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DongWon Oh is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He is a 2024 APS Rising Star and an SESP (Society of Experimental Social Psychology) Fellow. He directs MAP Lab (Multi-Sociocontextual Action and Perception Lab), and is affiliated with the NUS Centre for Computational Social Science and Humanities and AI Institute.

DongWon's research examines how people form impressions and navigate social interactions across real-world and digitally mediated contexts. His work integrates social psychology, cognitive science, and computational methods—including machine learning, network modeling, multivariate neuroimaging analysis, and eye-tracking—to understand impression formation, strategic self-presentation, and human-AI interaction. His recent projects investigate how people detect AI-generated faces, bear differential impression management burdens across social groups, and adapt real-time impressions during naturalistic conversations.

Before joining NUS, DongWon received his PhD from Princeton (advisor: Alex Todorov) and a postdoc at New York University and Columbia University (advisor: Jon Freeman).  

RESEARCH



My research explores the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying social perception, examining how we form impressions across few-second neural responses to enduring cultural patterns. By integrating insights from social psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and data science, and employing advanced computational methods including machine learning and network modeling, I aim to understand how humans navigate increasingly complex social environments—both physical and digital. I investigate three interconnected themes:

  1. Cognitive Architecture of Impression Formation
  2. Strategic Self-Presentation and Social Hierarch
  3. Human-AI Interaction and Digital Identity

Together, these research streams advance theoretical understanding of social cognition while developing practical interventions for reducing bias, improving intergroup relations, and navigating human-AI interaction in our interconnected world.

 

Cognitive Architecture of Impression Formation


My work reveals how social judgments emerge through complex algorithms operating across multiple timescales. Using fMRI multivariate pattern analysis, we demonstrated that racial stereotypes fundamentally alter perceptual processing at the neural level. Through large-scale cross-cultural studies, we revealed that impression formation reflects region-specific personality structures learned through cultural experience. Recent work shows that uncertainty avoidance shapes how distinctly people perceive different traits; individuals uncomfortable with ambiguity form more separated, fine-grained impressions. We also discovered that prejudice fragments the natural coherence of positive impressions for disadvantaged groups, forcing them to prove each positive quality independently while advantaged groups benefit from automatic trait generalization. Developmental studies reveal that children's conceptual trait knowledge matures before their face-based impressions, suggesting top-down scaffolding of social perception.
Key Publications:

Oh, D., Vartiainen, H., & Freeman, J. B. (in press). Racial stereotypes bias the neural representation of objects towards perceived weapons. Nature Communications.

Oh, D., Martin, J. D., & Freeman, J. B. (2022). Personality across world regions predicts variability in the structure of face impressions. Psychological Science, 33(8), 1240-1256.

Oh, D., Moner, F., Tan, N., Hong, R., & Teo, H. M. (2025). Self-other mirroring in personality structure.  Manuscript under review (invitation to revise and resubmit).

Shi, Y., & Oh, D. (2025). Uncertainty avoidance separates facial impressions at individual and cultural level. Manuscript in preparation.

Tan, S. K., Ding, X. P., & Oh, D. (2025). Concepts before faces: Developmental trajectory of conceptual and facial trait structures. Manuscript in preparation.


Strategic Self-Presentation and Social Hierarchy


My research investigates how people strategically navigate evaluation contexts while revealing how social hierarchies constrain these efforts. Building on work showing clothing biases competence judgments, recent studies reveal striking impression management disparities: Black individuals and women choose professional attire more frequently even in non-evaluative contexts. Critically, we discovered that perceived partner status overrides conscious impression management goals in determining linguistic behavior—speakers automatically converge toward standard language with high-status partners and colloquial varieties with low-status partners, regardless of their strategic intentions. This demonstrates how social structural factors constrain individual agency more powerfully than previously recognized.

Key Publications:

Oh, D., Shafir, E., & Todorov, A. (2020). Economic status cues from clothes affect perceived competence from faces. Nature Human Behaviour, 4, 287-293.

Oh, D., Kim, M., & Moner, F. (2025). Economic status stereotype shapes clothing-based competence perceptions. Manuscript in preparation.

