Eric David Knowles

Eric David Knowles is a Professor of Psychology at New York University, affiliated with the Department of Psychology under the College of Arts & Science. He directs the Politics and Intergroup Relations Lab (PIRL), focusing on how group identities shape political judgments. His research examines racial and economic factors influencing political attitudes, with a focus on White Americans’ intergroup dynamics and colonial ideologies. Key areas include racial identity politics, system justification, and the psychology of inequality.

Education: Ph.D. in Social Psychology from UC Berkeley (2003).

Research Interests: Political psychology, intergroup relations, social class disparities, racial and religious prejudice, and the role of identity in policy attitudes. Recent work explores colonial ideologies affecting Puerto Rico statehood support and the psychological underpinnings of White identity politics.

Publications (selected): Over 30 peer-reviewed articles, including high-impact papers in Nature Human Behaviour, Nature Communications, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Awards: None explicitly listed in provided texts.

Lab Activities: The PIRL lab investigates group identities (race, gender, class) and their interplay with political behavior. Current projects address colonialism psychology, precarious masculinity, and pandemic-era partisan health behaviors. Not accepting graduate students for the current admissions cycle.