Associate Professor of Psychology
Diversity & Inclusion Committee Chair
Moderator, Psychology Club
Office: FC 207
Phone: (410) 617-2738
Email: debetz@loyola.edu
Education
- B.A. (Psychology & Spanish) - Drew University
- Ph.D. (Social Psychology) - University of Michigan
Scholarly Interests
Stereotyping and prejudice are a core theme running through my diverse research interests. I have studied stereotypes’ effects on people’s self-views (e.g., the effect of “fitspiration” on women’s body image) and their goals or aspirations (e.g., work on implicit bias affecting women in math and science). I have studied how prejudice affects interpersonal interactions, from flirting with sexist humor to perceiving racism in everyday events. And I am interested in how people think about social justice challenges, including sexual assault and institutional racism.
Representative Publications
Betz, D. E., Sabik, N., & Ramsey, L. R. (2019). Ideal comparisons: Body ideals harm women's body image through social comparison. Body Image, 29, 100-109. [doi]
Alexander, J., Betz, D. E., Gonnerman, C., & Waterman, J. (2018). Framing how we think about disagreement. Philosophical Studies, 175(10), 2539-2566. [doi]
Betz, D. E., & Ramsey, L. R. (2017). Should women be "All About That Bass?": Diverse body-ideal messages and women's body image. Body Image, 22, 18-31. [doi]
Ramsey, L. R., Betz, D. E., & Sekaquaptewa, D. (2013). The effects of an academic environment intervention on science identification among women in STEM. Social Psychology of Education, 16, 377-397. [doi]
Betz, D. E., Ramsey, L. R., & Sekaquaptewa, D. (2013). Perceiving race relevance in everyday events: Target race matters, perceiver race does not. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 16(6), 699-716. [doi]
Betz, D. E., & Sekaquaptewa, D. (2012). My fair physicist? Feminine math and science role models demotivate young girls. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3(6), 738-746. [doi]
Course Offerings
- PY 101 - Introductory Psychology
- PY 201 - Social Psychology
- PY 291 & 292 - Research Methods I and II
- PY 711/886 - Special Topics: Stereotypes and Prejudice
- PY 813 - Social and Cultural Bases of Behavior
- PY 832 - Research Methods in Clinical Psychology I