
Michael Kraus is a social psychologist who specializes in the study of inequality. His current work explores the behaviors and emotional states that maintain and perpetuate economic and social inequality in society. He also studies the emotional processes that allow individuals and teams to work together more effectively. Michael’s research has appeared in Psychological Review, Perspectives on Psychological Science, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. He currently teaches Power & Politics and Global Virtual Teams in the Yale SOM core curriculum. Michael is also the director of Yale’s summer internship in organizational behavior (www.yaleobinternship.com).
Expertise
Pronouns
he, him
Education
- PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 2010
- MA, University of California, Berkeley, 2006
Selected Articles
The misperception of racial economic inequality
Dog whistle mascots: Stereotypic Native American mascots as normative expressions of prejudice
High-status exemplars and the misperception of the Asian-White wealth gap
A psychology of power that is embedded in societal structures
Americans misperceive racial economic equality
Achievements
- Graduate Mentor Award in the Social Sciences, Yale University, 2020
- Sage Young Scholars Award, Society of Personality and Social Psychology, 2018
- Emerging Leadership Award, American Psychological Association, Committee on Socioeconomic Status, 2017
- Fellow, Society of Experimental Social Psychology, 2016
- Rising Star, Association for Psychological Science, 2013
- Dissertation Research Award, American Psychological Association, 2009
Editorships
- Journal of Experimental Social Psychology Associate Editor
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin Associate Editor
- Affective Science Associate Editor
Op-Eds
How White Managers Can Respond to Anti-Black Violence
M.W. Kraus
Yale Insights
2020
Anti-Asian Racism Exposes the Model Minority Myth
M. W. Kraus and E. Eun
Yale Insights
2020
Research: How Speech Patterns Lead to Hiring Bias
M. W. Kraus, B. Torrez, and J. W. Park
Harvard Business Review
2020
Our Segregated Lives: Connecticut's Racial, Economic Inequality
M.W. Kraus
Hartford Courant
2017
Psychology suggests that power doesn’t make people bad—it just reveals their true natures
M. W. Kraus
Quartz
2016
American Dream? Or Mirage?
M. W. Kraus, S. Davidai, & A. D. Nussbaum
New York Times
2015
Crossing class lines
S. Cote & M. W. Kraus
New York Times
2014