VCU Social Psychology Program

John Terrizzi

I earned my B.S. in psychology at Juniata College, a small liberal arts school in central Pennsylvania.  After completing my bachelor’s degree, I took a year off to work for Skills of Central PA, Inc., a non-profit social work organization that specializes in helping individuals with developmental disabilities.  I then returned to school and earned my M.A. in experimental psychology at the College of William & Mary.  Upon completing my master’s degree, I worked for the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) where I was a senior research analyst.  At VADOC, I evaluated evidence-based programs designed to reduce recidivism, as well as programs designed to diminish prison rape.  In 2008, I returned to school to pursue my Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the Virginia Commonwealth University. 

I am currently working on a continuation of my master’s thesis, which examined the role of disgust in predicting prejudicial attitudes toward homosexuals.  More specifically, we are examining whether inducing disgust will result in increased prejudicial attitudes.  In the future, we plan to investigate whether automatic prejudicial attitudes toward homosexuals can be reduced using an evaluative conditioning paradigm.  Additionally, we plan to investigate whether the evaluative conditioning paradigm will result in increased receptivity to information that contradicts prejudicial attitudes.  My general research interests include but are not limited to evolutionary psychology, moral psychology, political psychology, and the psychology of religion.  In my spare time, I maintain an evolutionary psychology blog, which you will notice has not been updated in quite some time because I do not have any spare time.

View more information on John's Shook Lab page.

Publications

Terrizzi, J., & Drews, D.  (2005).  Predicting attitudes toward Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Psychological Reports, 96, 183-189.

Terrizzi, J. (2004).  Predicting attitudes toward the Iraqi conflict: A path analysis.  The Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies: Annual Report 2003-2004, 12-13.

Presentations

Terrizzi, J., Ventis, L., & Shook, N.  (2009, February).  Disgust sensitivity: A predictor of prejudicial attitudes and conservatism.  Poster to be presented at the annual meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Tampa, FL.

Terrizzi, J., Ventis, L., & Shook, N.  (2008, October).  Moral reasoning and disgust as predictors of prejudice toward homosexuals.  Poster to be presented at the annual meeting for the Society of Southeastern Social Psychologists, Greenville, SC.

Terrizzi, J., & Ventis, L.  (2007, May).  Prejudicial attitudes toward homosexuals:  The competing roles of moral reasoning and the moral emotion of disgust.  Paper presented at the annual meeting for the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Williamsburg, VA.

Terrizzi, J., & Ventis, L.  (2007, January).  Understanding the relationship between political and religious attitudes.  Poster presented at the annual meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Memphis, TN.

Terrizzi, J., & Drews, D. (2005, March).  Predicting attitudes toward Operation Iraqi Freedom and the 2004 presidential election: Authoritarianism, nationalism, and international insecurity.  Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, MA.

Terrizzi, J.  (2003, April). Predicting attitudes toward the Iraqi conflict: A path analysis.  Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Washington, DC.