Psychology and Child Development

College of Liberal Arts

Lucy Bencharit

Lucy Bencharit

Pronouns: she, her, hers

Assistant Professor

Contact Information

Education

  • Postdoctoral Fellowship: Stanford SPARQ
  • Ph.D., Psychology and Affective Science, Stanford University
  • M.A., Psychology, New York University
  • B.A., Psychology, New York University

Courses Taught

  • Personality Psychology
  • Teamwork
  • Cross-cultural International Psychology 

Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

My research examines the important role of context in shaping our psychological and real-world outcomes to promote success for diverse groups in employment, workplace, and classroom settings. I am broadly interested in how individual cultural contexts, interpersonal teamwork contexts, and our larger social and environmental contexts may subtly and unconsciously shape our behaviors, relationships, and decision making. 

My first line of research looks how our cultural contexts (i.e., race/ethnicity, nationality, gender, or social class), influence our workplace outcomes. My research addresses questions including: How does culture influence our emotional values and behaviors? How does culture and emotions influence hiring and leadership decisions? How can we leverage our cultural values to facilitate successful outcomes in an increasingly multicultural world? 

My second line of research examines how our interpersonal contexts, like our independent or interdependent styles of teamwork, influence our success in group and team settings. I address questions like: How do diverse groups best work together? How can we create workplace cultures that promote well-being for all? How do we build trust across different teamwork styles? 

Finally, together with my collaborators, I examine the role of the social and environmental contexts on our psychological and workplace outcomes. Specifically, we have examined the role of the physical workplace environment (e.g., presence or absence of diverse representations) and the presence of pandemic-level social isolation on outcomes like belonging, connection to nature, altruism, and workplace absenteeism. We are currently working on questions like: How do ethnic/racial and gender representations in our environments influence our work outcomes? 

Together, my research uncovers how contexts shape individuals and groups in ways that are often invisible to us. My program of research strongly emphasizes the ways in which we can intervene on our contexts to create healthy, efficient, and equitable organizations and institutions.

 

Selected Publications:

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles:

Douglas, I., Chan, D., Bencharit, L.Z., & Billington, S.L. (2024). Understanding How Racism and Affect Impact Public Opinions Toward Affordable Housing in the United States. Journal of Planning Education & Research. 

 

Bianchi, E.L., Bencharit, L.Z., Murane, E.L., Altaf, B., Douglas, I.P., Landay, J.A. & Billington, S.L. (Under review). Effects of architectural interventions on psychological, cognitive, social, and pro-environmental aspects of occupant well-being: results from an immersive online study. Journal of Building and Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111293

 

Bianchi, E.L., Bloomfield, L.S.P., Bencharit, L.Z., Sawe, N., Murane, E.L.,Landay, J.A., Billington, S.L. (2023). The Role of Indoor Nature on Solidarity and Group Identity During Remote Work. Journal of Building and Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2023.110909

 

Altaf, B., Bloomfield, L.S.P., Karzai, D.N., Sawe, N.A., Murane, E.L., Bencharit, L.Z., Landay, J.A., & Billington, S.L. (2023). Time Perception During the Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study Examining the Role of Indoor and Outdoor Nature Exposure for Remote Workers. Building and Environment.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2023.110644

 

Douglas, I., Murane, E., Bencharit, L.Z., Altaf, B., Marcel dos Reis Costa, J., Yang, J., Ackerson, M., Srivastava, C., Cooper, M., Douglas, K., King, J., Paredes, P., Camp, N., Mauriello, M., Ardoin, N.M., Markus, H.R., Landay, J.A. & Billington, S.L. (2022). Space and well-being: A study to quantify the effects of materials, lighting, and representation on biobehavioral outcomes. Building and Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109516

 

Altaf, B., Bianchi, E., Douglas, I.P., Douglas, K., Paredes, P.E., Ardoin, N.M., Markus, H.R., Landay, J.A., Murane, E.L., Bencharit, L.Z., & Billington, S.L. (2022). Use of Online Surveys to Study the Impact of Indoor Space, Architecture, and Design Interventions on Well-being. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, section Health and Cities. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2022.780376

 

Toro, J.D., Lloyd, T., Buchanan, K.S., Robins, S.J., Bencharit, L.Z., Smiedt, M.G., Reddy, K.S., Pouget, E.R., Kerrison, E.M., & Goff, P.A. (2019). When policing causes crime: The criminogenic effects of police stops on adolescent black and Latino boys. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1808976116

 

Bencharit, L.Z., Ho, Y.W., Fung, H., Yeung, D., Stephens, N., Romero, R., & Tsai, J.L. (2018). Should Job Applicants Be Excited or Calm?: The Role of Culture and Ideal Affect in Employment Settings. Emotion.https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000444

 

Tsai, J.L., Blevins, E., Bencharit, L.Z., Chim, L., Holm, B., & Fung, H. (2018).  Judgments of Extraversion Vary By Culture and Ideal Affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000192

 

Book Chapters:

Lao, C.* & Bencharit, L.Z. (2023). How Culture and Emotions Shape Employment Outcomes. In M. Berkland & A.G. Buxbaum (Eds.), Culture and the Global Workplace.

 

Carey, R., & Bencharit, L.Z. (2018). Socio-economic Cultures: How Education Shapes Who We Are. In A.K. Üskül and S. Oishi (Eds.), Socioeconomic Environment and Human Psychology.

 

Bencharit, L.Z. & Tsai, J.L (2016). Positive Psychology in Asian Americans.  In E. Chang (Ed.), Handbook of Positive Psychology in Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups: Theory, Research, Assessment, and Practice.

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