As an undergraduate studying philosophy and English literature at Skidmore College,
I developed a strong interest in interdisciplinary approaches to understanding human
nature. I found courses in physics, biology, psychology, anthropology, philosophy,
and literary theory mysteriously connected, each playing a role in working to clarify
the nature of our species at distinct yet (sometimes) harmonious levels of analysis.
Upon graduating and moving to New York City in 2001, I found myself at a crossroads:
uncertain as to whether my further studies should track more toward the hard science
of evolutionary biology or, instead, toward the humanities (as I am a writer and jazz
musician). Eventually, it dawned on me that psychology might occupy a unique place
where science meets the meaningful dynamics of human motivation and expression. Accordingly,
I enrolled in a two-year postbaccalaureate certificate program in the psychology department
at Columbia University, through which I gained significant research experience as
an assistant in Tory Higgins' social psychology laboratory and - across the street
at Barnard University - in Peter Balsam's animal behavior lab. In 2004, I entered
the University of Arizona's doctoral program in psychology where, over six years,
I earned my MA and Ph.D. in social psychology under the mentorship of Jeff Greenberg,
with a minor emphasis in psychophysiology under the mentorship of John Allen. After
graduating in 2010, I worked as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the psychology department
at Michigan State University, where I gained valuable understanding of the complex
relationship between social and personality psychology from Joseph Cesario, Norbert
Kerr, Richard Lucas, Brent Donnellan, and others. Two years later, in 2012, I was
thrilled to accept my current position at Fresno State, where I received tenure in
2017 and promotion to full professor in 2023.
- Experimental existential psychology
- Motivational foundations of ideology (e.g., political, religious)
- Social influence processes (e.g., conformity, persuasion)
- Cultural variation in self-esteem
- Killing behavior
- Student-oriented research guidance
I have authored 20+ empirical papers in leading journals from the fields of social
and personality psychology, as well a dozen book chapters in edited volumes addressing
various social, personality, and clinical psychological matters. Most of these works
deal with the human awareness of mortality and how the fear of death and other existential
concerns (e.g., with insignificance, uncertainty, isolation) motivate people to adhere
to and defend symbolic bases of meaning and personal value. In essence, some evidence
suggests people rely on cultural systems of belief in order to avoid consciously thinking
about their vulnerabilities. One of my courses, titled Human Fragility and Cultural Transcendence, is designed to explore that theme in an interdisciplinary context, and is the impetus
for a book I am currently writing. In other lines I work, I examine a diverse array
of topics related to social influence, the impact of motivation on belief, cultural
variations in the ways individuals acquire self-esteem, and killing behavior. More
broadly, I work with graduate and undergraduate students to enable them to generate
their own research topics in the domains of social and personality psychology. I most
value my publications with student co-authors.
