Colin Wayne Leach
Department of Psychology
University of Connecticut
406 Babbidge Road, U-1020
Storrs, Connecticut 06269-1020
United States
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I am interested in how people emotionally experience status and morality concerns in their relations with others. I study these issues at both the individual and the group level, across contexts (e.g., in the U.S., U.K., Netherlands, Australia), and with multiple methods (e.g., experiments and quasi-experiments, population surveys, personality measurement, daily diaries, interviews). I have a keen interest in social and psychological theory, method, and meta-theory (e.g., Gabaccia and Leach, 2003; Leach, 2002, 2005, 2010; Leach & Tiedens, 2004).In one line of work, we examine individuals' interpretations of and responses to in-group (im)morality (e.g., Leach, Ellemers, & Barreto, 2007; Leach, van Zomeren, et al., 2008). Perceived (im)morality plays an important role in feelings such as pride, guilt, and sympathy (e.g., Harth, Kessler, & Leach, 2008; Iyer, Leach, & Crosby, 2003; Leach, Iyer, & Pedersen, 2006). We are particularly interested in whether such feelings motivate action for moral repair or moral protection (see Iyer & Leach, 2008; Leach, Snider, & Iyer, 2002). Colleagues and I also examine the social and psychological basis of status-based comparison (e.g., Leach & Smith, 2006; Smith & Leach, 2004) and its effects on group identity (Leach, Rodriguez Mosquera, et al., 2010) and individual motivation and self-evaluation (Burleson, Leach, & Harrington, 2005; Leach & Smith, 2006). Emotion is important here too.
Anger about one’s status is a potent motivator of political action, among the disadvantaged (van Zomeren, Spears, Fischer, & Leach, 2004; van Zomeren, Spears, & Leach, 2008; van Zomeren, Leach, & Spears, in press) as well as the advantaged (Leach et al., 2006, 2007).
Schadenfreude -- feeling satisfied at another party's misfortune – is one way to regulate the painful feeling of inferiority that can follow from lower status (Leach, 2008; Leach & Spears, 2008, 2009; Leach et al., 2003). My interest in how people experience status and morality concerns in their relations with others come together to inform work on how racism, sexism, and the like should be theorized and studied (Leach, 1998, 2002, 2005). Here I examine the social and psychological bases for the content of peoples’ representations of their own and other groups (Leach et al., 2007; Leach, Minescu, et al, 2008; Leach, Peng, & Volckens, 2000). This is often referred to as the study of stereotypes and prejudice. However, I view group representation as a broader issue that involves the social, political, and moral negotiation of identity, ideology, and meaning (Leach & Brown, 1999; Leach et al., 2002; Pehrson & Leach, in press).
 Books:
 Tiedens, L. Z., & Leach, C. W. (Eds.). (2004). The social life of emotions. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Journal Articles:
- Ellemers, N., Pagliaro. S., Barreto, M. & Leach, C.W. (2008). Is it better to be moral than smart? The effects of morality and competence norms on the decision to work at group status improvement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1397-1410.
- Harth, N.S., Kessler, T., & Leach, C.W. (2008) Advantaged groups emotional reactions to inter-group inequality: The dynamics of pride, guilt, and sympathy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 115-129
- Iyer, A. & Leach, C.W. (2008). Emotion in inter-group relations. European Review of Social Psychology, 19, 86-125.
- Iyer, A., Leach, C.W., & Crosby, F. (2003). White guilt and racial compensation: The benefits and limits of self-focus. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 117-129.
- Leach, C.W., Ellemers, N., & Barreto, M. (2007). Group virtue: The importance of morality (vs. competence and sociability) in the positive evaluation of in-groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 234-249.
- Leach, C.W., Iyer, A. & Pedersen, A. (2007). Angry opposition to government redress: When the structurally advantaged perceive themselves as relatively deprived. British Journal of Social Psychology, 46, 191-204.
- Leach, C. W., Iyer, A., & Pedersen, A. (2006). Anger and guilt about in-group advantage explain the willingness for political action. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 1232-1245.
- Leach, C.W., Rodriguez Mosquera, P.M., Vliek, M.L.W., & Hirt, E. (2010). Group identification and group devaluation. Journal of Social Issues, 66, 535-552.
- Leach, C. W., & Smith, H. J. (2006). By whose standard? The affective implications of ethnic minorities comparisons to ethnic minority and majority referents. European Journal of Social Psychology, 36, 747-760.
- Leach, C.W., & Spears, R. (2009). Dejection at in-group defeat and schadenfreude toward second- and third-party out-groups. Emotion, 9, 659-665.
- Leach, C.W. & Spears, R. (2008). “A vengefulness of the impotent”: The pain of in-group inferiority and schadenfreude toward successful out-groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1383-1396.
- Leach, C. W., Spears, R., Branscombe, N., & Doosje, B. (2003). Malicious pleasure: Schadenfreude at the suffering of another group. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 932–943.
- Leach, C.W., van Zomeren, M., Zebel, S., Vliek, M., Pennekamp, S.F., Doosje, B. Ouwerkerk, J.P., and Spears, R. (2008). Group-level self-definition and self-investment: A hierarchical (multi-component) model of in-group Identification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 144-165.
- van Zomeren, M., Spears, R., Fischer, A., & Leach, C. W. (2004). Put your money where your mouth is! Explaining collective action tendencies through group-based anger and group efficacy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 649-664.
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