Ong, N. W. Y., & Oh, D. (2025). Status trumps strategy: Partner status perception overrides impression management in language-variety choice. Manuscript under review.


Human-AI Interaction and Digital Identity

My work addresses urgent challenges as organizations increasingly rely on AI-mediated interactions. We discovered humans achieve only 48-52% accuracy detecting AI-generated faces due to attentional misallocation to non-diagnostic features. However, targeted interventions redirecting attention improve detection to 74%. Using eye-tracking and neural networks, we're investigating how people form impressions of AI-generated versus real faces, with implications for hiring and trust in digital environments. This research addresses critical questions about authentication, trust, and fairness as AI transforms professional evaluation and social interaction. 

Key Publications:

Mao, A., Cao, R., Sun, S., Wang, S., & Oh, D. (2025). Physiological encoding of social evaluation: Modeling eye-gaze, pupillary, and neuronal responses to faces. Manuscript under review (editor-invited full submission).

Mao, A., & Oh, D. (2025). Strategies for detecting AI-generated faces: Insights from human eye movements and deep learning algorithms. Manuscript in preparation. 

Obando-Masís, R., Shen, L., & Oh, D. (2025). Social perception in the age of avatars: Modeling impressions across human and AI representations. Manuscript in preparation.

PUBLICATIONS



Copies of these articles are for individual, non-commercial use only.


Preprints


*: corresponding author; #: trainees in the lab
Mao, A.*#, Cao, R., Sun, S., Wang, S., & Oh, D. (2025). Physiological encoding of social trait perceptions: Modeling eye-gaze, pupillary, and neuronal responses to faces. doi:10.31219/osf.io/yrxc8_v2 [Preprint]
Editor-invited full subimssion.

Oh, D.*, Moner, F.#, Tan, N.#, Hong, R., & Teo, H. M.# (2025). Self-other mirroring in personality structure. doi:10.31234/osf.io/xre5s_v2 [Preprint]
Revise and Resubmit.

Oh, D.*, & Baskaran, J.# (2025). The paradox of contact: Better minority interactions strengthen—not weaken—race-based trait associations. doi:10.31234/osf.io/wb6n3_v1 [Preprint]
Under review.

Oh, D.*, Kim, M.#, & Moner, F.# (2025). Economic status stereotype shapes clothing-based competence perceptions. doi:10.31234/osf.io/ucbsg_v1 [Preprint]
Additional sutdy undergoing.

Shi, Y,*# & Oh, D. (under review). Uncertainty avoidance separates facial impressions at individual and cultural level. doi:10.31234/osf.io/duqzw_v1 [Preprint]
In preparation.


Journal Articles


Oh, D., Vartiainen, H., & Freeman, J. B. (2025). Racial stereotypes bias the neural representation of objects towards perceived weapons. Nature Communications, 16, 8218. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-63381-7 [PDF] [Data/Stimuli/Code] [Behavioral Replication Preregistration]

Todorov, A., Oh, D., Uddenberg, S., & Albohn, D. N. (2025). Face evaluation: Findings, methods, and challenges. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1545(1), 28–37. doi:10.1111/nyas.15293 [PDF]

Martinez, J. E., Oh, D., & Todorov, A. (2024). Immigration documentation statuses evoke racialized faceism in mental representations. Scientific Reports, 14, 10673. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-61203-2 [PDF] [Preregistration/Data]

Oh, D., Wedel, N. N., Labbree, B. P., & Todorov, A. (2023). Trustworthiness judgments without the halo effect: A data-driven computational modeling approach. Perception, 52(8), 590–607. doi:10.1177/03010066231178489 [PDF] [Preprint] [Data/Stimuli/Code]

Oh, D., Martin, J. D., & Freeman, J. B. (2022). Personality across world regions predicts variability in the structure of face impressions. Psychological Science, 33(8), 1240-1256. doi:10.1177/09567976211072814 [Paper] [Preprint] [Data]

Avery, J. J., Oh, D., Feldman, L., Cooper, R., & Cooper, J. (2022) Criminal stereotypes of Muslim and Arab Americans: How standards of proof can attenuate the effects of jurors' extralegal considerations. Journal of Legal Studies, 51(1). doi:.10.1086/717848 [Paper]

