Broadly speaking, Robert’s research interests lay in understanding the psychology of intergroup inequality.  The bulk of his research focuses on how members of historically disadvantaged groups cope with their lower-status in society and members of more advantaged groups in society respond to threats to their higher-status in society. He aims to understand psychological factors that facilitate intergroup harmony and promote positive health outcomes amongst members of various social groups.

Robert believes that his role as an educator is to help undergraduates explore their place in the world, embrace their own diversity, as well as that of their peers, and to promote self-efficacy. He tries to achieve these goals by creating an engaging learning environment, using diversity as a teaching tool and by providing students with guidance. These goals are important to how he conceptualizes teaching because he views learning as a process that should include both personal and intellectual growth.

Selected Publications:

• Bourguignon, D., Teixeira, C. P., Koc, Y., Outten, H. R., Faniko, K., & Schmitt, M. T. "On the Protective Role of Identification with a Stigmatized Identity: Promoting Engagement and Discouraging Disengagement Coping Strategies." European Journal of Social Psychology, 58 (2020): 1125-1142.
• Lee, T., & Outten, H. R. "The Effect of Model Minority Myth Salience on White Americans' Perceptions of Black Americans and their Support for Affirmative Action." Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 25 (2020): 2-13.
• Outten, H. R., Lee, T., & Lawrence, M. E. "Heterosexual Women’s Support for Trans-inclusive Bathroom Legislation Depends on the Degree to which they Perceive Trans Women as a Threat." Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 22 (2019): 1094-1108.
• Outten, H. R., Lee, T., Costa-Lopes, R., Schmitt, M. T., & Vala, J. "Majority Group Members’ Negative Reactions to Future Demographic Shifts Depend on the Perceived Legitimacy of Their Status: Findings from the United States and Portugal." Frontiers in Psychology, 9:79 (2018): 1-12. 
• Outten, H. R., & Schmitt, M. T. "The More ‘Intergroup’ the Merrier? The Relationship between Ethnic Identification, Coping Options, and Life Satisfaction among South Asian Canadians." Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue Canadienne Dessciences du Comportement 47 (2015): 12-20.
• Giamo, L. S., Schmitt, M. T., & Outten, H. R. "Perceived Discrimination, Group Identification, and Life Satisfaction among Multiracial People: A Test of the Rejection-Identification Model." Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology 18 (2012): 319-328.
• Outten, H. R., Schmitt, M. T., Miller, D. A., & Garcia, A. L. "Feeling Threatened about the Future: Whites’ Emotional Reactions to Anticipated Ethnic Demographic Changes." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 38 (2012): 14-25.
• Outten, H. R., Giguère, B., Schmitt, M. T., & Lalonde, R. N. "Racial Identity, Racial Context and Ingroup Status: Implications for Attributions to Discrimination among Black Canadians." Journal of Black Psychology 36 (2010): 172-196.

Selected Conference Presentations:

• Dimova, C., & Outten, H. R. "Generational status and acculturation as determinants of Bulgarian Americans' life satisfaction and perceptions of self." 27th Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, Bali, Indonesia, August 8, 2024.
• Dyer, N., & Outten, H. R. "Examining psychological correlates of Black American’s willingness to seek mental health treatment." 27th Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, Bali, Indonesia, August 8, 2024.
• Outten, H. R., & Ferguson, Z. "Americans’ Attributions about a Mass Shooting and its Perpetrator: The Role of the Perpetrator’s Cultural Background." 20th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Portland, Oregon, United States, February 9, 2019.
• Outten, H. R., & Dorsey II, P. B. "A Single Mother's Marital Status Shapes Impressions of her Character." 19th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, March 2, 2018.
• Outten, H. R., Lawrence, M. E., & Lee, T. "The Role of Gender Ideology in Cisgender Women’s Psychological Responses to Bathroom Bills." 18th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Antonio, Texas, United States, January 21, 2017.
• Outten, H. R., Costa-Lopes, R., Schmitt, M. T., & Vala, J. "The Psychological Consequences of Thinking about Increased Racial/Ethnic Diversity in the Future: A Cross-national Investigation." 23rd Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, Nagoya, Japan, July 31, 2016.
• Outten, H. R., & Schmitt, M. T. "Identification as a Coping Resource for Gay Men and Lesbians." 2016 Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, June 26, 2016.
• Outten, H. R., Costa-Lopes, R., & Schmitt, M. T. "The Interplay between Group Identification and Perceived Inferiority: Implications for Women’s Appraisals of Options for Coping with Discrimination and Well-being." 10th International Conference Woman in Culture: "Gender, Culture and Migration", Gdansk, Poland, March 7, 2015.

• Rosemary and Stan Marcuss '63 Fellowship awarded to Trinity student Zeynep Ogüzer for her senior thesis "From trust to action: Political ideology and religiosity shape earthquake preparedness in Türkiye", $4000 (+ $5000 supervisor stipend), 2025-2026.