ELVIRA PRUSACZYK
PhD, MA, Social Psychology
BA, Psychology
Dr. Elvira Prusaczyk is the director of the Prejudice Awareness and Reduction (PAR) Lab and an assistant professor in the Psychology Department. Currently, she teaches Social Psychology and the Psychology of Sex and Gender. Next year she will also teach the Psychology of Prejudice, Stereotyping, and Discrimination and co-teach the Art and Science of Student Flourishing.
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Elvira earned her PhD in Social Psychology in August 2023. For both her Master's and dissertation work, she was supervised by Dr. Gordon Hodson, a world-renowned expert in prejudice and discrimination. Her master's work showed that women's objections to aggressive jokes targeting their ingroup are dampened, and they accept sexism more, when they are higher in cavalier humour beliefs (the belief that jokes are "just jokes," or harmless); these findings hold true even after controlling for women's levels of hostile sexism. Across her PhD studies, Elvira showed that pornography consumption can increase bias and sexual harm toward women, if viewers (self-identified men or women) are ideologically predisposed to traditionalism, desire gender-based hierarchies, and exhibit greater sexual arousal in response to hardcore pornography.
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Elvira earned her Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) in Psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). For her honours thesis, she was supervised by Dr. Becky Choma, an expert in political ideology, prejudice, and discrimination. Her honours thesis investigated skin-tone surveillance (a group-specific manifestation of self-objectification), showing that it predicts greater skin-colour dissatisfaction and greater skin-bleaching behaviour among women living in India and African American women living in the United States, particularly if they endorse system-justifying ideologies (e.g., social dominance orientation, colour-blindness).
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Elvira is passionate about maintaining a balanced and mindful lifestyle. Her hobbies include practicing yoga, particularly Hatha flow and Yin yoga. She also engages in and co-teaches various forms of meditation, including breath meditation, body scans, and loving-kindness meditation. Outside of her wellness practices, she loves spending quality time with her American bulldog, Dallas (named after Dallas Green of City and Colour!). She also enjoys cooking, gardening, reading, and listening to podcasts and audiobooks!
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MADISON WALKER
BSc Student, Psychology
Madison is a student at St. Francis Xavier University, pursuing a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Psychology. Currently, she works as a research assistant in the PAR lab, contributing to projects that examine the effectiveness of bystander intervention programs for the prevention of sexual violence on undergraduate campuses. In the upcoming academic year, Madison will complete her honours thesis under the supervision of Dr. Prusaczyk, examining the moderators of change within the Waves of Change Program at StFX – a bystander intervention program for the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence on university campuses. Her research will investigate which groups benefit most from the program and why. After graduation, Madison is looking to pursue a career in clinical psychology. She is drawn to this field by a desire to help others through clinical work while continuing to pursue her research interests and passion for teaching.
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Madison’s research interests span various topics, including sexual violence prevention, health and wellness, mental health, adolescent and child psychology, inclusive health practices, and the intersection of these areas with vulnerable populations. Her passion for these subjects is driven by her commitment to understanding and improving mental health and wellness.
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Beyond her studies and research, Madison is passionate about physical fitness and enjoys weightlifting. She also loves listening to podcasts, cooking, playing outdoor sports, and spending time with friends and family, including her black lab Harlow!
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LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/madison-walker0127
JOSÉE LANDRY
BA, Psychology
Josée recently graduated from St. Francis Xavier University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (first-class Honours). She completed her honours thesis under Dr. Prusaczyk's supervision, investigating when and why exposure to pornography releases sexual harm toward women. Currently, she is a research assistant in the PAR lab working on projects related to mindfulness and bias reduction. In the Fall of 2024, Josée starts in Dalhousie's Graduate School of Communicative Disorders as a Master's student in speech-language pathology. She hopes to one day work in a children's hospital or within schools, empowering youth to gain confidence and meet their various linguistic goals.
Josée has many research interests including but not limited to the impacts of pornography on cognition, undergraduate mental health, sexism, bias reduction (notably towards women, sexual and racial minorities), mindfulness, sexual assault reduction, language acquisition, speech-language related disorders, bilingualism, inclusive and diversifying education, anxiety, eating disorders, and social media use during developmental periods.
Her hobbies include training her puppy, rug-hooking, bead embroidery, baking, cooking, reading, painting, digital design, gardening and finding new music to add to her playlists.
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LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/josée-landry212
TORI WATTAM
MA, Social Psychology
BA, Psychology
Tori graduated from Brock University with their Master’s in Psychology and completed both their Bachelor of Arts (first-class Honours) and Master’s under Dr. Angela Book, a renowned expert in psychopathy and victim selection. They currently work in the PAR lab as a research assistant examining how Canadian immigrants use online spaces to express, advance, and evolve their cultural identities in Canada. They will be continuing their education with a PhD in Psychology in the near future.
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Tori’s research interests include, but are not limited to, applied approaches in Forensic Psychology and how the justice system impacts mental health of those within it and disadvantaged groups. They are also interested in fear, threat processing, psychopathy, violence, decriminalization of substances and sex work, and the psychological impact of community on crime and poverty.
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Tori strongly values creativity and the arts balanced with science in life, and their hobbies include reading, drawing, gardening, and in their spare time they are renovating their apartment. They also enjoy outdoor activities like hiking and kayaking.
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