Oh, D., Walker, M., & Freeman, J. B. (2021). Person knowledge shapes face identity perception. Cognition, 217(104889). doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104889 [PDF] [Preprint] [Data/Stimuli/Code]

Avery, J. J., Oh, D., & Cooper, J. (2021). Race and perceived immorality in stereotypes of criminal subtypes. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 1-12. doi:10.1080/01973533.2021.1931220 [PDF] [Data]

Jones, B. C., DeBruine, L. M., Flake, J. K., . . . Oh, D., et al. (2021). To which world regions does the valence-dominance model of social perception apply? (Registered Report). Nature Human Behaviour, 5, 159-169. doi:10.1038/s41562-020-01007-2 [PDF] [Preprint] [Data/Code]

Oh, D., Dotsch, R., Porter, J., & Todorov, A. (2020). Gender biases in impressions from faces: Empirical studies and computational models. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 149(2), 323-342. doi:10.1037/xge0000638 [PDF] [Preprint] [Data] [Stimuli]

Oh, D., Shafir, E., & Todorov, A. (2020). Economic status cues from clothes affect perceived competence from faces. Nature Human Behaviour, 4, 287–293. doi:10.1038/s41562-019-0782-4 [Paper] [Preprint] [Data] [Stimuli]

Oh, D., Grant-Villegas, N., & Todorov, A. (2020). The eye wants what the heart wants: Females’ preference in male faces are related to partner personality preference. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 46(11), 1328–1343. doi:10.1037/xhp0000858 [PDF] [Preprint] [Data/Stimuli/Code]

Ferrari, C., Oh, D., Labbree, B. P., & Todorov, A. (2020). Learning the affective value of people: More than affect-based mechanisms. Acta Psychologica, 203(1030112), 1–10. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2020.103011 [PDF] [Data/Stimuli]

Oh, D., Buck, E. A., & Todorov, A. (2019). Revealing hidden gender biases in competence impressions of faces. Psychological Science, 30(1), 65-79. doi:10.1177/0956797618813092 [PDF] [Preprint] [Data/Stimuli]

Oh, D., Dotsch, R., & Todorov, A. (2019). Contributions of shape and reflectance information to social judgments from faces. Vision Research, 165, 131–142. doi:10.1016/j.visres.2019.10.010 [PDF] [Preprint] [Data/Stimuli/Code]


Book Chapter


Todorov, A., & Oh, D. (2021). The structure and perceptual basis of social judgments from faces. In B. Gawronski (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 63, pp. 189-245). Cambridge, MA: Academic Press. [PDF] [Preprint]

Selected Conference Presentations


*: presenter; #: trainees in the lab
Mao, A.#, & Oh, D.* (accepted – October 2025). Strategies for detecting AI-generated faces: Insights from human eye movements and deep learning algorithm. Symposium talk to be presented at the Society for Experimental Social Psychology Conference Annual Conference (chair: D. Oh). Lisbon, Portugal.

Mao, A., & Oh, D.* (June 2024). Strategies for detecting AI-generated faces: Insights from human eye movements and deep learning algorithm. Symposium talk presented at the Asia-Pacific Conference on Vision (chair: A. Dawel). Sydney, Australia.

Shi, Y.*# , & Oh, D. (February 2025). Selective halo effect: Unequal application of positive trait correlations in diverse social contexts. Poster presented at the Society of Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention. Denver, CO.

Mao, A.*#, & Oh, D.(February 2025). Implicit encoding of social perceptions: Modeling eye movement, pupillary, and neuronal responses to faces. Poster presented at the Society of Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention. Denver, CO.

Tong, J. L. S.*#, Tan, Y. Z., Wong, H. K. & Oh, D. (February 2025). National identity motivates individuation in other-race perception in multiracial Societies: A comparison of ethnic Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia. Poster presented at theSociety of Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention. Denver, CO.

Moner, F.*#, Tay, L. & Oh, D. (February 2025). Social connection and well-being lead to more favourable first impressions. Poster presented at the Society of Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention. Denver, CO.

