Katherine Satoko Sorensen - Psychology

Katherine Satoko Sorensen
Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616
kssorensen@ucdavis.edu
EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND TRAINING
2011 to present University of California, Davis
PhD in Personality and Social Psychology
Graduate Adviser: Cynthia Pickett, PhD
Research Projects:
Emotional correlates of social identity
Stigma and social identity
Graduate Adviser: Richard Robins, PhD
Research Projects:
Dispositional contempt
Culture and pride
Project Adviser: Wesley Moons, PhD
Research Project:
Affective forecasting and the framing effect
2011 San Francisco State University
Master of Arts in Psychological Research
Graduate Adviser: Charlotte Tate, PhD
Research Project:
Stigma and contempt expressions
2008 San Francisco State University
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, cum laude
Principal Investigator: David Matsumoto, PhD
Research Projects
Nonverbal behavior and cooperation
Group level emotion
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Using both social psychological experiments and surveys, I study topics under the broad fields of
social identity and social emotions. I investigate the emotional correlates of social identity – how
does one feel when belonging and distinctiveness needs are met or are not met? How do these
emotions then motivate behavior? I have found that it depends on your group. Additionally, I
investigate contempt at the level of personality – who is the contemptuous person? How does this
person operate in the context of social groups? And I investigate pride at the level of culture –
what are the cultural factors influencing differences in emotion endorsement? At the core of my
research is the person experiencing the social emotions: how the person experiences, is affected
by, and affects others as a consequence of social emotions.

JOURNAL ARTICLES IN PREPARATION
Sorensen, K. S., Moons, W. G., & Spoor, J. R. (in prep). Affective forecasts for certain options,
but not risky options, explain framing effects.
CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION
Schriber, R. A., Chung, J. M, Sorensen, K. S., & Robins, R. W. (2013, August). Trait contempt: A
first look at the contempt-prone personality. Talk to be presented at the Biennial Meeting of the
International Society for Research on Emotion. Berkeley, CA.
Schriber, R. A., Chung, J. M., Sorensen, K. S., & Robins, R. W. (2013). Dispositional contempt: A
first look at the contemptuous person. Paper presented at the 14 th annual meeting of the
Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, LA.
Sorensen, K. S., Moons, W. G., & Spoor, J. R. (2013). Affective forecasts for certain options, but not
risky options, explain framing effects. Poster presented at the 14 th annual meeting of the
Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, LA.
Sorensen, K. S. & Tate, C. (2012). Maternalism predicts contempt duration on male faces. Poster
presented at the 13 th annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social
Psychology, San Diego, CA.
Olide, A., Simpson, B., Sorensen, K., Bonnet, K., & Matsumoto, D. (2012). In the blink of an
eye—using blinks as an indicator of moral emotions. Poster presented at the 13 th annual
meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, CA.
Sorensen, K., Olide, A., Bonnet, K., Gums, P., Nguyen, K. H., Simpson, B. L., Matsumoto, D.
(2011). Introspective ratings of emotion in a social evaluative context. Poster presented at the 12 th
annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Antonio, TX.
Olide, A., Bonnet, K., Sorensen, K., Gums, P., Nguyen, K., Simpson, B., & Matsumoto, D.
(2011). The expression of emotion in an increasing difficulty task. Poster presented at the 12 th
annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Antonio, TX.
Olide, A., Kanska, K., Fernandez, S., Molapour, T., Bonnet, K., Gums, P., Sorensen, K.,
Matsumoto, D. (2009) Facial expressions of emotion when committing the fundamental
attribution error. Poster presented at the 21 st annual meeting of the Association for
Psychological Science, San Francisco, California.
Sorensen, K. S. & Matsumoto, D. (2009). A lack of nonverbal ‘accents’ in facial expression.
Poster presented at the 89 th annual meeting of the Western Psychological Association,
Irvine, CA.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Teaching Assistant
University of California, Davis
Personality Theory (Fall 2012; Spring 2013)
Research Methods in Psychology (Winter 2013)
Psychology of Emotion (Winter 2012; Spring 2012; Summer 2012)
Introduction to Psychology (Fall 2011)
San Francisco State University
Psychological Statistics (Fall 2010)
Guest Lecturer
University of California, Davis
Personality Theory (Fall 2012): The Humanistic Approach & Positive
Psychology
Instructor
University of California, Davis
Facial Action Coding System Workshop (2008 to 2010)
San Francisco State University
Facial Action Coding System Workshop (2011 to 2012)
SKILLS AND CERTIFICATION
2008 Facial Action Coding System Certification
2007 Micro-Expressions and Subtle-Expressions Training
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
2012 to present Psychology Graduate Student Association
Event Coordinator
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
2013 to present Association for Research in Personality
2009 to present Society for Personality and Social Psychology
2007 to present Psi Chi: The International Honor Society in Psychology