Michael T. Rizzo

Michael T. Rizzo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, within the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. He directs the Developing Equitable Minds Lab (DEML Lab), which focuses on promoting social equity in childhood through research on children's developing conceptions of fairness and social biases.

Dr. Rizzo earned his B.S. from the University of California, San Diego (mentor: Dr. David Liu), his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park (mentor: Dr. Melanie Killen), and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at New York University (mentor: Dr. Marjorie Rhodes).

His research program examines three interrelated questions: (1) How do conceptions of equity develop? (2) How do social biases develop? (3) How can we promote concern for equity and disrupt social biases? Using a constructivist approach, his work investigates how children experience, interpret, and respond to the world around them. His primary research areas include conceptions of fairness, racism and racial bias, social status and structures, theory of mind, and unmoderated remote research with children. His work has been published in top journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, American Psychologist, Child Development, and Developmental Psychology.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong focus on understanding the developmental origins of racial bias, particularly how children's beliefs about social norms and racial inequalities shape their developing racial attitudes. His work demonstrates how children distinguish between structural and individual causes of inequality, and how social status influences children's understanding of fairness and others' mental states. His research has increasingly incorporated innovative methodologies, including unmoderated remote research with children.

Dr. Rizzo's work has been funded by prestigious organizations including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and Beyond Conflict.

He is deeply committed to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion through three primary pathways: transforming university spaces, advancing psychological research practices, and engaging with broader society. His lab partners with organizations like Embrace Race, Story Starters, and We Stories to develop anti-racist education programs and parenting materials. The DEML Lab has created a platform called Developing Minds Online (DMO) that allows for unmoderated remote research with children, enabling families to participate from anywhere.