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Tess M. Yanisch

PhD in Psychology and Social Intervention Student

Email: tmy217@nyu.edu

Year entered Program: 2013

Research Interests: Volunteering, civic engagement, norms, inequality

Principal Advisor(s): Dr. LaRue Allen, Dr. Erin Godfrey

Research Description/Bio: 

Tess M. Yanisch is a doctoral student in the Psychology and Social Intervention Program at the NYU Steinhardt. Her dissertation explores the impact of demographics, social support, religious values, and functional motivations for volunteering on whether, how much, and in what areas people volunteer. More generally, her research interests include civic engagement, social norms, and prosocial behavior. Her research, in whatever form, is driven by the question: "What makes people treat which other people well--or not well?"

Tess graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Oberlin College with a BA in psychology in January 2013 and entered NYU's program the following fall. She has worked with Dr. Allen and Dr. Godfrey on a wide array of projects, ranging from Muslim teachers' civic engagement and career trajectories to a study of perspective-taking and attitudes toward the poor. She currently works on national survey research and qualitative online focus groups at Consumer Reports while finishing her dissertation.

Curriculum vitae