Serena Chen (b. July 16, 1970) is an American

social psychologist Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field of ...

known for her work on the

self In philosophy, the self is an individual's own being, knowledge, and values, and the relationship between these attributes. The first-person perspective distinguishes selfhood from personal identity. Whereas "identity" is (literally) same ...

and

interpersonal relationship In social psychology, an interpersonal relation (or interpersonal relationship) describes a social association, connection, or affiliation between two or more people. It overlaps significantly with the concept of social relations, which a ...

s. She is Professor of Psychology at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, and currently serves as Chair of the Psychology Department. Her research utilizes a social-cognition framework, and has been featured in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

,'' and other news outlets.

Education

Chen completed her undergraduate degree in psychology at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, where she graduated magna cum laude. At Cornell, Chen worked under the supervision of

Thomas Gilovich Thomas Dashiff Gilovich (born January 16, 1954) is an American psychologist who is the Irene Blecker Rosenfeld Professor of Psychology at Cornell University. He has conducted research in social psychology, decision making, and behavioral economi ...

on the topic of

cognitive dissonance In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is described as a mental phenomenon in which people unknowingly hold fundamentally conflicting cognitions. Being confronted by situations that challenge this dissonance may ultimately result in some ...

. Chen continued her education at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

(NYU), completing her PhD in Social Psychology in 1997. Her dissertation, titled ''Making sense of significant others: "Theories" about significant others and their role in transference'', was supervised by Susan M. Andersen. As a graduate student, Chen collaborated with

Shelly Chaiken Rochelle Lynne "Shelly" Chaiken (born 1949) is an American social psychologist. She first received her BS from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1971 for mathematics. She later earned her MS (in 1975) and her PhD (in 1978) at the Univer ...

Alice Eagly Alice H. Eagly (born 1938) is the James Padilla Chair of Arts and Sciences Emerita and emerita professor of psychology at Northwestern University. She is also a fellow at the Institute of Policy Research at Northwestern University. Her primary res ...

, and

John Bargh John A. Bargh (; born 1955) is a social psychologist currently working at Yale University, where he has formed the Automaticity in Cognition, Motivation, and Evaluation (ACME) Laboratory. Bargh's work focuses on automaticity and unconscious proc ...

. Although Chen's education at NYU largely focused on social cognition, she was more interested in studying the self and relationships.

Research and career

One of Chen's main research areas is focused on the

. She has written numerous articles and publications that focus on concepts of self and how an individual perceives themselves in terms of close relationships and

intergroup relations Intergroup relations refers to interactions between individuals in different social groups, and to interactions taking place between the groups themselves collectively. It has long been a subject of research in social psychology, political psycho ...

. She also utilizes a social-cognition approach towards these concepts due to her background. Chen first worked at

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

. In January 2001, she became a Professor of Psychology at

, where she is currently the Marian E. and Daniel E. Koshland, Jr. Distinguished Chair for Innovative Teaching and Research. Chen is also the Chair of the Psychology Department. In this department, she also runs the 'Self, Identity, and Relationships' (SIR) laboratory, which conducts ongoing research. Chen's research on identity formation was utilized by

TJ Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American discount department store chain. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in the country. TJ Maxx is the flagship chain of the TJX Comp ...

in 2018 to create the Maxx You Project, which hosts workshops that focus on empowering women and celebrating their differences. She has also co-authored a

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

text book, ''Social Psychology'', with Thomas Gilovich,

Dacher Keltner Dacher Joseph Keltner is a Mexican-born American professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, who directs the Berkeley Social Interaction Lab. Biography Keltner was born in Jalisco, Mexico, to two early members of the co ...

, and

Richard E. Nisbett Richard Eugene Nisbett (born June 1, 1941) is an American social psychologist and writer. He is the Theodore M. Newcomb Distinguished Professor of social psychology and co-director of the Culture and Cognition program at the University of Michig ...

Honors and awards

In 2006, Chen won the Early Career Award from the International Society for Self and Identity, which is an award given to an individual who has made advancements in the field within 10 years of obtaining their

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

. In 2007, she was named as a ‘Rising Star’ by the Association for Psychological Science. She also won the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Social Sciences Division of the University of California, Berkeley, in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Serena Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American social psychologists University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty Health professionals from New York City People from Berkeley, California Cornell University alumni New York University alumni University of Michigan faculty