About Us
Andy, Audrey, and Clay coding a UFC fight in the lab.
The Social Psychological Experimentation (SPEx) Lab was founded at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine with the goal of using insights from experimental social psychology
to clarify and shed light on issues of bias and injustice in many different social arenas.
We recognize the lab's acronym is a little bit of a reach, but we hope our research helps people to see these issues more clearly... not unlike a nice pair of spectacles!
In 2019, the lab moved to its new home at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado.
In the years since the SPEx Lab began, our research has been published in several peer-reviewed academic journals,
presented at dozens of regional and international academic conferences,
and discussed in a few notable media outlets (e.g., Gizmodo, VICE).
We encourage you to check out who we are, the research we conduct, and our media coverage to learn more!
People
Principal Investigator:
Alex Borgella, Ph.D.
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Dr. Alex Borgella is an assistant professor of psychology at Fort Lewis College. He received his B.A. in psychology from the University of West Florida, his M.A. in experimental psychology from James Madison University, and his Ph.D. in experimental social psychology
at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, all concentrating in social cognition and intergroup processes.
When not in the lab, he's usually either outside with his dog (a border collie named Maeby), writing music, lifting weights, or playing his Nintendo Switch.
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Lab Co-manager:
Audrey Shorty
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Audrey is a senior majoring in psychology. She's mostly interested in research involving the intersection of social identity, social influence, and aggression.
When she's not in the lab, she's usually watching a lot of Shoujo anime, creating art through different mediums (e.g., digital art, acrylic paints), and as of lately, miniature model building.
After graduation, she plans to pursue a degree in mortuary science while contemplating graduate study in social psychology.
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Lab Co-manager:
Andy Sprung
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Andy is a senior majoring in psychology and minoring in nutrition.
He's broadly interested in the effects of diet and exercise on mental health, and is
currently studying anti-fat bias in social media.
After graduating, he hopes to attend graduate school in health psychology.
Outside the lab, he's usually exercising, spending time with his family and friends, or rooting for his Denver Broncos!
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Lab Co-manager ('24-'25):
Alexa Antonsen-Newman
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Alexa is a junior double-majoring in Criminology and Psychology and minoring in Gender and Sexuality Studies.
She's interested in research in both social psychology and clinical psychology.
After graduating, she hopes to enter a Ph.D. program in one of these fields.
Outside the lab, you can find Alexa skiing, reading, hanging out with friends, or snuggling up with her two cats.
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Spring 2024 Research Assistants:
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Edelawit Hoag
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Danika Brabec
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Liam O'Shields
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Nick Heim
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Solei Johnston
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Kate Skees, B.A.
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SPEx Friends and Collaborators:
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University of Miami
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Tufts University
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Western Oregon University
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University of Queensland
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Tufts University
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Tufts University
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SPEx Lab Alumni and current roles:
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Ph.D. Candidate in Social Psychology,
University of Arizona
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Ph.D. Candidate in Social Psychology,
University of Utah
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DXP Administrator and Analyst,
StoneAge Inc.
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Tory Stancampiano, B.A.,
LEO, Durango Police Department
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Lexi Mitchell, B.A.,
Community Education Coordinator,
Sexual Assault Services Organization (SASO)
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Sydney Noyes, B.A.,
M.A. Student in Clinical Psychology,
Austin Peay University
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Clarissa Pflug, B.A.
Behavioral Health Technician,
Axis Health System
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Clay Siekman, B.A.,
Applying for Ph.D. programs this cycle!
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Research
The SPEx Lab conducts research on the effects of social stereotypes on decision-making among
both perceivers (those utilizing stereotypes) and targets (those experiencing them) in many different contexts.
Current projects in the lab involve the following topics:
DISPARAGEMENT HUMOR
We investigate humorous communication that denigrates social groups, factors that predict when it's perceived as humorous,
and its (sometimes ironic) effects on prejudice and discrimination toward members of stigmatized groups
(e.g., racial minority groups, sexual/gender minority groups, people with obesity).
Relevant Publications and Presentations
- Kadirvel, S., & Borgella, A.M., Fenton, J.L., & Maddox, K.B. (2022). Benign violations and perceptions of disparaging humor. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Francisco, CA.
- Borgella, A.M. (2021) Allies on the edge: Humor, irony, and appropriation in fraught intergroup relations. Symposium discussant at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (digital).
- Borgella, A.M., Howard, S., & Maddox, K.B. (2020). Cracking wise to break the ice: Can racial humor ease interracial anxiety? Humor: The International Journal of Humor Research, 33, 105-135.
- Thai, M., & Borgella, A.M. (2020). Was that joke funny or offensive? Who's telling it matters. The Conversation, 22 (online only).
