Donna Crawley

Donna Crawley is a retired Professor of Psychology at Ramapo College of New Jersey (RCNJ), where she served from 1984 until her retirement. Her academic affiliation lies within the School of Social Science and Human Services (SSHS) and the Psychology Department. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Psychology and Personality from Cornell University (1983) and a B.A. in Psychology from Lafayette College (1979).

Her research focuses on perceptions of criminal defendants, detection of deception, and related topics such as gender roles, risk-taking behavior, and mortality salience. She has explored societal attitudes toward criminal defendants, racial bias in sentencing, and empathy in legal contexts. Her work often employs experimental methods and psychological scales to measure biases and decision-making processes.

Crawley’s publications span journals like Sage Open and Psy Chi Journal of Psychological Research, with a focus on themes such as defendant perception scales, gender differences in risk assessment, and the impact of mortality salience on empathy. She has collaborated with students and colleagues on studies presented at conferences like the Association for Psychological Science and the Eastern Psychological Association.

Her teaching portfolio includes courses such as Introduction to Psychology, Social Psychology, Forensic Psychology, and Research Methods. She has mentored students in advanced research topics, including the psychology of cults and data analysis.