Understanding intergroup bias and social harm
How individual differences, ideologies, social identities, norms, media, cultural environments and institutions shape how people perceive and treat members of their own and other social groups.
Dr. Elvira Prusaczyk
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Dr. Elvira Prusaczyk
PHD | Director of the Prejudice Awareness and Reduction (PAR) Lab.
- 548Google Scholar citations
- $259K+Competitive funding since 2024
- 12H-index
- 13i10-index
- 24Students Supervised
- 30Conference Presentations
Hi, there! My name is Elvira (El-vee-rah) Prusaczyk (Pru-sah-chick). I’m an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at St. Francis Xavier University (StFX), situated in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. I teach Social Psychology, Psychology of Gender, and the Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination.
As Director of the Prejudice Awareness and Reduction (PAR) Lab, I am inspired by Dr. Kurt Lewin’s foundational principle that behavior is a function of both the person and their situation. Applying this framework, my research investigates how individual and situational factors interact to influence the expression of bias, prejudice, and discrimination. Ultimately, the lab aims to understand how shifting these person-situation dynamics can foster cooperative, egalitarian, and prosocial systems.
Currently
Updated September 2026Adapting an open-access social psychology textbook to integrate Indigenous ways of knowing.
Inspired by Mi’kmaq Elder Albert Marshall’s concept of two-eyed seeing (Etuaptmumk). Supported by a 2026 AtlanticOER Development Grant.
What I work on
Testing pathways to bias and harm reduction
Identifying and testing ways of interrupting the psychological and social processes that sustain bias and harm — and asking when they work, through which mechanisms, and for whom.
Teaching
Social Psychology, Psychology of Gender, and the Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination.
Mentorship
Supporting student researchers as whole people, with structured training in research design, analysis and scientific writing alongside practices that build resilience, self- and other-awareness, and balance.
Credentials
- PhD, Social/Personality Psychology Brock University
- MA, Social/Personality Psychology Brock University
- BA, Psychology Toronto Metropolitan University
Where to find me
Department of Psychology
St. Francis Xavier University Antigonish, NS B2G 2W5- Monday to Friday
- 9am — 5pm (Atlantic Time)
Grants and recognition
- AtlanticOER Development Grant Supporting the open-access social psychology textbook adaptation · 2026
- SSHRC Knowledge Mobilization Grant Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada · 2024–2025
- SSHRC-funded developmental research Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, with Dr. Steele
Downloads
Find my work online
Public Projects
View all
Preliminary Evaluation of the Waves of Change Bystander Intervention Training for Sexual Violence Prevention
Systematic Review of Bystander Intervention Programs for Sexual Violence Prevention in North American Post-Secondary Campuses
A cautionary note on interpreting research findings in the presence of statistical suppression
An objectification theory lens for understanding compliance with COVID-19 safety measures.
Multivocational by choice: What difference does it make?
The Complexity of Assessing Ministry-Specific Satisfaction and Stress
Next update: December 15, 2026.
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