- Borgella, A. M. & *Murphy, R. L. (2020). The role of women's weight, self-esteem, and body-esteem on their use of weight-related disparagement humor. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, LA.
- Thai, M., Borgella, A.M., Sanchez, M. S. (2019). It's only funny if we say it: Disparagement humor is better received if it originates from a member of the group being disparaged. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 85, 1-10.
- Borgella, A. M., Carvalho, K., Hammer, C. K., & *Bedard, T. (2019). "I'm going to say it before you can": Humorist weight and perceivers' reactions to weight-disparaging jokes. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Portland, OR.
- Borgella, A.M. (2018) Investigating ideas: Humor in hard places. Symposium discussant at the Bates College "Investigating Ideas" symposium series, Lewiston, ME.
- Borgella, A.M., & Maddox, K.B. (2018). Cracking wise to break the ice: The role of identity and humor in intergroup judgments. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Atlanta, GA.
- Borgella, A.M., & Maddox, K.B. (2017). Do social identity and moral credentialing moderate the negative effects of disparagement humor? Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Southeastern Social Psychologists, Atlantic Beach, FL.
- Borgella, A.M., & Maddox, K.B. (2017). The effects of deprecating humor on intergroup interactions: A review. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Antonio, TX.
- Borgella, A.M. (2016). Science deconstructs humor: What makes some things funny? The Conversation, 20 (online only).
IMPLICIT BIAS
Much of the SPEx Lab's recent work has examined implicit biases (biases that exist without conscious awareness) and their effects on decision-making,
in both situations where decisions are measured and deliberate (e.g., in hiring, promotion, and retention decisions) and in
those that involve relatively dynamic, split-second reactions (e.g., in police-suspect interactions, among combat sports referees).
Relevant Publications and Presentations
- Borgella, A.M., Siekman, C.D., Howard, S., & Maddox, K.B., (2024). Beaten to the punch: Implicit racial bias and disparities in UFC referees' decisions to end fights. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, CA.
- Shorty, A.S., & Borgella, A.M. (2024). Perceived "Karenhood": Ageism is curvilinear for White women in ambiguous social contexts. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, CA.
- Sprung, A.P., & Borgella, A.M. (2024).The weight of scrolling: How anti-fat bias in social media affects health-related behaviors. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, CA.
- Pflug, C.A., & Borgella, A.M. (2024). Good girl complex: The effects of benevolent sexism on women's physiological stress and likelihood of confrontation. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, CA.
- Borgella, A.M., Howard, S., *Sanders, B.T., & Maddox, K.B. (2023). Race in the clinch: Exploring implicit racial bias in combat sports officiating. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Atlanta, GA.
- *Skees, K. N., & Borgella, A.M. (2023). The effects of political affiliation on perceptions of Native American sports mascots. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Albuquerque, NM.
- Thompson, L. J., & Borgella, A.M. (2023). Does concealment moderate prejudice toward those with invisible disabilities? Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Albuquerque, NM.
- Wright, M.M., & Borgella, A.M. (2023). Does bias exist toward men in humanities disciplines? Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Albuquerque, NM.
- Semivan, A.E., & Borgella, A.M. (2023). When Attitudes Tank Interviews: The Influence of Self-esteem Threats on Bias in Hiring Decisions. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Atlanta, GA.
- Borgella, A.M. & Koontz, S. (2022). Exploring Crime-related Prejudice toward Alaskan Natives in an Alaskan Sample. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Francisco, CA.
RACIAL PHENOTYPICALITY BIAS
In this line of work, we investigate how members of the same racial group experience stereotyping and prejudice differently dependent on their
phenotypicality (e.g., how variations in skin tone impact prejudice toward Black and Hispanic Americans), as well as other factors that influence disparities
in prejudice within-groups (e.g., how someone's name can affect perceptions of their racial affiliation).
Relevant Publications and Presentations
- Stancampiano-Metry, V.K., Mitchell, A.R., & Borgella, A.M. (2023). Blood, not skin: Exploring intragroup phenotypicality bias related to skin tone in an Indigenous sample. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Albuquerque, NM.
- Johnson, V. M., & Borgella, A.M. (2023). Exploring the role of intersectional stigma on LGBTQ+ members from racial minority groups' decisions to seek therapy. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Albuquerque, NM.
- Stancampiano-Metry, V.K., Mitchell, A.R., & Borgella, A.M. (2023). Blood, not skin: Exploring intragroup phenotypicality bias related to skin tone in an Indigenous sample. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Atlanta, GA.
- Howard, S., Borgella, A.M. (2019). Are Adewale and Ngochi more employable than Jamal and Lakeisha?: The influence of nationality and ethnicity cues on employment-related evaluations of Blacks in the United States. The Journal of Social Psychology, 54 (online only), 1-11.
