Education

• Ph.D. in Social Psychology, Arizona State University (2005)
• M.A. in Psychology, Wake Forest University (2000)
• B.S. in Psychology & Biology, The College of William & Mary (1998)

Areas of Research

• Threat-based approach to prejudice and stigma
• Stigma-by-association
• Individual differences in stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination
• Importance of trustworthiness in social groups and relationships
• Evolutionary analysis of impression management

Selected Publications

Cook, C. L., & Cottrell, C. A. (2024). Relationship status moderates sexual prejudice directed toward lesbian women but not gay men. The Journal of Social Psychology.

Cook, C. L., & Cottrell, C. A. (2021). You don’t know where he’s been: Sexual promiscuity negatively affects responses toward both gay and straight men. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 22(1), 63-76.

Cook, C. L., Li, Y. J., Newell, S. M., Cottrell, C. A., & Neel, R. (2018). The world is a scary place: Individual differences in Belief in a Dangerous World predict specific intergroup prejudices. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 21(4), 584–596.

Nichols, A. L., & Cottrell, C. A. (2015). Establishing versus preserving impressions: Predicting success in the multiple audience problem. International Journal of Psychology, 50(6), 472-478.

Cook, C. L., Cottrell, C. A., & Webster, G. D. (2015). No good without God: Antiatheist prejudice as a function of threats to morals and values. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 7, 217-226.

Nichols, A. L., & Cottrell, C. A. (2014). What do people desire in their leaders? The role of leadership level on trait desirability. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(4), 711-729.

Leary, M. R., Kelly, K. M., Cottrell, C. A., & Schreindorfer, L. S. (2013). Construct validity of the Need to Belong Scale: Mapping the nomological network. Journal of Personality Assessment, 95, 610-624.

Cottrell, C. A., & Park, J. H. (2013). Evolutionary perspectives on prejudice. In C. Stangor & C. Crandall (Eds.), Stereotyping and prejudice (pp. 29-51). New York: Psychology Press.

Webster, G. D., Cottrell, C. A., Schember, T. O., Crysel, L. C., Crosier, B. S., Gesselman, A. N., & Le., B. M. (2012). Two sides of the same coin? Viewing altruism and aggression through the adaptive lens of kinship. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6, 575-588.

Cottrell, C. A., Richards, D. A. R., & Nichols, A. L. (2010). Predicting policy attitudes from general prejudice versus specific intergroup emotions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 247-254.

Neuberg, S. L., & Cottrell, C. A. (2008). Managing the threats and opportunities afforded by human sociality. Groups Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 12, 63-72.

Cottrell, C. A., Neuberg, S. L., & Li, N. P. (2007). What do people desire in others? A sociofunctional perspective on the importance of different valued characteristics. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 208-231.

Cottrell, C. A., & Neuberg, S. L. (2005). Different emotional reactions to different groups: A sociofunctional threat-based approach to ‘prejudice.’ Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 770-789.

Leary, M. R., Cottrell, C. A., & Phillips, M. (2001). Deconfounding the effects of dominance and social acceptance on self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 898-909.

Selected Courses

• Social Psychology
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Senior Seminar in Psychology: Stereotyping, Prejudice, & Discrimination
• Industrial and Organizational Psychology
• Psychology of Good & Evil