John Paul Wilson

John Paul Wilson is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Montclair State University, affiliated with the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. He holds a PhD in Social Psychology from Miami University and has conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on person perception, including how social factors influence judgments of others and their implications for criminal justice and societal issues. Key interests include facial trustworthiness, racial bias in size perception, and eyewitness identification accuracy.

• Education:
  • PhD, Social Psychology, Miami University (2013)
  • BS, Psychology, Birmingham-Southern College (2006)
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Toronto (2013–2016)

Dr. Wilson’s research has explored topics such as the role of facial features in sentencing outcomes, cross-race recognition biases, and the psychological underpinnings of social rejection. He has secured grants from the NSF and SSHRC, and his work has been published in top journals like Psychological Science and Social Psychological and Personality Science. His teaching includes courses on cultural psychology and social psychology.

He has received multiple awards, including the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention and the Commendation for Teaching Impact. His lab focuses on applied social psychology, bridging basic research with real-world applications in criminal justice and public health.