- Borgella, A.M. & Maddox, K.B. (2017) Is scrutiny a moderator of racial phenotypicality bias in guilt judgments? Symposium discussant at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, MA.
- Borgella, A.M., Maddox, K.B., Sargent, M.J., Murray, M.P (2015). Full court pressure: Racial phenotypicality under scrutiny. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Long Beach, CA.
- Aronson, R.K., Howard, S., Borgella, A.M. (2015). What's in a (Black) name: evaluations of African vs. African American Names. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Philadelphia, PA.
- Borgella, A.M., Fenton, J.L., & Maddox, K.B. (2014) Exploring aversive racism as a moderator of racial phenotypicality bias in guilt judgments. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Austin, TX.
STEREOTYPE THREAT
There have been many investigations into how awareness of stereotypes about one's own social group can impact subsequent performance in educational, athletic, and other domains,
regardless of whether those stereotypes are believed to be valid about one's self. The SPEx Lab has conducted several studies on this topic,
mostly related to how stereotype threat operates in those whose intersectional social identities are made salient.
Relevant Publications and Presentations
- Howard, S. & Borgella, A.M. (2018). "Sinking" or sinking?: Identity salience and shifts in Black women's athletic performance. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 39, 179 - 183.
Lab News!
2024
CONGRATULATIONS to SPEx Alum Tory Stancampiano (FLC c/o '22) for making it through the police academy and becoming a Durango LEO!
Officer Tory in the news hunting counterfeit money!
2023
CONGRATULATIONS to Clarissa Pflug and Clay Siekman for earning their bachelors degrees in Psychology!
Clarissa and the FLC Clocktower.
CONGRATULATIONS to Clarissa Pflug, Audrey Shorty, and Andy Sprung for presenting their research at the 2023 FLC Undergraduate Research Symposium!
Clarissa explains benevolent sexism to a large group.
Audrey fields questions about the intersection of sexism and ageism.
Andy impresses FLC President Tom Stritikus with his research on anti-fat bias in social media.
The Fall '23 SPEx Lab is in full swing, multitasking on a few different projects!
Alex leading one of our lab meetings!
- Implicit Racial Bias in Combat Sports: The lab has now coded EVERY SINGLE bout in the UFC between a White and Black athlete or White and Latine athlete ending in a "stoppage" (KO or TKO)!
- Tattoo Prejudice: Our very own Danika has spent countless hours meticulously coding the tattoos of every White, Black, or Latine fighter involved in an interracial bout!
- Senior Capstone Work: SPEx Lab senior capstone projects are currently underway! This semester, project topics include benevolent sexism, Native American sports mascots, anti-fat bias, and gendered ageism. More soon!
THE SPEx LAB HAS STARTED OUR SUMMER RESEARCH!
- Our RAs are hard at work coding data for our newest project investigating implicit biases among combat sports referees.
So far, we've compiled and sorted a list of every fight in the UFC, and we've moved on to watching (and meticulously coding) every single UFC fight ending in a KO or TKO.
Andy, Nick, and Edel getting ready to code a fight between Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes.
Andy, Clay, Kate, and Liam expressing a range of emotions while coding a bout
between Glover Texiera and Anthony Smith.
CONGRATULATIONS to Kate Skees, Clay Siekman, Lexi Mitchell, and Abbey Semivan for presenting their projects at
The Rocky Mountain Psychological Association's 2023 Meeting in Albuquerque!
CONGRATULATIONS to Abbey Semivan, Tory Stancampiano, and Lexi Mitchell for their presentations at
the Society for Personality and Social Psychology's 2023 Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia!
CONGRATULATIONS to the future Dr. Abbey Semivan for being accepted into the Social Psychology Ph.D. Program at the University of Arizona!!
2022
CONGRATULATIONS to Kate Skees, Clay Siekman, Lexi Mitchell, and Tory Stancampiano for presenting their projects at
FLC's 2022 Undergraduate Research Symposium!
Media
The SPEx Lab's research has been featured in many popular media outlets.
Please check out the links below if you'd like to read more!
2023
| "When does racial humor turn from funny to offensive?"
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| "The Psychology Behind the Dark Humor of Hugleikur Dagsson"
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2022
| "How to write a joke: A full guide to the perfect set-up and punchline."
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| "TV Writers Love to Pick on Tampa. What's their Deal?"
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| "Has Coronavirus Meme Culture Gone too Far?"
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2021
| "Humor and Our Health"
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| "What part of the brain processes humor?"
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2020
| "The Science of Inappropriate Laughter"
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| "Why Do We Use Dark Humor to Deal with Terrifying Situations?"
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2019
