Stanley O. Gaines

Stanley O. Gaines is a social psychologist senior lecturer in the school of social sciences at Brunel University. Gaines is also an author, having written several books, including Culture, Ethnicity, and Personal Relationship Processes,, published by Routledge in 1997 .

Education After earning a BSc in psychology from The University of Texas at Arlington, Gaines completed a PhD in the same field at The University of Texas at Austin in 1991.

In 1996, he received a Ford Foundation fellowship to conduct research at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.[references needed] In 2000, Gaines was a Fulbright Scholar fellow at the University of the West Indies.

Since 2001, Gaines has been a senior lecturer at Brunel University. He is also a chair member of the International Association for Relationship Research, an Editorial Advisory Board member for the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, and a research fellow for the University of Bath.

Career Gaines's research focuses on the links between objective poverty and individual experiences of inner well-being across time among married men and women, and single women heading households in rural villages within India and Zambia.

Impact of Experiences with Racism on African-Descent Persons' Susceptibility to Stereotype Threat Within the United Kingdom (2008)

A study of 103 people in the United Kingdom examined the impact of individual, institutional, cultural, and collective racism on a person's susceptibility to stereotype threat among African-descent persons. The study found that experiences with these types of racism were not significantly related to the susceptibility to stereotype threat, contrary to the study's original hypothesis. The only significant indicator was experience with collective racism, which positively predicted susceptibility. This study dealt with implications for the continuing relevance of Erving Goffman's Symbolic Interactionist Theory and Construct of Stigma. It also related strongly to Claude Steele's construct of stereotype threat to the field of Black psychology.

While previous research on stereotype threat has mostly focused on academic aspects, this study focused on stereotype threat in a wider range of contexts throughout the United Kingdom. Stereotype threat refers to the anxiety and potentially impaired performance that comes from the social stigma of inferiority an individual believes has already been evaluated in their domain. The study was considered relatively novel, as most stereotype threat studies have been conducted in the United States. The hypothesis was that the UK, like the US, would have high rates of stereotype threat among African-descent people. In the study, 49 of the participants were men, and 64 were women, with an average age of 28.12 years. Participants were recruited using snowball sampling within the West London area. They were given a consent document and then asked to complete a survey about stereotype threat.

The most prominent finding from the study was the significant positive effect of experience with collective racism on an African-descent person's susceptibility to stereotype threat. This effect remained significant even after controlling for the other forms of racism. The study connected stereotype threat in modern times to a history where White mobs would target Black individuals as a form of collective racism. The other forms of racism were found to be insignificant, which was noted as surprising and unexpected.

Awards 2018 IARR Book Award: Stanley O. Gaines Jr. received the International Association for Relationship Research (IARR) Book Award in 2018 for his book Personality and Close Relationship Processes, which was recognized for its significant contribution to the field of relationship research.

Other references Plous, S. (2009, December 21). Stanley O. Gaines Jr. Retrieved November 17, 2012, from Social Psychology Network website: http://gaines.socialpsychology.org/research Gaines, Stanley O. Jr. (05/01/2012). "Impact of experiences with racism on African-descent persons' susceptibility to stereotype threat within the United Kingdom.". Journal of black psychology (0095-7984), 38 (2), p. 135. Gaines, S. (2013, March 8). Stanley Gaines. Retrieved November 14, 2013, from Brunel University, London website: http://www.brunel.ac.uk/sss/psychology/staff-profiles/stanley-gaines Gaines, S. O. (2000, July 18). Pomona College Statement on Dr. Gaines' Hunger Strike. Retrieved November 16, 2013, from Tripod website:http://gmoses.tripod.com/gaines/sgdoc003.htm Gaines, S. O. Jr. (1997). Culture, ethnicity, and personal relationship processes. New York: Routledge.