Alexa Martin-Storey
Chair Holder of the Canada Research Chair in Stigmatization and Psychosocial Development and Full professor, département de psychoéducation, Université de Sherbrooke
Regular members
Training
- (2013) Postdoctorate (Population Research Center). The University of Texas at Austin.
- (2011) Doctorate (Psychology). Concordia University.
- (2006) Master’s with thesis (Psychology). Concordia University.
- (2004) Bachelor's (Psychology and History). Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Bio
I have always been motivated to understand why stigma, and experiences resulting from stigma such as vicitimization and discrimination have such different impacts on different people. Within my own sexual minority communities, I have noticed that how people respond to stressors reflects a complex interaction between their individual-characteristics, and their developmental contexts. This interest in the interaction between individual-level characteristics and contextual factors let me to pursue a Ph.D. in developmental psychology, focusing on adolescence and early adulthood as a crucial period for people in general, and sexual and gender minority populations in particular. My provincially and federally funded research programme addresses two fundamental questions: (1) how do underlying inequalities lead some people to experience higher levels of stress (such as discrimination, socioeconomic disadvantage, peer victimization, and social exclusion), and (2) how does the way in which children and adolescents respond to these stressors shape their mental health. In this regard, my work is mainly in line with the GRISE axis 2.