I use a wide range of research methods including functional (connectivity) MRI, eye tracking, (large scale) behavioral experiments with healthy adults, semantic network modeling, and mixed method longitudinal intervention study designs. I practice open science and try to preregister all my studies, publish as much data and code as possible, and upload preprints of my manuscripts. You can find information about individual projects on on my Open Science profile.
Stigma and Social Bias
We know that the appearance of people does not only affect how we perceive them, but also how we relate to and communicate with them. Beautiful people are often treated with preference while people whose appearance deviates from the norm are often associated with unfavorable stereotypes and treated poorly. While the existence of stereotypes is established, it is not clear how these affect cognition and communication when people engage with each other. I am investigating how stigma affects social interaction and testing potential applications for overcoming social bias. Currently, I am working on several projects related to facial differences, racial, and weight related biases in professional settings, health care provision, and legal contexts. Together with my students, I designed a phone app to test the effectiveness of educational interventions to reduce racial and religious bias.
Mechanisms Underlying the Cognitive and Social Bias against Facial Differences (Funded by VCTC Foundation)
Faces are central to how people communicate and connect. They help us recognise others, read emotions, and build relationships. Our perceptual and cognitive systems are finely tuned to process facial information, but deviations from typical facial configurations can disrupt typical face processing, possibly inhibiting empathy and social engagement. These responses are shaped by cognitive and neural mechanisms, cultural narratives, and social learning that associate facial typicality with normality and anomaly with stigma. Consequently, facial differences often lead to reduced eye contact, distorted emotional processing, and implicit bias even among well-intentioned observers. We know little about why such biases occur or their cognitive and neural foundations. Research suggests that people focus more on the visible difference rather than the face, which may make it harder to recognise emotions and connect. Other possible explanations include instinctive avoidance, reduced emotional engagement, and difficulties interpreting unfamiliar facial expressions. Many studies used highly artificial face images, which do not reflect real people’s faces. This project uses photographs of individuals with varying facial differences, combined with behavioural, eye-tracking, and fMRI methods, to uncover what drives these biases. People with lived experience will shape the research and ensure relevance and sensitivity to their perspectives. This project is developed in collaboration with Face Equality International (https://faceequalityinternational.org/). The findings will clarify how people perceive and respond to facial differences and inform the development of a practical educational resource for clinicians and educators. This educational tool will promote understanding, empathy, and practical guidance to reduce stigma and lessen the self-advocacy burden faced by people with visible differences.
Reading for Wellbeing and Learning
Most people agree that reading is ‘good for you’ and we encourage children to enjoy reading from early on. Though this evidence is disputed, a few studies found a link between reading and better social skills. But how this connection works and whether there is in fact a causal connection is far from clear. In 2023, together with a group of students and Angela Kennedy (https://www.innovatingforwellbeing.co.uk), we conducted a large intervention bibliotherapy study to look at the effects of fiction reading and wellbeing (preprint coming soon). There are several new projects underway that are connecting reading and wellbeing research.
Franziska Hartung, PhD 