As coronavirus cases surge and public officials across the country institute sweeping measures to contain the spread, Hunter College Psychology Professor Sarit Golub is making the case in the media that not enough attention is being paid to the science of human behavior:
In her New York Daily News op-ed “To beat COVID, tap psychologists,” Professor Golub said that it’s the work of psychologists—”investigating the very dynamics of risk perception, motivated reasoning and cognitive biases”—that make them uniquely positioned to help develop a national strategy to contain the coronavirus.
Professor Golub appeared on Fox 5’s “Good Day New York,” where she noted the psychological effects the “light at the end of the tunnel” and said that. while fear messaging can work in the short term, a hopeful message is more effective and sustainable.
The New York Times cited Professor Golub in the introduction to its “three-step guide to risk minimization,” which was based on a survey of 700 epidemiologists.
Professor Golub’s laboratory at Hunter focuses on gender and sexuality, with research on feminist identity, transgender health, and the impact of sexual behavior and expression on physical, mental, emotional, and relational health. She directs the Hunter Alliance for Research & Translation (HART), whose mission is to translate research findings into practical implications for service and advocacy organizations, accelerating the pace of equitable, just, empirically based practice.
