Erin Hennes

Degrees and Postdoctoral Training:

Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Los Angeles
Ph.D., New York University, Psychology (Minor: Quantitative Methods)
B.A., Indiana University, Music, Psychology, Liberal Arts & Management (Minor: Spanish)

Research Interests:

Dr. Hennes’s research focuses on cognitive and motivated biases in information processing and person perception, particularly in the context of contemporary social issues such as environmental sustainability and racial and gender inequality. Much of this research examines how concern for the maintenance of social stability and preferences for restorative vs. progressive change influence cognitive processes. Dr. Hennes also conducts translational research to develop and examine the efficacy (and potential unintended consequences) of social change interventions. Finally, she is heavily involved in the development of new methods for supporting scientific best practices, with a focus on sample size determination (R01AA027264).

Representative Publications:

Hennes, E. P., & Dang, L. (in press). The devil we know: Legal precedent and the preservation of injustice. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

Hennes, E. P., Kim, T., & Remache, L. R. (2020). A Goldilocks critique of the hot cognition perspective on climate change skepticism. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 34, 142-147.

Davis, T., Hennes, E. P., & Raymond, L. (2018). Cultural evolution of normative motivations for sustainable behaviour. Nature Sustainability, 1, 218-224.

Hennes, E. P., Pietri, E. S., Moss-Racusin, C. A., Mason, K. A., Dovidio, J. F., Brescoll, V. L., Bailey, A.H., & Handelsman, J. (2018). Increasing the perceived malleability of gender bias using a modified video intervention for diversity in STEM (VIDS). Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 21, 788-809.

Lane, S. P. & Hennes, E. P. (2018). Power struggles: Estimating sample size for multilevel relationships research. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 35, 7-31.

Hennes, E. P., Ruisch, B. C., Feygina, I., Monteiro, C. A., & Jost, J. T. (2016). Motivated recall in the service of the economic system: The case of anthropogenic climate change. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145, 755-771.