Jess Caite Reich

Dr. Jessica C. Reich is a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She earned her Ph.D. in Psychological Science from UNCW and has experience teaching, mentoring, and consulting across a range of psychological topics.

Her work as a researcher and collaborator spans social, health, and developmental psychology, with a focus on issues that connect psychological science to real-world challenges. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and regularly presents her work at professional conferences. In addition to her scholarly contributions, Dr. Reich provides statistical and methodological consultation for projects at UNCW, supporting faculty and students in the design and analysis of research.

At UNCW, Dr. Reich teaches undergraduate courses and mentors students as they develop their skills in research, critical thinking, and scientific communication. She is committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment that encourages intellectual growth and prepares students for future academic and professional endeavors.

Education

B.A. in Psychology, UNCW
M.A. in Psychological Science, UNCW
Ph.D. in Psychological Science, UNCW

Specialization in Teaching

Dr. Reich specializes in teaching courses that build students’ research literacy and statistical reasoning. At the University of North Carolina Wilmington, she regularly teaches Introductory Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences and Introduction to Experimental Psychology, and she also leads an honors thesis preparation seminar, guiding students as they design and propose independent research.

Her teaching philosophy emphasizes creating a learning environment where students can take intellectual risks and learn through constructive failure. She often structures assignments so that early attempts are graded on completion rather than accuracy, allowing students to practice and make mistakes before being evaluated at a more advanced level. This approach encourages persistence, reduces performance anxiety, and fosters deeper mastery of course material.

Dr. Reich also incorporates humor and approachability into her teaching, which helps create an engaging and supportive classroom environment. She prioritizes getting to know her students as individuals, recognizing and responding to their unique strengths and learning needs. In both her courses and her mentorship of undergraduate researchers, she aims to cultivate curiosity, confidence, and critical engagement with psychological science.

Research Interests

Dr. Reich’s research centers on understanding why individuals commit racial microaggressions and how these subtle expressions of bias can be reduced. Her work approaches microaggressions as a public health issue, emphasizing that their prevention requires examining the psychological traits, attitudes, and processes of those who perpetrate them. By integrating research on both explicit prejudice and implicit bias, she seeks to uncover the conscious and nonconscious mechanisms that shape everyday discriminatory behavior.

Dr. Reich’s studies aim to move the field beyond documenting the harm of microaggressions toward identifying pathways for prevention and intervention. Her current projects investigate the roles of motivation, social cognition, and emotional processes in microaggression use, with the broader goal of informing bias reduction efforts in educational and community contexts.