David S. March

David March investigates how automatic, often unconscious processes shape the way people perceive and respond to their social world, with a particular focus on threat. His Dual Implicit Process Model (DIPM) distinguishes the unique speed and strength with which threatening versus nonthreatening information is processed, offering a framework for understanding how these rapid evaluations guide attitudes and behavior. Drawing on methods ranging from behavioral experiments and computational modeling to virtual reality tools, his work bridges social cognition, affective science, and neuroscience. Beyond theory, he examines how threat processing informs real-world intergroup dynamics, such as police–civilian interactions, authoritarian attitudes, and responses to uncertainty or danger. Together, this program of research provides an integrated view of the social cognitive, affective, and motivational systems that drive human judgment and action.

March, D. S., *Hasty, C., & #Olivett, V. J. (2024). The threat sensitivity scale: A brief self-report measure of dispositional sensitivity toward perceiving threats to physical harm. Scientific Reports, 14, 11304. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-61476-7 Zsido, A. N., Inhof, O., Kiss, B. L., Bali, C., & March, D. S. (2023). Threatening stimuli have differential effects on movement preparation and execution – A study on snake fear. People and Nature, 0, 0. doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10500 March, D., Olson, M., & Gaertner, L. (2023). Automatic threat processing shows evidence of exclusivity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 46, 131. doi:10.1017/S0140525X22002928 Olivett, V., Maranges, H. M., & March D. S. (2023). The unique roles of threat perception and misinformation accuracy judgments in the relationsh