Linda Tropp 
Professor of Social Psychology | University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA, UNITED STATES
Linda Tropp's research looks at how people’s group membership effects how we see and experience our relationships with other people.
Spotlight
Areas of Expertise (5)
Intergroup Relations
Responses to prejudice
Intergroup Conflict
Intergroup Interactions
Social Psychology
Biography
One of the world's leading experts in intergroup conflict, Linda Tropp is increasingly sought after to explain how, as humans, our membership in groups informs how we see and experience from others. She's also a frequent expert called on to explain how the knowledge of intergroup relations gained from her research can be applied to reduce conflict and combat prejudice.
Video Appearances
Publications:
Documents:
Photos:
Videos:
Audio:
Education (3)
University of California, Santa Cruz: Ph.D., Social Psychology
University of California, Santa Cruz: M.Sc., Social Psychology
Wellesley College: B.A., Psychology and Spanish
Links (3)
Press Coverage (7)
It's Time To Broaden Your Friend Group. Here's How To Start.
HuffPost online
2021-03-15
Tropp says, “When we encounter people who are different from us, we may feel unsure about how to act, or about how we or our intentions will be perceived, and that can make us feel uncomfortable.”
Examining race relations in the U.S.
WWLP-TV tv
2020-09-04
Race relations in the U.S. have been very tense this summer and the most recent police shooting of a black man in Wisconsin continues to keep the subject top of mind. Here with us now to help put it all in perspective is Dr. Linda Tropp, Professor with the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at UMass Amherst.
Understanding the State of Race Relations
WWLP-TV tv
2020-07-01
Linda Tropp discusses the social psychology and group dynamics involved with both peaceful protests and more violent reactions to police police violence.
Linda Tropp
The Pell Center online
2020-01-27
Many people today can mock appeals for understanding between partisans with the phrase, “can’t we all just get along?” For Dr. Linda Tropp however, understanding the dynamics of inter-group conflict and facilitating positive dialogue has become her life’s work.
Trump Wants America to Revert to the Queens of His Childhood
The New Yotk Times print
2018-04-12
Linda Tropp describes how the changing neighborhood in which Donald Trump grew up might have shaped his policies on immigration and racial integration after he became president of the United States..
Yes, You Can Change Someone’s Mind
Yes magazine print
2019-02-01
Linda Tropp convincingly showed that mixing between groups could reduce prejudice and the positive effect of contact grows stronger with closer relationships. “The more contact we have, the less anxious we feel about being with people who are different from us, and the more able we are to empathize with them in terms of what they’re going through,” explains Tropp.
Eating for Peace
Nautilus print
2018-07-05
Linda Tropp, a social psychologist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, found that intergroup contact mitigates people’s preconceived prejudices by reducing people’s anxiety of threat and increasing their capacity for empathy toward members of other groups.
Publications (1)
Why a US government agency deleted the words 'nation of immigrants'
The GuardianLinda R. Tropp and Dina G. Okamoto
2018-03-02
"Why do changes to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services mission statement matter? It may seem like just a few words, but this new language is happening within the context of other alarming changes to our national immigration policies and practices," writes Linda Tropp.
Social