HRCC Faculty Feature September

September 15, 2022

About his work:

Dr. Lucas is a social and health psychologist whose research considers psychosocial causes of racial health disparities. He is particularly focused on stress and preventive health behavior pathways, such as cancer screening. Dr. Lucas's research especially considers psychological justice - the causes and resulting health and social consequences of perceiving injustice for individuals and communities.

Dr. Lucas's research is both psychophysiological, in considering the ways in which psychosocial factors "get under the skin" to affect health, and also intervention focused, in attempting to develop strategies to reduce disparities. Dr. Lucas has received funding from sources such as the National Cancer Institute, The American Cancer Society, and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to support his program of research on topics that have ranged from understanding stress reactivity responses to injustice to promoting better uptake of colorectal cancer screening. Dr. Lucas also enjoys collaborating with colleagues and students on a wide range of research related to enhancing healthy equity and social justice.

Research Projects

Choice, Implementation Intentions and At-Home Colorectal Cancer Screening, American Cancer Society

Serological Sciences Network for COVID-19 Initiative, the National Institutes of Health

Selected Publications

Lucas, T., Yamin, J. B., Krohner, S., Goetz, S. M., Kopetz, C., & Lumley, M. A. (2022). Writing about justice and injustice: Complex effects on affect, performance, threat, and biological responses to acute social stress among african American women and men. Social Science & Medicine,  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115019  

Lucas, T., Thompson, H. S., Blessman, J., Dawadi, A., Drolet, C. E., Hirko, K. A., & Penner, L. A. (2021). Effects of culturally targeted message framing on colorectal cancer screening among African Americans. Health Psychology, 40(5), 305–315. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0001073 

Lucas, T., Drolet, C. E., Strelan, P., Karremans, J. C., & Sutton, R. M. (2020). Fairness and forgiveness: effects of priming justice depend on justice beliefs. Current Psychology, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01101-8

Lucas, T., Manning, M., Hayman, L. W., & Blessman, J. (2018). Targeting and tailoring message-framing: the moderating effect of racial identity on receptivity to colorectal cancer screening among African–Americans. Journal of behavioral medicine, 41(6), 747-756. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-018-9933-8