Research Interests

I am broadly interested in three areas: 1) the psychology of justice and fairness, 2) research on teaching, learning, and student views, and 3) statistics and research methodology. Of course, these interests are not mutually exclusive; in fact, most of my work spans several aspects of these categories!

Social and Cultural Psychology

Justice, Fairness, and Morality

This area is generally concerned with peoples' beliefs about what is fair, just, or proper (and what is NOT fair, just, or proper). Most broadly, concerns about justice and fairness have been shown to not equally apply to everyone - what's fair for one person is not fair for another. Thus, studies in this arena are addressing concerns about how we judge other people, how we determine what actions are most appropriate in the treatment of them, and how we wish to be treated. To date, projects on this topic have involved examining people’s opinions towards:

• Appropriate treatment of suspects in crimes (esp. terrorist activities)
• Students perceptions of fair (and unfair) instructor behaviors in the classroom

Cultural and Evolutionary Psychology

My primary involvement in this area has been in the area of cross-cultural interpretations of data on married couples. Other interests in this area have developed as a result of teaching a course on Psychology and Culture; thus, I have becomed interested in factors that promote the development and maintaince of cultures. To date, projects on this topic have involved examining:

• Marital satisfaction across multiple cultures (as part of the collaborative MARQ project)
• Psychological foundations of culture

Statistics and Research Methodology

I am also interested in the development and application of quantitative (statistical and measurement) practices within psychology. To date, projects on this topic include:

• Applications of structural equation modeling and multilevel models
• Calcution, use, and presentation of confidence intervals and effect sizes

Educational and Pedagogical Psychology

This area addresses the application of social and organizational psychology to the study of teaching and other college-related issues. These studies are collaborative efforts among several psychology faculty. Past projects have:

• Students' perceptions of and beliefs about appropriate classroom behavior
• Impact of teaching behaviors and grading on student evaluations of teaching
• Characteristics of "newer" generations of college students
• Rumor spread amoung college students (esp. as pertaining to instructors)