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  • Dr. Jason A. Okonofua

    Mindset Science Solutions

    Applying Science to Solve Real World Issues

    Biography

    Dr. Jason Okonofua is a social psychologist in the Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences at Brown University. His interest in science-based and scalable strategies to combat inequity in society spans contexts such as education, criminal justice, and business. It investigates how negative stereotypes can contribute to disparities in life outcomes and how that process can be dismantled. This information is used to scientifically test feasible solutions. For example, he investigates how bias can be sidelined in pivotal real-world contexts such that historical and pervasive societal issues can be addressed:

    Education

    Criminal Justice

    Dr. Okonofua's work is situated to inform psychological theory, field experimentation, and public policy.

    Science interests: behavioral economics, cost-efficient organizational solutions, social psychology

    Learn more at: empathicinstruction.org

  • Applied Research

    What does the science say?

    What do we know about discipline problems?

    A Vicious Cycle - Perspective on Psychological Science

    How can we better understand K-12 school discipline?

    A Dynamic Nature - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

    How can we reduce discipline problems?

    An Empathic Mindset - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

    How can we close racial disparities in discipline rates?

    An Empathic Mindset - Science Advances

    How to do something today?

    Empathic Instruction

    Curriculum Vitae

    ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

    Associate Professor, Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences

    Brown University, Providence, RI 2024-present

    Assistant Professor, Psychology Department

    University of California, Berkeley, CA 2016-2024

    Post Doctoral Researcher, Psychology Department

    Stanford University, Stanford, CA 2015-2016

    EDUCATION

    Ph.D. in psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

    Advisers: Dr. Gregory Walton & Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt

    B.A. in Psychology and African American studies, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL

    Advisers: Dr. Jennifer Richeson & Dr. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale June 2008

    AWARDS

    2024 Early Career Contributions Award, Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning

    2023 APS Fellow, Association for Psychological Science

    2023 Cialdini Prize,Society for Personality and Social Psychology

    2022 JanetTaylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions, Association
    for Psychological Science

    2022 Rising Star Award, Association forPsychological Science

    2022 Foundations for Change: Thomas I.Yamashita Prize

    2017 Cialdini Prize, Society for Personality andSocial Psychology

    2015 People’s Choice Award, TheRoot 100,

    2015 Distinguished Scholar Award,Stanford University, Vice Provostof Graduate Education

    2015 Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence, StanfordUniversity

    2013 GraduateResearch Opportunity Award, Stanford University

    2013 DiversityTravel Award, Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP)

    2011 OutstandingGraduate Teaching Award, Stanford University, Psychology One Program

    SELECT MANUSCRIPTS AND PUBLICATIONS

    Darling-Hammond, S.*, Ruiz, M.*,Eberhardt, J. L., & Okonofua, J. A.(2023). The dynamic nature of student discipline and discipline disparities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(17),e2120417120.

    Ferguson, Z. E.*, Jarvis, S. N.*,Antonoplis, S.*, & Okonofua, J. A.(2023). Principal Beliefs Predict Responses to Individual Students’ Misbehavior. Educational Researcher,0013189X231158389.

    Afulani, P. A.,Okiring, J., Aborigo, R. A., Nutor, J. J., Kuwolamo, I., Dorzie, J. B. K., Semko,
    S.*, Okonofua, J. A., & Mendes,W. B. (2023). Provider implicit and explicit bias in person-centered maternity care: a cross-sectional study with maternity providers in Northern Ghana. BMC Health Services Research, 23(1),1-15.

    Okonofua,J. A., Harris, L. T.,& Walton, G. M. (2022). Sidelining Bias: A Situationist Approach to Reduce
    the Consequences of Bias in Real-World Contexts. Current Directions inPsychological Science, 09637214221102422.

    Okonofua, J. A. (2022). Controlled labexperiments are one of many useful scientific methods to investigate bias. Behavioraland Brain Sciences, 45.

    Okonofua, J. A., Goyer, J. P., Lindsay,C. A., Haugabrook, J., & Walton, G. M. (2022). A scalable empathic-mindset intervention reduces group disparities in school suspensions. Science Advances,8(12), eabj0691.

    Perez*, A. D., & Okonofua, J. A. (2022). The good andbad of a reputation: Race and punishment in K-12 schools. Journal ofExperimental Social Psychology, 100, 104287.

    Walton, G. M., Okonofua, J. A., Remington Cunningham, K., Hurst, D., Pinedo, A.,Weitz, E., Ospina, J. P., Tate, H., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2021). Lifting the
    Bar: A Relationship-Orienting Intervention Reduces Recidivism Among Children
    Reentering School From Juvenile Detention. Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211013801
    + Received the 2022 Cialdini Prize from SPSP

    Bookser, B. A.*, Ruiz, M.*, Olu-Odumosu,A.*, Kim, M.*, Jarvis, S. N.*, & Okonofua,J. A. (2021). Context matters for preschool discipline: Effects of distancelearning and pandemic fears. School Psychology.

    Okonofua, J. A., Saadatian, K.*, Ocampo,J.*, Ruiz, M.*, & Oxholm, P. D.* (2021). A scalable empathic supervision intervention to mitigate recidivism from probation and parole. Proceedingsof the National Academy of Sciences, 118(14).

    Okonofua,J. A., Perez, A. D.*,& Darling-Hammond, S.* (2020). When policy and psychology meet: Mitigating the consequences of bias in schools. Science Advances, 6.

    Jarvis, S. N.*, & Okonofua, J. A. (2020). Schooldeferred: When bias affects school leaders. Social Psychological andPersonality Science, 11(4), 492-498.

    Goyer, P., Walton, G. M., Cook, J., Master, A., Apfel, N., Garcia. J., Okonofua, J.A., & Cohen, G. L. (2019). A brief middle school social-belonging intervention reducesdiscipline incidents among Black boys through the end of high school. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

  • News Coverage

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    Berkeley News

    Article by Jason Pohl

    "School discipline can be predicted, new research says. Is it preventable?"

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    Berkeley News

    Article by Yasmin Anwar

    "When parole, probation officers choose empathy, returns to jail decline"

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    MSNBC

    Segment on Melissa Harris Perry’s Show

    Watch interview about my research that shows how large race disparities in school discipline in the United States are, in part, driven by racial stereotypes that can lead teachers to escalate their negative responses to Black students over the course of multiple interpersonal (e.g., teacher-to-student) encounters.

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    The New York Times

    Article by David L. Kirp

    "Don't Suspend Students. Empathize."

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    The Wall Street Journal

    Article by Alison Gopnik

    "A Small Fix in Mind-set Can Keep Students in School"

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    Reuters

    Article by Alex Dobuzinskis

    "U.S. study finds teacher bias in discipline toward black students"

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    Daily Mail

    Article by Richard Gray

    "Are schools still struggling with racism? Teachers more likely to label black students as troublemakers, study finds"

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    Pacific Standard

    Article by Nathan Collins

    "Going to the Principal's Office, in Black or White"

  • Ongoing Work

    Empathic Mindset in Healthcare

    Better trust, better care

    Okonofua's research lab is designing and testing an online, scalable, and cost-efficient patient care enhancement tool. This innovative form of professional development will help healthcare providers utilize a more empathic mindset to build better trust with their patients and more effective treatment plans with them.

    Empathic Mindset in Workplaces

    Better perspective, better productivity

    Workplaces often suffer from interpersonal conflict that both stems from and contributes to toxic and unproductive outcomes. Okonofua's research lab is validating an interactive online tool to help employees and employers to better communicate and interact with one another in a manner that sidelines potential conflicts and improves productivity.

Copyright 2015

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