Faculty

Summary of Expertise

Gender, social identity, and social justice, especially affirmative action.

Research Interests

Faye Crosby is a social psychologist specializing in social justice. She is interested in the relation between objective (i.e., consensual) and subjective reality; she has looked at individual attitudes in the context of social change and stability.

While testing the theory of relative deprivation, Professor Crosby discovered a phenomenon entitled "the denial of personal disadvantage." She found that people typically imagine themselves to be exempt from the injustices that they can recognize as affecting their membership or reference groups. One line of her research documents the cognitive and motivational bases of the denial of personal disadvantage.

Given how widespread is the denial of personal disadvantage, organizations need to avert unrest through monitoring and other proactive systems like affirmative action. Yet affirmative action is very controversial. Professor Crosby's current work investigates the bases of people's reactions to affirmative action. She is now using her affirmative action work to launch a new series of studies on how people can undertake non-revolutionary changes in rules that come to be revealed as unfair. She is also examining other ways, such as mentoring, of enhancing the peaceful evolution of work organizations.

Note: Professor Crosby is not accepting new graduate students at this time.

Biography, Education and Training

Ph.D., Boston University
A.B., Wheaton College

Honors, Awards and Grants

Carolyn Wood Sherif Award (div 35 of APA)
Kurt Lewin Award (SPSSI)
Doctor of Laws (hon) Ball State University
Sherrie Spendlove Prize (UC Merced)

Selected Publications

• Crosby, F.J. and Sabattini, L. Family and work balance. In J. Worell and Carol Goodheart (Eds.), Handbook of Girls’ and Women’s Psychological Health. New York: Oxford University Press. In press.
• Iyer, A., Franco, J. L., and Crosby, F. J. Justice theory. In J. M. Burns, G. R. Goethals, and G. Sorensen (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Leadership. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing Group. In press.
• Elizondo, E. and Crosby, F.J. Attitudes toward affirmative action as a function of the strength of ethnic identity among Latino college students. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. In press.
• Crosby, F.J., Biernat, M., and Williams, J. The maternal wall: Introduction. Journal of Social Issues. In press.
• Affirmative action is dead: Long live affirmative action. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004.
• Stockdale, M.S. and Crosby, F.J. (Eds.) The Psychology and Management of Workplace Diversity. Boston: Blackwell, 2004.
• Lubensky, M.E., Holland, S.L., Wiethoff, C.M. and Crosby, F.J. Diversity and sexual orientation: Including and valuing sexual minorities in the workplace. In M.S. Stockdale and F.J. Crosby (Eds.), The Psychology and Management of Workplace Diversity (pp. 206-223). Boston: Blackwell, 2004.
• Crosby, F.J. and Blake-Beard, S. Affirmative action: Diversity, merit, and the benefit of white people. In M. Fine, L. Weis, L.C. Powell & L. M. Wong (Eds.), Off White: Readings on Race, Power, and Society. 2nd edition (pp. 146-160). New York: Routledge, 2004.
• Crosby, F.J., Iyer, A., Clayton, S., and Downing, R. Affirmative action: Psychological data and the policy debates. American Psychologis, 2003, 58, 93-115
• Iyer, A, Leach, C.W., and Crosby, F.J. White guilt and racial compensation: The benefits and limits of self focus. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2003. 29, 117-129.
• Sabattini, L. and Crosby, F.J. Problematizing problems. Feminism and Psychology, 2003, 13, 265-273.
• Crosby, F.J. and Franco, J. The ivory tower and the multicultural world. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2003, 362-373.
• Skitka, L.J. and Crosby, F.J. Trends in the social psychological study of justice. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2003, 7, 282-285.
• Work-life policies, programs, and practices: Helping women, men, and workplaces.  In M. Connerley & J. Wu (Eds.), The handbook on well-being of working women.  London:  Springer.(2015)
• Between relative deprivation and entitlement: An historical analysis of the battle for same sex marriage in the United States.  In C. Sabbagh & M. Schmitt (Eds.), The handbook of social justice research.  New York; Springer Publications. (2016). 
• J., & Weaver, K.  (2016). Racism, causal explanations, and affirmative action.  In  J. A. Krosnick, I-C. A. Chiang, J. & T. H. Stack (Eds.), Political psychology: New explorations (pp. 419-445).  New York:  Routledge.
• Crosby, F. J. (2017).  Peer mentoring retreats for addressing dilemmas of senior women in STEM careers: The Nag’s Heart Model.  In S. Blake-Beard & A. Murrell (Eds). Mentoring diverse leaders: Creating change for people, processes and paradigms (pp. 218-234).  New York:  Routledge Press.