Welcome! Call me Kengthsagn or Keng. In Spring 2024, I will receive my PhD in Social Psychology from Stanford University where I am working with Dr. Alia Crum and Dr. Hazel Markus. In Summer 2024, I will join Boston College as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, with a joint appointment in the African and African Diaspora Studies Program. Prior to pursuing my doctorate, I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Skidmore College in 2017 and worked as a lab manager in Dr. Sapna Cheryan’s research lab at the University of Washington. 

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My research applies a socio-cultural-psychological lens to the relationships among health, the self, others, and social contexts to develop novel theories and robust interventions that can help lessen health disparities, improve public health, and promote healthier societies. My first line of research seeks to understand how the degree to which people assume their own health extends to others (what I call the Social Extension of Health Mindset) influences not only their own health and health behaviors, but also their stance on broader systemic changes, such as their support of universal healthcare policy. My second research line investigates how patients navigate potentially discriminatory interactions (e.g., doctor-patient relationships), and how these relationship dynamics can contribute to racial health disparities. I use multi-methods (e.g., experimental, qualitative, longitudinal, and natural language processing) to investigate how these processes unfold.

 

In my leisure time, you can find me immersed in books, enjoying the captivating world of sci-fi shows, dancing, and daydreaming about the delights of Caribbean cuisine.