I research how ideas and policies that appear neutral, and even beneficial, reproduce social hierarchies in organizations and society.

As a social and cultural psychologist, I am interested in the role that social hierarchies play in shaping people’s everyday lives and experiences. One line of my research examines the organizational experiences of people who are “unexpected” and do not fit into a typical group category (e.g., women who reject motherhood, interracial couples) and how they are evaluated by others. Another line of my work investigates culturally-driven explanations for why some well-intentioned equity policies (e.g., diversity awards, gender-neutral policies) backfire and reproduce inequities. In a third line, I research how cultural values and norms about gender influence women’s and men’s work and family lives, including who is responsible for parenthood. Together, my work illustrates how features of our cultural contexts that seem objective, neutral, and even helpful can maintain intergroup tensions in both organizations and society more broadly.

My research has been published in leading journals such as Psychological Science and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. In recognition of my scholarship, I have also been awarded both the SAGE Emerging Scholar Award and the Heritage Dissertation Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

I earned my B.F.A., cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2010, completed Columbia University’s post-baccalaureate certificate program in Psychology in 2013, and earned my Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Washington in 2021. Prior to joining Yale, I was a post-doctoral research scholar at Columbia Business School.

Learn more about my research here or by emailing me, adriana.germano@yale.edu.