Research Laboratory on Self and Identity

 

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Catherine Amiot Catherine Amiot is an Assistant Professor at UQAM since July 2006. After completing her undergraduate and graduate studies at McGill University (B.A., 1998), UQAM (M.Sc., 2001), and University of Ottawa (Ph.D., 2004), she conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Queensland, Australia (2004-2006). Her research interests are in social psychology, and more specifically, in the areas of self and identity, intergroup relations, and human motivation. Her current work aims to integrate different theoretical traditions in social psychology. Some current research questions are: (1) How do individuals adapt to important changes, and in these changing contexts, how do we integrate new identities? (2) What are the motivations underlying our identification with social groups? Do these different motivations predict specific consequences in terms of ingroup bias and psychological well-being? (3) How do individuals rationalize and legitimize some of their negative behaviours?



Graduate Students
Roxanne Aubin As a Ph.D. student in psychology (research and clinical), I am passionate about social psychology and clinical psychology. For me, these two spheres of psychology are simultaneously quite different and truly complementary. At the end of my undergraduate degree in psychology at McGill University, I worked as a youth counsellor for the Centre Jeunesse de Montréal. I then worked for a year as a lab coordinator in Dr. Donald Taylor’s Intergroup Relations and Aboriginal Peoples Laboratory (IRAP) at McGill. I was thrilled to contribute to research that addresses the Aboriginal situation because this issue particularly touches me. Accordingly, one aspect of the ideas that I am developing with Dre Catherine Amiot concerns the self in the context of intergroup relations. More specifically, my research investigates the impact of the power of a group on its individuals’ well-being. A second aspect of my research project focuses on the collective strategies used by low power group members to acquire more control over their group’s fate.

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Catherine Bergeron
 I completed my Bachelors degree in Psychology and Psychoeducation at the University of Montréal in April 2009. Since September 2009, I have been pursuing my doctorate in the Laboratoire de recherche sur le soi et l’identité (LRSI) under the supervision of Dr. Catherine Amiot. Because of my interests in both research and clinical work, I decided to undertake the Psy.D and Ph. D. My past experiences have led me toward my current research projects. During my B.A., I worked as a research assistant for the Institut Nazareth et Louis-Braille. This work allowed me to become more familiar with the conditions of people with visual impairments. At the same time, I was also a research assistant in the LRSI. For the purpose of my thesis, I sought to reconcile both of my interests by studying how people with visual impairments integrate this aspect of their identity into their self-concept. More specifically, I am interested in strategies of coping, personal and collective identity, identity integration and perception of social stigma.


Sophie Sansfaçon I began my PsyD and PhD in social psychology in September 2008. I conducted an honours thesis during the 2007-2008 school year about the links between motivations to identify as Quebecois, ingroup bias and identity threat. My doctoral thesis will examine the endorsement of diverse group norms. Broadly, I wish to investigate the individual and group variables that contribute to the endorsement of more prosocial group norms (ex.: environmentalist behaviours) versus antisocial group norms (ex.: delinquency behaviours).


Maya Yampolsky

I am pursuing my doctorate in experimental psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal, where my areas of study are social and cultural psychology, as well as self and identity psychology.  During my undergraduate studies at Concordia University, I received training in the areas of developmental psychology and in the psychosocial process of visual impairment; it was through a combination of my course work within these research settings that I became fascinated with the research process, and with the development of the self and its identities.  After my degree, I volunteered in Dr. Andrew Ryder’s Culture, Health and Personality laboratory at Concordia, where my interests in the area of cultural psychology took shape.  At present, under the supervision of Dr. Catherine Amiot at UQÀM, I am able to bridge my enthusiasm for identity development with my passion for culture.  My current research activities focus on the integration of multiple cultural identities for individuals who identify with more than one culture; this topic has roots in my own personal experience as a person with a multicultural heritage. I am also investigating the role of motivation in identification with social groups and its impact on intraindividual and interpersonal consequences.  Moreover, I am currently involved in the development of a dynamic acculturation measure through my collaboration with Dr. Ryder and the Culture, Health and Personality Lab at Concordia.  Some of my other research interests include multiculturalism, intercultural relationships, as well as cross-cultural and subcultural studies.




Undergraduate Students
Patrick Coulombe
 I am presently pursuing my Bachelors degree in psychology at UQAM. Many branches of psychology interest me, the main one being social psychology. For a long time now, I have found interpersonal relationships captivating, and I recently became interested in intergroup relationships. One of the specific topics within the area of intergroup relations that I find particularly fascinating is that of racial discrimination. I am also a big fan of evolutionary psychology. In addition, I am also keen on psychological studies involving chess, as this is a game/pastime that I am passionate about.
I started volunteering in the LRSI in the autumn of 2008, first as the webmaster of this site. I then expanded my involvement by assisting the graduate students administer questionnaires and enter data. In the past, I have also been a research assistant for a graduate student whose work was on animal cognition.
This year, I’m conducting an honours thesis in social and I/O (industrial & organisational) psychology. I then plan on pursuing doctoral studies in evolutionary or social psychology, with the goal of becoming a professor of psychology.


Sarah Gobeil
 Bio available soon in English.


Simon Lapointe
 I am pursuing my undergraduate studies in psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal. I currently volunteer with the LRSI because of my interests in social psychology, particularly in self and identity.  Supporting this group's research is an important part of my learning process. I am additionally interested in clinical psychology and cultural psychology; I volunteer as a research assistant in the Transcultural Psychiatry Clinic of the CLSC Parc-Extension in Montréal. I would like to conduct an honours thesis at the end of my degree and pursue doctoral studies in psychology.