Overview
The Culture and Relationships Lab is directed by Dr. Karen Wu. Currently, we are investigating an array of different research questions, including:
- How are our genes related to our personality traits, social behaviors, and social relationships?
- How do people perceive individuals who are in interracial relationships?
- What accounts for racial and ethnic preferences in dating? How do people explain their preferences?
- What does "I love you" mean across various cultural backgrounds? How do people interpret the expression within their romantic relationships?
- How do people of diverse cultural groups experience and navigate social exclusion? What biases do they face?
Other topics of interest include:
- How do couples navigate gender roles and caretaking responsibilities postpartum? How do these decisions affect relationship well-being?
- What is the experience of parenting without a village? How do couples or individuals navigate its challenges?
- How do new mothers change in their identity postpartum? How do they perceive their relationships with close others (e.g., partners, family members, friends, pets)?
Graduate students are not limited to these topics and are encouraged to generate and test their own research questions on topics related to culture and/or close relationships. Thus, graduate students should develop skills in independent thinking and creativity that will aid them in a research-oriented PhD program.
Joining the Lab
The lab meets weekly during the school year. During lab meetings, students may discuss research, give research presentations, or work on ongoing projects. Outside of the meeting, students may also be involved in other tasks such as conducting literature searches, testing and refining the study design, building surveys, training for studies, running participants, coding data, and working on independent projects. Essential qualities in lab members include good communication skills, reliability, conscientiousness, time management skills, and the ability to work with others. Strong quantitative and writing skills are also highly valued, especially in graduate students or undergraduates who are interested in independent projects.
Undergraduates interested in joining the lab should email Dr. Karen Wu ([email protected]) for an application, whereas interested graduate students must formally apply to the MA program. Undergraduates -- please note that a GPA of at least 3.4 is recommended.
Current Labbies
Lisette I joined this lab excited about psychological research and with the goal of entering a PhD program. While pursuing my M.A. degree at CSULA, I examined how political alignment could predict and, in some circumstances, shape sexist beliefs. My ongoing research interests include how implicit bias can be brought into explicit awareness, thereby reducing implicit bias when people are motivated to do so. Additionally, I am currently in a PhD program with a focus on positive development. I examine how an individual’s verbal behavior, or the way they speak in their everyday lives, influences flourishing and well-being. My goal is to better understand how we can reshape individuals’ verbal patterns from “negative” to “positive” in ways that may help cultivate positive life outcomes. |
Alyson I began my MA in Psychology at CSULA of Fall 2026. My research interests focus on loneliness, attraction, and the struggle for power in niche online communities. In the future, I hope to pursue my PhD and continue my work in research and academia. I spend most of my time exercising, writing, watching many different forms of media, and playing tabletop role-playing games with friends! |
Clarissa I started attending CSULA in Fall 2026. I'm working on my MA in Psychology, with a focus on social psychology. Some of my research interests include women, gender, and power, specifically the effects of our current patriarchal system on society. After earning my Master's degree, I hope to pursue a PhD in psychology and dedicate my career to further research on women's issues. In addition to research, I love photography, music, and anything generally artistic. . |
Cat (Jiawei) I began at CSULA as a psychology major in 2019, drawn to questions about how nature and nurture shape personality, attribution, and interpersonal relationships. Those questions carried me to Claremont Graduate University, where I am now a PhD student in applied social psychology. My research applies operant learning principles, formalized in the Function-Altering Contingency Theory (FACT), to establish or reduce socially consequential behaviors across domains, including reducing implicit racial bias and biased responding, increasing help-seeking among people experiencing depression, and strengthening connectedness with nature. Outside the lab, I am devoted to things that are ugly-cute, my flat-faced fat cat above all. |
Recent Conference Presentations by Students
~Xiang, J., *Bailey, L. Wu, K., & Schlinger, H.D. (2026, February). Reducing Implicit, Explicit, and Behavioral Racial Bias Sustainably and Ecologically: The Learn Your Attitude Program. Poster presented at the meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Chicago, Illinois.
*Xiang, J., **Bailey, L. Wu, K., & Schlinger, H.D. (2024, August). Reducing Implicit Racial Attitude with Operant Learning: Operant-based Intervention. Single talk (data blitz) to be presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Seattle, Washington.
**Reynosa, J. & Wu, K. (2024, February). Breaking the cycle: Familial approval and relationship quality of 2nd and 3rd generation Latinx interracial vs. intraracial daters. Poster to be presented at the meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, California.
**Bailey, L., **Perez, F.L., *Xiang, J. & Wu, K. (2024, February). “Is love really your own business?” Latinx interracial vs. intraracial couples' relationship quality and perceived support from family, friends, and strangers. Poster to be presented at the meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, California.
*Olmos, K., Wu, K., **Manzur, A.L., & **Vargas, A. (2024, February). “We’re not that different!” Exploring relationship milestones for Latinx interracial and intraracial daters. Poster to be presented at the meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, California.
*Aueyong, E., **Nunez, R., & Wu, K. (2023, May). Less about Race, More about Connection: Similar Milestones between Interracial and Intraracial Couples. Poster presented at the meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC.
*Shapiro, M.E., & Wu, K. (2023, May). Social Influences on Love: Women in Same-Gender Vs. Mixed-Gender Couples Differ in Commitment Milestones. Poster presented at the meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC.
**Olmos, K., **Manzur, A.L., & Wu, K. (2023, April). You’re The Only One Who Gets Me!”: Gender and Ethnic Differences in Perceived Social Support. Poster presented at the meeting of the Western Psychological Association, Riverside, California.
*Spence, D., & Wu, K. (2023, April). “It’s Complicated”: The Roles of Social Support and Coping Strategies in Psychological Abuse Across Romantic Relationships. Single talk presented at the meeting of the Western Psychological Association, Riverside, California.
*Tesoro, F., & Wu, K. (2023, April). Cultural Matching: The Role of Acculturation and Enculturation on Filipino Parenting and Emerging Adults’ Well-being. Poster presented at the meeting of the Western Psychological Association, Riverside, California.
*Shapiro, M.E., & Wu, K. (2022, August). Does Attachment Rule the Bedroom? The Relationship Between Gender, Attachment Style, and Sexual Assertiveness in Couples. Poster presented at the International Association for Relationship Research, Virtual (Formerly London, UK).
**Khaw, H., **Magana, R., & Wu, K. (2022, February). More power, less pressure: Gender does not moderate the link between power in a romantic relationship and sexual coercion. Poster presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Francisco, California.
*Saito, K., Wu, K., *Hsiao, C.Y., **Vasquez, D., **Zepeda, T., & **Hernandez, A. (2019, March). Different stories of love: Chinese couples are committed, whereas American couples are physically intimate. Poster presented at the International Convention of Psychological Science, Paris, France.
**Aueyong, E., **Bush, A., **Mata, K., & Wu, K. (2019, February). Different rules, same pace: Similarities between interracial and intraracial relationship milestones. Poster presented at the meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Portland, Oregon.
~PhD student; *Master’s student; **Undergraduate student