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2026 Psi Chi Diversity Article Award Recipients Psi Chi Awards and Grants
Every year, Psi Chi recognizes two individuals for publishing the best diversity-related article in Eye on Psi Chi magazine and Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research. Congratulations to the two latest recipients for their hard work publishing well-written, competent, relevant, original, and impactful articles! Below, the two recipients explain why writing their articles was important to them. Take a moment to reflect on their dedication to creating equality and helping people honor and celebrate their identities. If you would like to help create a more socially just world, consider submitting your own diversityrelated articles. Submissions are open year-round and are automatically eligible for consideration during next year’s Diversity Article Awards.
Read Kayla Neubert's Psi Chi Journal article:
Read Valerie Sorrentino's Eye On Psi Chi article:
"Higher System Justification Beliefs Predict Greater Acceptance of Economic Inequality Among University Students"
“The International Competences for Undergraduate Psychology: A Checklist to Help Make the Most of Your Degree Program”
Persistent and widening social disparities make it essential to center diversity in research on how individuals think about inequality and fairness. In this article, we examined how system justification—the motivation to view existing social arrangements as fair and legitimate—operates across social group memberships (e.g., race and gender) to shape how university students evaluate and explain economic inequality. These group memberships are not treated as peripheral variables; rather, they reflect structural differences in access to power and resources that influence whether inequality is perceived as unjust. Our findings show that men and White participants reported stronger system justification beliefs and, in some cases, evaluated inequality as more acceptable, suggesting that relative social advantage is linked to greater endorsement of the status quo. Participants with stronger system justification beliefs were also more likely to attribute both wealth and poverty to individual factors rather than structural constraints. Because these beliefs can minimize recognition of systemic barriers, they have important implications for the development of critical consciousness, particularly for whether people feel empowered to challenge inequality. By foregrounding diversity, this work highlights that perceptions of inequality are shaped by social position, with consequences for the maintenance or disruption of social disparities. Kayla Neubert is a doctoral student in developmental psychology at the University of Oregon. She received her BA in psychology and English from Furman University. Her research explores how children and adolescents reason about social disparities and develop critical consciousness—the ability to recognize and challenge inequality. She focuses on factors that support or hinder sustained civic engagement, including how social media contexts shape civic identity, attitudes, and behaviors. She employs qualitative and mixed-methods approaches, with a growing emphasis on Youth Participatory Action Research to center youth expertise, amplify marginalized voices, and foster feelings of agency.
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Through my experiences working with the International Collaboration on Undergraduate Psychology Outcomes (ICUPO) project as a research assistant, I connected with psychology educators from 15 different countries and six continents. My perspective broadened as I worked with and learned from this international team on this project. I was exposed to the multitude of cultural perspectives that exist across diverse contexts, and I wanted to convey to other undergraduate psychology students my appreciation of cultural diversity that I developed through my experiences. Cultural diversity and responsiveness are central to the scientific study of the mind and behavior. As someone planning to pursue a future in psychology, I feel a sense of responsibility to contribute to the field by promoting more culturally responsive approaches and perspectives. By incorporating the International Competences for Undergraduate Psychology (ICUP) model into our academic, personal, and community lives, we may find ourselves becoming more culturally aware and responsive. These skills will then critically prepare us to fruitfully engage with the diverse world around us. Valerie Sorrentino is a senior at Seton Hall University (USA), pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and a minor in data analytics. She plans to pursue a PhD in clinical neuropsychology or a related field upon graduation. Her strong passion for research led her to join William Paterson University’s Neuropsychology Laboratory when she was a junior in high school. At Seton Hall, she joined the ICUPO laboratory and served as co-lab manager. Currently, she is working in Seton Hall’s Cognition and Neuroscience Laboratory, where she received the Dean’s STEM Connect Undergraduate Research Award to conduct her honors thesis.
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