95-108). Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
• Son Hing, L. S., & Zanna, M. P. (2010). Individual differences. In J. F. Dovidio, M. Hewstone, P. Glick, & V. M. Esses (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Prejudice, Stereotyping, and Discrimination (pp. 163-178). London, UK: Sage.
• Marigold, D. C., McGregor, I., & Zanna, M. P. (2010). Defensive conviction as emotion regulation: Goal mechanisms and interpersonal implications. In R. Arkin, K. Oleson, & P. Carroll (Eds.), Handbook of the Uncertain Self (pp. 232-248). Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
• Kay, A. C., & Zanna, M. P. (2009). A contextual analysis of the psychological and societal consequences of the system justification motive. In J. T. Jost, A. C. Kay, & H. Thorisdottir (Eds.), Social and Psychological Bases of Ideology and System Justification (pp. 158-181). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Jordan, C. H., Logel, C., Spencer, S. J., Zanna, M. P., & Whitfield, M. L. (2009). The heterogeneity of self-esteem: Exploring the interplay between implicit and explicit self-esteem. In R. E. Petty, R. H. Fazio, & P. Briñol (Eds.), Attitudes: Insights from the New Implicit Measures (pp. 251-281). Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
• Jordan, C. H., & Zanna, M. P. (2007). Not all experiments are created equal: On conducting and reporting persuasive experiments. In R. J. Sternberg, D. Halpern, & H. L. Roediger III (Eds.), Critical Thinking in Psychology (pp. 160-176). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Ontario Symposium on Personality and Social Psychology

• Campbell, L., LaGuardia, J., Olson, J. M., & Zanna, M. P. (Eds.) (in press). The Science of the Couple: The Ontario Symposium. Vol. 12. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
• Bobocel, D. R., Kay, A. C., Zanna, M.P., & Olson, J. M. (2010). The Psychology of Justice and Legitimacy: The Ontario Symposium. Vol. 11. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.

Advances in Experimental Social Psychology

• Zanna, M. P. & Olson, J. M. (Eds.) (2010). Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 43. San Diego: Academic Press.
• Zanna, M. P. (Ed.) (2010). Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 42. San Diego: Academic Press.
• Zanna, M. P. (Ed. (2009). Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 41. San Diego: Academic Press.
• Zanna, M. P. (Ed. (2008). Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 40. San Diego: Academic Press.
• Zanna, M. P. (Ed. (2007). Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 39. San Diego: Academic Press.

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