New York University
SOCIAL PERCEPTION ACTION
and MOTIVATION LAB
Lab Director: Dr. Emily Balcetis
Our Team
Lab Director
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Emily Balcetis, PhD
Over the last 20 years, Emily has become one of the most sought-after voices on motivation science, researching the factors that contribute to differences in judgments and behaviors among individuals. She delivers lectures, offers training and keynoting hundreds of programs and events at secondary schools, colleges, universities, community organizations, and corporations on the social, cognitive, and motivational mechanisms that lead impact obstacles and successes as people pursue their goals. She is also a frequent commentator on media, blogs, and podcasts, delivering a voice filled with knowledge and respect for the varied challenges people face.
Communications Director
Genna Goins
Genna is a recent graduate of NYU where she double majored in trumpet performance and psychology at NYU. She joined the SPAM Lab in spring 2022 and has since discovered interests in learning about diversity in leadership and the influences it has on young people as well as understanding the prevalence of gender disparities in society. Amongst others, Genna has been a part of the team responsible for collecting data analyzing how jurors may view video evidence in a court setting. As the lab's communications manager, maintaining its website and creating its newsletters are major parts of Genna's responsibilities. During her free time, Genna can be found crafting, attending Broadway shows, and trying different pizzas throughout New York City.
Provost's Postdoctoral Fellow
Jordan S. Daley, PhD
Jordan received his PhD in social psychology from Northwestern University, where he was a member of the Social Cognition Lab. Jordan joins the SPAM Lab as a provost's postdoctoral fellow as of fall 2023. He studies biases related to and at the intersection of social cognition, social attitudes, person-person, and intergroup relations. He uses innovative methods to go beyond the identification of bias to reveal the constructs that relate to and the mechanisms that drive psychological biases that are relevant to real-world, lived experience. In his free time, Jordan spends a lot of time following sports, listening to the latest music, and hanging out with his friends, family, and dog.
Graduate Students
Nallely De La Rosa
PhD Candidate
Nallely is a PhD student in the Social Psychology Program at New York University (NYU). She earned her B.A. in Child and Adolescent Development from California State University, Northridge, where she is currently a Chancellor's Doctoral Incentive Program Fellow. Nallely’s research focuses on the impact of stereotypes on motivation and well-being, particularly among racially minoritized groups. She explores how the absence of diversity affects these communities. Additionally, she examines the role of stereotypes in shaping intra-minority interactions and coalition-building. You can explore her work and access her CV here.
Jenna is a second-year doctoral candidate in the social psychology program at NYU. She received her B.S. in human development (Department of Psychology) from Cornell University. Jenna is interested in how we generate inferences about others’ intentions by observing their behavior, and how these inferences are biased by our motivations, expectations, social relationships, and obligations. She is interested in how these inferences translate to judgment and action in domains including law, social justice, decision theory, and organizational behavior. In her spare time, you might find Jenna figure skating at an ice rink, watching stand-up at a comedy club, or searching for the best cannoli in NYC.
Jenna Landy
PhD Candidate
Ma Xiao
PhD Candidate
Ma Xiao (Ma-sh-iao) is a third-year doctoral student in the social psychology program at NYU. In 2019 received his BA in psychology and statistics from Carleton College in Minnesota. After graduation, he conducted clinical research as a post-graduate associate at Yale Psychiatry, OCD Research Clinic. His research interests focus on how factors affecting motivation and self-control processes across construal levels. He also wants to investigate motivational research in interpersonal settings to help facilitate growth and bridge performance gaps in minority students. For example, what factors change perception of “leaders” and “the successful” in minority students?
Sherry Xiong
PhD Candidate
Ke (Kay) Fang
Masters Student
Kay is a master's candidate at NYU Gallatin. His research aims to understand how complex social dynamics like political polarization, normative shifts, and collective action emerge from individual-level motivational and cognitive factors. Utilizing micro-level computational cognition paired with macro-level network science, agent-based modeling, and Natural Language Processing, he is especially interested in enhancing social psychology by integrating a multilevel perspective and computational approaches. Outside of research, he savors the ritual of brewing pour-over coffee, exploring museums in NYC, and occasionally drawing.
Heather Li
Masters Student
Heather is currently pursuing a master's degree in industrial and organizational psychology at NYU. Broadly, Heather is interested in exploring the impact of gender and race stereotypes on leadership perceptions. When not in the lab, she enjoys watching Japanese anime and playing bridge games with a robot, as she has been unable to find a human teammate.
Research Assistants
Yaa Afriyie
Brittney Anderson
Elizabeth Baker
Diya Basu
Tianyi Chen
Armon Dadvand
Gabby Fabela
Genna Goins
Mike Guerrero
Ainsley Hoh
Cat Howard
Bryce Lexow
Hannah Maria
Anya Pabby
Ryan Pan
Abi Rivera
Michelle Stern
Weiwei Tan
Yuming Tan
June Van De Graff
Diya Varma
Susanah Vosmik
Julia Yi
Lab Alumni
Abby Bisi, Engagement Manager at Prophet
David Bosch, Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychology, MA Program Coordinator at New York University
Stephanie Cardenas, Assistant Professor at Williams College
Shana Cole, Assistant Professor at Rutgers University
Jennifer Elek, Principal Court Research Associate at the National Center for State Courts
Yael Granot, Assistant Professor at Smith College
Corey Guenther, Associate Professor at Creighton University
Erin Hennes, Assistant Professor at University of Missouri
Clint Irvin, Data Scientist at Synovus
Kristyn Jones, UX Researcher at WhatsApp
David Kalkstein, Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford
Madelaine Krehm, UX Researcher at Google
Amy Krosch, Assistant Professor at Cornell University
Jeff Kukucka, Associate Professor at Townson University
Usman Liaquat, Post-Doctoral Fellow at Cornell University
Saaid Mendoza, Associate Professor at Providence College
Jennie Qu-Lee, Quantitative User Experience Researcher at Google
Soyon Rim, Associate Professor at William Paterson College
Jojanneke van der Toorn, Professor at Leiden University
Website Design
Genna Goins
Armon Dadvand
Rebekah Zhang, SPAM Lab Logo Design