Attitudes & Interpersonal Understanding Lab

Y. Andre Wang (he/him)

Lab Director

I am an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and the director of the Attitudes and Interpersonal Understanding Lab. My research examines how people connect abstract ideas to concrete experiences in a variety of domains, including impression formation, social inferences, empathy, and quantitative reasoning.

Leif D. Anderson (he/him)

PhD Student

Hey everyone! My name is Leif (Lay-f) and I am a PhD student in the Attitudes and Interpersonal Understanding Lab. My research draws on perspectives from developmental and social-personality psychology to understand how social interactions are influenced by our evaluations of others and our own experiences or expectations. I primarily study (1) how empathy is employed in different contexts, (2) how obligation plays out in family systems, and (3) how we incorporate the perspectives of others into our own realities. I also have broader interests in political-legal discourse, hypocrisy, and how group identities (e.g., religious) are developed.

If you are interested in any of my areas of study, or need someone to consult for grad school applications, please email me at leif.anderson@mail.utoronto.ca.

Gale Chong (she/her)

PhD Student

Hi! I’m Gale, a first-year PhD student in the Attitudes and Interpersonal Understanding Lab! :-) My general research interests include intergroup dynamics, diversity, prejudice, and stereotypes. Specifically, I am curious about intergroup emotions, empathy, and understanding; formation of social groups and categories; and prejudice and discrimination at multiple levels of scale (e.g., individual, cultural, institutional). Across these interests, I aim to focus on the interactions between individuals and context and on the understudied perspectives of minority groups.

Hello everyone! I’m Heba Reeyaz, the lab manager of the AIU Lab. I’m a fifth-year student working towards a double major in Psychology and Neuroscience, and am completing a minor in Applied Statistics. I am interested in the factors that shape the quality of romantic relationships and the root causes of relationship challenges. At the AIU Lab, I primarily manage backend operations and assist in evaluating the accurate use of power analysis in registered reports.

Heba Reeyaz (she/her)

Lab Manager

Independent Project Students

  • Joy Kirsten Tolledo

    (2023–Present)

  • Elim Tang

    (2023–Present)

Research Assistants

  • Ericson Lam

    (2023–Present)

  • Rachael Lin

    (2023–Present)

  • Rabia Nasri

    (2023–Present)

  • Sara Sefiani

    (2024–Present)

  • Mikaila Acheampong

    (2024–Present)

  • Jacy Wang

    (2024–Present)

  • Maham Faisal

    (2024–Present)

Alumni

  • Jasmine Aman Shillinglaw

    (Summer Intern, 2024)

  • Kian Kim

    (Research Assistant, 2023)

  • Rachel Kasujja

    (Summer Intern, 2023)

  • Isi Okonofua

    (Summer Intern, 2022)

  • Timothy Yu

    (Research Assistant, 2022)