Path 1 Kawader Research Assistant – Psychology in Political and Economic Systems (PIPES) Lab

NYU Abu Dhabi invites applications for a Kawader Research Assistant Fellow position in the Psychology in Political and Economic Systems (PIPES) Lab under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington.

The PIPES Lab invites applications for those interested in exploring how psychological processes are shaped by and influence societal conditions such as economic inequality political polarization and market integration.

The applicant will work with Dr. Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington and the lab across three workstreams:

1. Poverty Inequality and Decision-Making: Using lab and survey experiments and large-scale panel and cross-national datasets we will explore how the challenges of scarcity and instability in material and social resources in addition to wider societal conditions such as extreme economic inequality affect how people think and behave.

2. Foundations of Political Ideology and Behavior: Drawing on evolutionary anthropological and political insights we will explore the origins of our political preferences moving beyond left-right ideology to investigate the core relational templates that people apply to intergroup relations in their societies. We use cross-national surveys panel surveys administrative registry data experiments and multivariate behavioral genetic analyses to delineate the evolutionary and socioecological foundations of ideology and political behavior.

3. Political Economy in Psychological Perspective: This emergent stream of research aims to bridge the gap between the fields of social psychology and political economy drawing on a historical comparative and institutionalist lens to understand social behavior in societal contexts and to consider the psychological viability of differing varieties of capitalism. We are currently applying this to understand the impact of market thinking on personal and social life; in addition to the role of notions of solidarity and the common good versus anomie and resentment in shaping responses to changing economic landscapes in which certain groups and regions are left behind.

• Full-time paid research position for up to 3 years

• Mentorship by NYUAD faculty

• Professional development and training opportunities

• Exposure to interdisciplinary research in psychology political behavior and political economy

• Opportunities to contribute to publications and develop an independent research profile

• Experience working with experimental methods large-scale datasets and open science research practices

• Contributing to the design of research protocols and experimental scripts.

• Collecting human subjects data in lab and online settings.

• Cleaning and analyzing data using software such as SPSS or R.

• Contributing to academic manuscripts initially through conducting literature reviews and bibliographic support with potential to make larger contributions meriting co-authorship as the fellowship develops.

• Developing or extending lines of research in the lab demonstrating greater research independence as the fellowship progresses.

• Preparing and overseeing Institutional Review Board protocols as well as ensuring compliance of lab practices with ethical and regulatory guidelines.

• Monitoring the labs adherence to open science research practices.

• Coordinating and participating in lab meetings research discussions and academic conferences.

• Managing research projects tracking spending progress and milestones.

• Internal and external reporting of lab activities and accomplishments.

• Hiring and supervising undergraduate research assistants.

Supervised by Dr. Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington

Required:

• A Bachelor or Masters degree in Psychology (or related field).

• Experience with statistical software (e.g. SPSS or R) and experimental tools (e.g. Qualtrics).

• Intellectual engagement in the research agenda of the PIPES Lab.

• Familiarity with IRB processes and maintaining ethical compliance.

• Excellent organizational and multitasking skills and the ability to work independently.

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.

Preferred:

• Previous research experience in social psychology.

• Experience in the conduct of lab-based human subjects research.

• Skills/training in computational modelling programming and/or data science.

• Applicants must have completed an undergraduate degree in psychology and have a strong interest in undertaking a graduate degree and/or continuing a career in research.