Education

• Ph.D. in Sociology from Stanford University in 2007.
• B.A. in History from Duke University in 1998.

Specialty Areas:  Trust, Social Psychology, Social Networks, Group Processes, Research Methods/Statistics

Courses Taught

• Sociology 364 Social Statistics
• Sociology 364 Social Statistics Laboratory
• Sociology 690 Quantitative Research Methodology

Selected Publications and Presentations

Cheshire, Coye, Alexandra Gerbasi and Karen S. Cook.  Under Review Social Psychology Quarterly.  “Structurally Determined Transitions in Modes of Social Exchange and Assessments of Trust.”

Gerbasi, Alexandra.  Forthcoming.  “Power Dependence Theory” in Encyclopedia of Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, edited by John Levine and Michael Hogg. Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage.

Gerbasi, Alexandra.  Forthcoming.  “Social Exchange in Networks and Groups” in Encyclopedia of Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, edited by John Levine and Michael Hogg. Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage.

Cook, Karen S. and Alexandra Gerbasi.  Forthcoming.  “Trust and the Explanation of Action” in The Oxford Handbook of Analytic Sociology, edited by Peter Hedstrom and Peter Bearman.  Oxford, UK:  Oxford University Press.

Cook, Karen S., Coye Cheshire, Alexandra Gerbasi and Brandy Aven. Forthcoming.  “Assessing Trustworthiness in Online Goods and Services” in Trust and Reputation, edited by Karen S. Cook, Vincent Buskens, Chris Snijders and Toshio Yamagishi.  New York, NY:  Russell Sage Foundation.

Gerbasi, Alexandra. 2008.  Attribution and Commitment in Different Types of Exchange.  Saarbrucken, Germany:  VDM.

Gerbasi, Alexandra and Karen S. Cook.  2008.  “The Role of Trustworthiness in Negotiated and Reciprocal Exchange” in Social Structure and Emotions, edited by Jody Clay-Warner and Dawn Robinson, pp. 141-165. New York, NY:  Elsevier, Inc.

Cook, Karen S., Coye Cheshire and Alexandra Gerbasi.  2006. “Power
Dependence and Social Exchange” in Contemporary Social Psychological Theories, edited by Peter Burke, pp 194-216. Stanford, CA:  Stanford University Press.

Research and Interests

My research interests focus on the social determinates of trust, with special attention to types of interaction, social networks, power inequality, and rates of cooperation.  My research experience has been primarily experimental, however, I have recently begun incorporating real-world social networks into the exchange paradigm.  I am currently looking at how transitions between modes of exchange influences perceptions of trust, and how ethnic diversity in communities influences generalized trust and social capital.