Mackie joined the faculty of psychology of UC Santa Barbara in 1984.
Mackie's research program spanned a broad range of topics in social psychology including attitudes and beliefs; social emotions, mood and affect; social influence and persuasion; intergroup relations; stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination; self-identity and self-cognition. Over her career, Mackie authored many articles and book chapters on social influence and intergroup relations. She and Elliot Smith also co-authored a popular social psychology textbook.[9] Her research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation.[10]
Representative publications
Mackie, D. M., Devos, T., & Smith, E. R. (2000). Intergroup emotions: explaining offensive action tendencies in an intergroup context. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(4), 602–616.
Mackie, D.M., Maitner, A.T., & Smith, E.R. (2009). Intergroup Emotion Theory. In T.D. Nelson (Ed.) Handbook of Prejudice, Stereotyping, and Discrimination (pp. 285–308). New York: Psychology Press
Mackie, D.M., & Smith, E.R. (1998). Intergroup Relations: Insights from a theoretically integrative approach. Psychological Review, 105, 499–529.
Mackie, D.M., Smith, E.R. & Ray, D.G. (2008). Intergroup emotions and intergroup relations. Personality and Social Psychology Compass, 2, 1866–1880.
Mackie, D. M., & Worth, L. T. (1989). Processing deficits and the mediation of positive affect in persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(1), 27–40.