Social Psychology Network

Maintained by Scott Plous, Wesleyan University

Alison Lenton

  • SPN Mentor

Current Research Interests

Social judgments and choice: With respect to this domain, I have investigated social projection in judgments of sexual intent, and I am currently working on studies that examine context effects -- such as the number of potential options and the variability of those options -- on mate choice strategies and satisfaction.

State authenticity: A new, as-yet-unpublished line of research investigates a concept I call "state authenticity", which is one's momentary sense of feeling in alignment with one's "real self". I am currently investigating the causes of (precursors to) state authenticity, how people experience it, and what are some of the outcomes of this experience. In order to collect data and share our findings with others, and with funding from the ESRC, we have set up a research group and website here:

http://projectself.psy.ed.ac.uk/

Previous Research Interests

Prejudice and stereotyping: My interests in this domain have centered on the structure ('breadth') of gender stereotypes and on the effectiveness of automatic stereotype reduction techniques. Other research in this domain has focused on the influence of social category cues on the allocation of (life-saving or life-compensating) resources.

Primary Interests:

  • Attitudes and Beliefs
  • Gender Psychology
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Life Satisfaction, Well-Being
  • Prejudice and Stereotyping
  • Self and Identity
  • Social Cognition

Research Group or Laboratory:

Online Studies:

Journal Articles:

  • Blair, I. V., Lenton, A. P., & Hastie, R. (2002). The reliability of the DRM paradigm as a measure of individual differences in false memories. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 9, 590-596.
  • Blair, I. V., Ma, J. E., & Lenton, A. P. (2001). Imagining stereotypes away: The moderation of automatic stereotypes through mental imagery. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 828-841.
  • Hupka, R. B., Lenton, A. P., & Hutchison, K. A. (1999). Universal development of emotion categories in natural language. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 247-278.
  • Lenton, A. P. (2007). Matters of life and death: Justice in judgments of wrongful death. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37, 1191-1218.
  • Lenton, A. P., Blair, I. V., & Hastie, R. (2006). The influence of social categories and patient responsibility on healthcare allocation decisions: Bias or fairness? Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 28, 27-36.
  • Lenton, A. P., Blair, I. V., & Hastie, R. (2001). Illusions of gender: Stereotypes evoke false memories. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 37, 3-14.
  • Lenton, A. P., Bruder, M., & Sedikides, C. (2009). A meta-analysis on the malleability of automatic gender stereotypes. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33, 183-196.
  • Lenton, A. P., & Bryan, A. (2005). An affair to remember: The role of sexual scripts in perceptions of sexual intent. Personal Relationships, 12, 483-498.
  • Lenton, A. P., Bryan, A., Hastie, R., & Fischer, O. (2007). We want the same thing: Projection in judgments of sexual intent. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 975-988.
  • Lenton, A. P., Fasolo, B., & Todd, P. M (2009). The relationship between number of potential mates and mating skew in humans. Animal Behaviour, 77, 55-60.
  • Lenton, A. P., Fasolo, B., & Todd, P. M. (2008). "Shopping" for a mate: Expected vs. experienced preferences in online mate choice. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, Special Section: Darwinian Perspectives on Electronic Communication, 51, 169-182.
  • Lenton, A. P., & Francesconi, M. (2011). Too much of a good thing? Variety is confusing in mate choice. Biology Letters (online first).
  • Lenton, A. P., & Francesconi, M. (2010). How humans cognitively manage an abundance of mates. Psychological Science, 21, 528-533.
  • Lenton, A. P., Sedikides, C., & Bruder, M. (2009). A latent semantic analysis of gender stereotype-consistency and narrowness in American English. Sex Roles, 60, 269-278.
  • Lenton, A. P., & Webber, L. (2006). Cross-sex friendships: Who has more? Sex Roles, 54, 809-820.
  • Todd, P. M., Penke, L., Fasolo, B., & Lenton, A. P. (2007). Different cognitive processes underlie human mate choices and mate preferences. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104, 15011-15016.

Other Publications:

  • Penke, L., Todd, P. M., Lenton, A. P., & Fasolo, B. (2007). How self-assessments can guide human mating decisions. In G. Geher & G. Miller (Eds.), Mating intelligence: Sex, relationships, and the mind's reproductive system (pp. 37-76). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Courses Taught:

  • Person Perception
  • Social Judgment and Decision Making
  • Social Psychology and the Law

Alison Lenton
Centre for Research on Self and Identity within Psychology
University of Southampton
Building 44
Southampton SO17 1BJ
United Kingdom

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