Dr. Jason A. Okonofua
Mindset Science Solutions
Applying Science to Solve Real World Issues
Biography
Dr. Jason Okonofua is a social psychologist in the Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences at Brown University. His interest in science-based and scalable strategies to combat inequity in society spans contexts such as education, criminal justice, and business. It investigates how negative stereotypes can contribute to disparities in life outcomes and how that process can be dismantled. This information is used to scientifically test feasible solutions. For example, he investigates how bias can be sidelined in pivotal real-world contexts such that historical and pervasive societal issues can be addressed:
Dr. Okonofua's work is situated to inform psychological theory, field experimentation, and public policy.
Science interests: behavioral economics, cost-efficient organizational solutions, social psychology
Learn more at: empathicinstruction.org
Applied Research
What does the science say?
What do we know about discipline problems?
A Vicious Cycle - Perspective on Psychological Science
How can we better understand K-12 school discipline?
A Dynamic Nature - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
How can we reduce discipline problems?
An Empathic Mindset - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
How can we close racial disparities in discipline rates?
An Empathic Mindset - Science Advances
How to do something today?
Empathic Instruction
Curriculum Vitae
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Associate Professor, Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences
Brown University, Providence, RI 2024-present
Assistant Professor, Psychology Department
University of California, Berkeley, CA 2016-2024
Post Doctoral Researcher, Psychology Department
Stanford University, Stanford, CA 2015-2016
EDUCATION
Ph.D. in psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Advisers: Dr. Gregory Walton & Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt
B.A. in Psychology and African American studies, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
Advisers: Dr. Jennifer Richeson & Dr. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale June 2008
AWARDS
2024 Early Career Contributions Award, Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning
2023 APS Fellow, Association for Psychological Science
2023 Cialdini Prize,Society for Personality and Social Psychology
2022 JanetTaylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions, Association
for Psychological Science2022 Rising Star Award, Association forPsychological Science
2022 Foundations for Change: Thomas I.Yamashita Prize
2017 Cialdini Prize, Society for Personality andSocial Psychology
2015 People’s Choice Award, TheRoot 100,
2015 Distinguished Scholar Award,Stanford University, Vice Provostof Graduate Education
2015 Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence, StanfordUniversity
2013 GraduateResearch Opportunity Award, Stanford University
2013 DiversityTravel Award, Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP)
2011 OutstandingGraduate Teaching Award, Stanford University, Psychology One Program
SELECT MANUSCRIPTS AND PUBLICATIONS
Darling-Hammond, S.*, Ruiz, M.*,Eberhardt, J. L., & Okonofua, J. A.(2023). The dynamic nature of student discipline and discipline disparities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(17),e2120417120.
Ferguson, Z. E.*, Jarvis, S. N.*,Antonoplis, S.*, & Okonofua, J. A.(2023). Principal Beliefs Predict Responses to Individual Students’ Misbehavior. Educational Researcher,0013189X231158389.
Afulani, P. A.,Okiring, J., Aborigo, R. A., Nutor, J. J., Kuwolamo, I., Dorzie, J. B. K., Semko,
S.*, Okonofua, J. A., & Mendes,W. B. (2023). Provider implicit and explicit bias in person-centered maternity care: a cross-sectional study with maternity providers in Northern Ghana. BMC Health Services Research, 23(1),1-15.
Okonofua,J. A., Harris, L. T.,& Walton, G. M. (2022). Sidelining Bias: A Situationist Approach to Reduce
the Consequences of Bias in Real-World Contexts. Current Directions inPsychological Science, 09637214221102422.Okonofua, J. A. (2022). Controlled labexperiments are one of many useful scientific methods to investigate bias. Behavioraland Brain Sciences, 45.
Okonofua, J. A., Goyer, J. P., Lindsay,C. A., Haugabrook, J., & Walton, G. M. (2022). A scalable empathic-mindset intervention reduces group disparities in school suspensions. Science Advances,8(12), eabj0691.
Perez*, A. D., & Okonofua, J. A. (2022). The good andbad of a reputation: Race and punishment in K-12 schools. Journal ofExperimental Social Psychology, 100, 104287.
Walton, G. M., Okonofua, J. A., Remington Cunningham, K., Hurst, D., Pinedo, A.,Weitz, E., Ospina, J. P., Tate, H., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2021). Lifting the
Bar: A Relationship-Orienting Intervention Reduces Recidivism Among Children
Reentering School From Juvenile Detention. Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211013801
+ Received the 2022 Cialdini Prize from SPSPBookser, B. A.*, Ruiz, M.*, Olu-Odumosu,A.*, Kim, M.*, Jarvis, S. N.*, & Okonofua,J. A. (2021). Context matters for preschool discipline: Effects of distancelearning and pandemic fears. School Psychology.
Okonofua, J. A., Saadatian, K.*, Ocampo,J.*, Ruiz, M.*, & Oxholm, P. D.* (2021). A scalable empathic supervision intervention to mitigate recidivism from probation and parole. Proceedingsof the National Academy of Sciences, 118(14).
Okonofua,J. A., Perez, A. D.*,& Darling-Hammond, S.* (2020). When policy and psychology meet: Mitigating the consequences of bias in schools. Science Advances, 6.
Jarvis, S. N.*, & Okonofua, J. A. (2020). Schooldeferred: When bias affects school leaders. Social Psychological andPersonality Science, 11(4), 492-498.
Goyer, P., Walton, G. M., Cook, J., Master, A., Apfel, N., Garcia. J., Okonofua, J.A., & Cohen, G. L. (2019). A brief middle school social-belonging intervention reducesdiscipline incidents among Black boys through the end of high school. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
News Coverage
Berkeley News
Article by Jason Pohl
Berkeley News
Article by Yasmin Anwar
MSNBC
Segment on Melissa Harris Perry’s Show
Watch interview about my research that shows how large race disparities in school discipline in the United States are, in part, driven by racial stereotypes that can lead teachers to escalate their negative responses to Black students over the course of multiple interpersonal (e.g., teacher-to-student) encounters.
The Wall Street Journal
Article by Alison Gopnik
Reuters
Article by Alex Dobuzinskis
Daily Mail
Article by Richard Gray
Ongoing Work
Empathic Mindset in Healthcare
Better trust, better care
Okonofua's research lab is designing and testing an online, scalable, and cost-efficient patient care enhancement tool. This innovative form of professional development will help healthcare providers utilize a more empathic mindset to build better trust with their patients and more effective treatment plans with them.
Empathic Mindset in Workplaces
Better perspective, better productivity
Workplaces often suffer from interpersonal conflict that both stems from and contributes to toxic and unproductive outcomes. Okonofua's research lab is validating an interactive online tool to help employees and employers to better communicate and interact with one another in a manner that sidelines potential conflicts and improves productivity.
Copyright 2015