Margaret Meyer

LIFE Fellows since 2024, University of Michigan

I am a doctoral candidate in Social Psychology at the University of Michigan working with Rich Gonzalez. I graduated from Central Michigan University in 2021 with a BS in Psychology and Pure Mathematics. I am broadly interested in using a quantitative approach to understanding issues of racial bias in legal decisions. My primary line of research uses threshold-based decision models to explore racial bias in police searches within a U.S. context. Another line of work explores why people refrain from using their legal protections (such as consenting to a search or waiving their right to remain silent). A new branch of my research intersects with issues across the lifespan, from police perceptions of young black men to differences in decision making as police officers age.

Publications

Meyer, M. A., & Gonzalez, R. (2024). Detecting bias in traffic searches: Insights from false searches of innocent drivers. Journal of Quantitative Criminology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-024-09585-4