Mao, A.#, Cao, R., Sai, S., Wang, S., & Oh, D.* (July 2024). Implicit encoding of social perceptions: Modeling eye movement, pupillary, and neuronal responses to faces. Talk presented at the Asia-Pacific Conference on Vision (chair: C. Palmer). Singapore.

Tong, J. L. S.,*#  Tan, Y. Z., Wong, H. K., & Oh, D. (July 2024). National identity motivates individuation in other-race perception in multiracial societies: A comparison of ethnic Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia. Symposium talk presented at the Asia-Pacific Conference on Vision (chair: D. Oh). Singapore.

Teo, H. M.*# & Oh, D. (July 2024). Empowering attires: The role of clothing in countering stereotypes. Poster presented at the Asia-Pacific Conference on Vision. Singapore.

Oh, D.*, Vartiainen, H., & Freeman, J.B. (February 2023). Racial biases affect the visual representation of objects. Single Paper Symposium talk at the Society of Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention (chairs: Wiswall M. and D. Oh). Atlanta, GA.

Oh, D.,* Vartiainen, H., Amodio, D, & Freeman, J.B. (May 2022). Racial biases in neural representation underlying object identification. Poster presented at the 2022 Social and Affective Neuroscience Conference. Virtual Conference. [Poster]

Oh, D.*, Martin, D. J., & Freeman, J. B. (February 2022). Personality across world regions predicts variability in the structure of face impressions. Symposium talk at the Society of Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention (chairs: D. Oh and J. B. Freeman). San Francisco, CA. [Presentation Video] [Slides]

Oh, D.*, Walker, M., Freeman, J. B. (Feb 2021). Person knowledge shapes facial identity perception. 2021 Society of Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention. Virtual conference [Poster]

Oh, D.*, & Freeman, J. B. (Feb 2020) Person knowledge shapes facial identity perception. 2020 Society of Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention. New Orleans, LA [Poster]

Oh, D.*, Buck, E. A., Dotsch, R., Porter, J. M., & Todorov, A. (February 2020). Gender biases in face-based impressions. 2020 Society of Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention. New Orleans, LA [Symposium talk]

Oh, D.*, Dotsch, R., Porter, J. M., Buck, E. A., & Todorov, A. (March 2018). Revealing gender biases in first impressions. 2018 University of West Australia, ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Person Perception Workshop. Perth, Australia [Poster]

Oh, D.*, Dotsch R, Porter JM, Buck EA, & Todorov A (March 2018). Revealing gender biases in first impressions. 2018 Society of Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention. Atlanta, GA [Poster]

Oh, D.*, Dotsch, R., Porter, J. M., & Todorov, A. (October 2016). The structure of female face evaluation is simpler than male face evaluation: Empirical studies and computational models. 2016 NY Social and Affective Neuroscience Meet-Up. New York, NY




HOME

TEACHING



My teaching approach focuses on inclusivity and critical engagement. I am currently teaching undergraduate courses at the National University of Singapore: PL3105, PL3551, and PL3282F. If you have any questions about these courses, email me directly at my NUS account with an email subject that starts with the correponding course number (i.e., PL3105, PL3551, or PL3282F).

PL3105 Social Psychology


Course Descriptions
This course introduces you to methods, findings, and theories of social psychology – the scientific study of social feelings, thought, and behavior. In the first half of the course, we begin by examining how people think, feel, and know (or fail to know) their own self; then we explore how people understand the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of other people. In the second half of the course, we examine what happens when people interact: how groups influence individuals, how individuals influence groups, and how members of groups relate to one another. We conclude by exploring the personal and global impact of social psychology.

Intended Learning Outcomes
  • Describe key theories and empirical research in social psychology.
  • Explain how research in social psychology is conducted.
  • Identify various social forces that influence human behavior in everyday settings, such as home, school, and work.
  • Devise ways to apply social-psychological knowledge to improve real-world outcomes.

Ultimately, we hope that this course helps you not only gain scientific knowledge of social psychology but also develop a critical eye for good vs. bad science. An ability to judge good science goes a long way in the era of misinformation and polarization.

