Biography
Professor Becky Choma specializes in social and political psychology. She joined the Psychology Department at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) in 2013, after three years as an Assistant Professor at the University of Plymouth in the UK. She is the Director of the Social and Political Psychology (SPP) Lab.
Prof. Choma’s research investigates psychological and social forces underlying social and political attitudes; prejudice and discrimination; and mechanisms for reducing prejudice and promoting harmonious equitable intergroup relations. 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 positive intergroup relations, including collective action and intergroup contact. She has studied social inequalities based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, diet, and weight.
Most recently, in collaboration with Dr. Iloradanon Efimoff and Prof. Katherine Starzyk, Prof. Choma is studying the potential of social norms to combat intergroup prejudice and foster support for groups who face ongoing social oppression, such as Indigenous people in Canada. This research is also exploring the role of ideologies (e.g. post-colonial ideologies) and intergroup emotions (e.g. collective guilt). Other ongoing lines of research are examining self-objectification, political rhetoric, and how people interact with misinformation. She has published over 70 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.