My research involves understanding how people construct their perception of reality using social information. I am particularly interested in how social information and needs such as belonging and validation play a role in people holding extreme and polarizing beliefs, as well as biases in media selection, and susceptibility to conspiracies and misinformation.

Select Publications

Hillman, J. G., Burrows, B., Jessen, D., & Hauser, D. J. (2024). Jumping to fixations: jumping to conclusions is associated with less hypothesis generation and more fixation. Thinking & Reasoning,1-27. DOI.

Hillman, J. G., Fowlie, D. I., & MacDonald, T. K. (2023). Social verification theory: A new way to conceptualize validation, dissonance, and belonging. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 27(3), 309-331. DOI.