PL3282F Lab in Social Perception


Course Description
This lab course, focused on social perception within social psychology, introduces methodologies for studying the cognitive processes of social perception. Students, working in small groups, will identify a research question, conduct a relevant experiment, and compile a laboratory report on social perception. The course emphasizes hands-on, empirical research experience, culminating in a group project applying theoretical knowledge into practice.

Intended Learning Outcomes
  • Understand the key concepts and theories in the field of social perception.
  • Identify a research question within the area of social perception.
  • Apply appropriate methodologies to conduct an experiment and gather data related to social perception.
  • Analyze collected data and report research findings clearly and accurately in the format of a laboratory report.

PL3515 Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP)


Course Descriptions
You will help with an ongoing project in the lab. This project explores the complexities of variability in social perception, a dynamic process that shapes our understanding and evaluation of people and our environment. The process involves instant judgments about newly met individuals, adjusting impressions based on emotional events, and even associations with objects that remind us of someone. Given that each individual's unique beliefs and experiences heavily influence social perception, variability is the norm rather than the exception. However, existing research mainly draws connections between variability in concepts, such as beliefs about individuals and social groups, and variability in social perception, leaving the roots of these variabilities largely unexplored. 
 
In this course, each student will be assigned multpile tasks, tailored to their academic interests and skill set. These tasks may include reading and summarizing scholarly articles, participating in online and offline studies and sharing their experiences, creating and checking study materials such as web content or images, attending weekly lab meetings, or developing and modifying studies through various platforms, including basic coding for statistical analysis.



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MEDIA COVERAGE


Social Media


Cited work:
Oh, D., et al. (2020). Economic status cues from clothes affect perceived competence from faces. Nature Human Behaviour, 4: 287–293.

News Articles


Chicago Booth Review (2022) Why reading faces is a dangerous game
Cited work:
Oh, D., et al. (2019). Revealing hidden gender biases in competence impressions of faces. Psychological Science, 30(1): 65-79.


Chicago Booth Review (2021) Why stereotypically ‘feminine’ faces are so attractive . . . on men

Cited work:
Oh, D., et al. (2020). The eye wants what the heart wants: Females’ preference in male faces are related to partner personality preference. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 46(11): 1328–1343.


Neuroscience News (2021) People look alike if we think they have similar personalities 

Cited work: 
Oh, D., et al. (2021). Person knowledge shapes face identity perception. Cognition, 217(104889).


Business Insider (2020) When you get to know people, do you let appearances guide you? Most likely, say US psychologists who have made an illuminating attempt to study the phenomenon

Cited work:
Oh, D., et al. (2020). Economic status cues from clothes affect perceived competence from faces. Nature Human Behaviour, 4: 287–293.


Chicago Booth Review (2021) How first Impressions work against women
Cited work:
Oh, D., et al. (2019). Revealing hidden gender biases in competence impressions of faces. Psychological Science, 30(1): 65-79.
Oh, D. et al. (2020). Gender biases in impressions from faces: Empirical studies and computational models. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 149(2), 323-342


Forbes (2019) ‘Rich’ or ‘poor’ clothing affects split-second decisions about competence

Cited work: Oh, D., et al. (2020). Economic status cues from clothes affect perceived competence from faces. Nature Human Behaviour, 4: 287–293.


Big think (2019) Stylish men are perceived as 'significantly more competent

Cited work:
Oh, D., et al. (2020). Economic status cues from clothes affect perceived competence from faces. Nature Human Behaviour, 4: 287–293.


phy.org (2019) In a split second, clothes make the man more competent in the eyes of others

Cited work:
Oh, D., et al. (2020). Economic status cues from clothes affect perceived competence from faces. Nature Human Behaviour, 4: 287–293.


The Independent (2018) Masculine faces seen as more competent than female ones

Cited work: 
Oh, D., et al. (2019). Revealing hidden gender biases in competence impressions of faces. Psychological Science, 30(1): 65-79.


ScienceDaily (2018) Gender bias sways how we perceive competence in faces

Cited work: 
Oh, D., et al. (2019). Revealing hidden gender biases in competence impressions of faces. Psychological Science, 30(1): 65-79.