Nicholas Lim

Background

About Nicholas Lim

Psychology professor, researcher, and consultant. One of my areas of expertise is in test construction, validation, and assessment. Over more than 20 years of research, I have developed various measures such as for stress, critical thinking, resilience, effective coping skills, effective social support, gun attitude, school bullying, computer anxiety among older adults, etc. I also served as consultant on the development of a pre-employment psychological screening instrument for law enforcement. Two major areas of focus for my research has been in gun violence and stress, and stereotypes. In my research lab, we developed the Stress and Protective Factors (SPF) model to account for the mass shootings and other problematic outcomes such as ineffective executives in the business world. The SPF model can be used to account for various problems associated with stress, from difficulty adjusting to school, substance abuse, burnout, to inability to 'think outside the box.' This model is promising in its application. For example, in the business field, executive coaching/training or employee creativity. In terms of mental health, how psychologists can be more effective in helping their clients. The SPF model is deceptively simple but detail matters. Careful definition of the constructs and measurements make all the difference. My second area of research is on stereotypes ranging from sexism to racism. The focus is on illuminating the way bias works using a cognitive model. My research lab has produced results ranging from using stereotype threat, terror management, to implicit bias to understand bias.