Biography
Dr. Becky Choma is a Professor specializing in social and political psychology in the Psychology Department at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and the Director of the Social and Political Psychology (SPP) Lab. She completed a SSHRC-funded PhD in Social/Personality Psychology from Brock University before completing a SSHRC-funded Postdoc. She joined the School of Psychology at the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom as an Assistant Professor in 2010, and TMU in 2013.
Her research investigates psychological and social factors underlying intergroup attitudes, prejudice and discrimination, mechanisms for reducing prejudice, and promoting harmonious and equitable intergroup relations, including collective action and intergroup contact. With support from several funding agencies including SSHRC, CIHR, Canadian Heritage, and others, she has studied how sociopolitical ideologies and beliefs, intergroup emotions, and contextual factors facilitate or obstruct intergroup tolerance. She has studied social inequalities based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, diet, and weight. She has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles or chapters on these topics in collaboration with spectacular mentors, peers, and students. All of whom have shared their invaluable insight and shaped her as a researcher and thinker.