Research

Research Interests

My research draws on perspectives from developmental and social psychology to understand how children reason about structural inequality and biases. For instance, how would children develop structural biases and hierarchy-reinforcing beliefs when placed in an advantaged position. Consequently, I want to explore how structural biases linked to social categories (socioeconomic status, race, gender) shape children’s social beliefs and evaluations of group members’ abilities. Utilizing an online unmoderated data collection approach, I am also interested in studying how parental inputs and neighborhood socioeconomic factors influence children’s trait development and intergroup attitudes. 

Publications 

Chao, T. W. T., Mei, J., & Rizzo, M. T. (2025). Social status is related to children’s responses to third-person inequalities. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 249, 106117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2024.106117

Erentzen, C. A., Chao, T. W.-T., & Chasteen, A. L. (2024). Caring to a fault: Perceived moral difference between the self and Muslim “others” as a predictor of Islamophobia. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000536

Radovanovic, M., Chao, T. W. T., Onyshko, E., Huynh, Q. D. T., Liu, Y. L., & Sommerville, J. A. (2023). Not just if, but how much: Children and adults use cost and need to make evaluations about generosity across contexts. Cognition, 238, 105533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105533

Forthcoming Scholarly Publications 

Chao, T. W. T., Tian, L., Witkower, Z., & Rule, N. O. (revise & resubmit). Cross-cultural perceptions of bowing and nods as contactless greetings. Social Psychological and Personality Science.

Tian, L., Chao, T. W. T., & Rule, N. O. (revise & resubmit). City slicker or country bumpkin? Distinguishing urban and rural residents from subtle facial cues. European Journal of Social Psychology.

Radovanovic, M., Chao, T. W. T., Curtosi, N., Westerhoff, S., Soler, E., & Sommerville, J. A. (under review). Psychological processes reflect and sustain gender inequities in emotional and cognitive labor. Science

Rizzo, M. T., Chao, T. W. T., Mei, J., Rooney, A., & Ausland, L. (invited book chapter submission). The Development of Racial Bias, Prejudice, and Discrimination in White U.S. Children. Advances in Prejudice Research.

Chao, T. W. T., Mei, J., Shang, I., Macias, E., Mkrtychian, Z., Zhang, D., Serrano Rodriguez, J., Straka, B., & Rizzo, M. T. (in prep). AI-Faces by Illinois: A Database of AI-Generated Faces Depicting Children. https://osf.io/vurm5/

Chao, T. W. T., Williams, T., Mei, J., & Rizzo, M. T. (in prep). The Role of “Theory of Prejudiced Mind” in Children’s Developing Understanding of Structural Inequalities 

Conference Talks

Chao, T. W. T., Williams, T., Mei, J., & Rizzo, M. T. (under review). Theory of Prejudiced Mind Shapes U.S. Children’s Perceptions of Social Inequality. Symposium talk submitted to the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN, USA.

Chao, T. W. T., Radovanovic, M., Soldovieri, A., Bhatt, S., Ciraci, I., & Sommerville, J. A. (2023, March). Too much of a good thing: Temporal alignment is critical to the efficacy of caregiver process praise. Talk presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

Radovanovic, M., Chao, T. W. T., Tirunelveli Santhakumar, M., Curtosi, N., & Sommerville, J. A. (2023, March). Gendered expectations for children’s emotional, cognitive, and physical helping. Talk presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

Radovanovic, M., Onyshko, E., Huynh, Q., T., Liu, Y., Chao, T. W. T., & Sommerville, J. A.  (2022, April). Children and adults utilize cost and need in generosity evaluations. Talk presented at the Cognitive Development Society, Madison, WI, USA.

Conference Posters

Chao, T. W. T., Mei, J., & Rizzo, M. T. (2024, June). Social Status is Related to Children’s Responses to Third-Person Inequalities. Poster presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Purdue University, Indiana, USA. 

Chao, T. W. T., Erentzen, C., & Chasteen, A. L. (2023, February). When do Morals Matter? Conservatives and Liberals Differ in the Moral Foundations of Islamophobia. Poster presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual meeting, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Chao, T. W. T., Erentzen, C., & Chasteen, A. L. (2022, October). Are you as morally good as me? The role of perceived moral discrepancy in triggering Islamophobia. Poster presented at the 61st Taiwan Psychology Annual Conference, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.

Radovanovic, M., Onyshko, E., Huynh, Q., T., Liu, Y., Chao, T. W. T., & Sommerville, J. A. (2022, July). Children and adults use cost and need to make evaluations about generosity. Poster presented at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Toronto, ON, Canada. (Presenting Author).

Chao, T. W. T., Erentzen, C., & Chasteen, A. L. (2022, June). Can morally good people be prejudiced? Using Moral Foundations Theory to Explain Islamophobia. Poster presented at the 52nd Annual Ontario Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Conference, Brock University, ON, Canada.

Tian, L., Chao, T. W. T., & Rule, N. O. (2022, February). City slicker or country bumpkin? Distinguishing urban and rural residents from subtle facial cues. Poster presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Departmental Talks and Posters

Chao, T. W. T., Jeong, J. S., Lu, W., Tan, A., Ding, A., & Sommerville, J. A. (2023, May). Research, Outreach, and Study (ROSie): Collecting developmental psychology data through a novel application in a remote and unmoderated setting. Talk presented at the 2023 Psychology Graduate Students Association Symposium, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.

Chao, T. W. T., Erentzen, C., & Chasteen, A. L. (2022, April). Perceived differences in endorsed moral foundations between self vs. Muslims predict Islamophobia. Poster presented at the Thesis Conference, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.

Chao, T. W. T., Radovanovic, M., & Sommerville, J.A. (2022, April). Are they generous? Investigating children and adult perceptions of generosity as a function of incurred costs and perceived neediness. Poster presented at the Second Annual Psychology Undergraduate Research Spotlight, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.

Chao, T. W. T., Erentzen, C., & Chasteen, A. L. (2022, January). Can morally good people be prejudiced? Using Moral Foundation Theory to Explain Islamophobia. Talk presented at the 2022 Psychology Graduate Students Association Symposium, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Chao, T. W. T., Erentzen, C., & Chasteen, A. L. (2022, January). Perceived differences in endorsed moral foundations between self vs. Muslims predict Islamophobia. Poster presented at the Psychology Graduate Students Association Symposium, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.

Chao, T. W. T., Erentzen, C., Schiralli, J., & Chasteen, A. L. (2021, March). Who are you helping? The effect of ally gender in confronting benevolent sexism. Poster presented at the Undergraduate Research Forum, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.