Kimberly Rios Morrison
School of Communication
Ohio State University
3016 Derby Hall, 154 North Oval Mall
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1339
U.S.A.
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Much of my work concerns the ways in which personal and group identity can affect communication processes, including social influence and opinion expression. I approach these questions primarily from a social-psychological perspective, using experimental methodology. In one area of research, I study when and why people decide to deviate from majority group opinions. I have found that people's decisions to deviate may depend on uncertainty about the self-concept, self-esteem level, perceptions of group norms, and identification with the ingroup. In a second area of research, I study the factors that lead individuals to change their attitudes and behavior based on nonconsciously primed constructs, such as interpersonal goals and outgroup stereotypes. My studies have demonstrated that individuals can temporarily shift their self-concepts in a prime-consistent direction, but that such tendencies are amplified among those who feel uncertain about a central part of the self. In a third area of research, I study the relationship between perceptions of intergroup threat and group members' political attitudes. My colleagues and I have shown that when people perceive threat from an outgroup, they become more supportive of social and economic inequality. However, this is especially true for people who consider their ingroup an important part of the self, who believe their ingroup to be high in status, and whose ingroup espouses values that reinforce existing hierarchies.
 Morrison, K. R., & Miller, D. T. (2008). Distinguishing between silent and vocal minorities: Not all deviants feel marginal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 871-882.
- Morrison, K. R., Wheeler, S. C., & Smeesters, D. (2007). Significant other primes and behavior: Motivation to respond to social cues moderates pursuit of prime-induced goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 1661-1674.
- Morrison, K. R., & Ybarra, O. (2008). The effects of realistic threat and group identification on social dominance orientation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 156-163.
- Wheeler, S. C., Morrison, K. R., DeMarree, K. G., & Petty, R. E. (2008). Does self-consciousness increase or decrease priming effects? It depends. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 882-889.
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