Natalie Olson, an undergraduate research assistant in the lab, received a Summer Undergraduate Research Grant to support an independent research project. Her project will study the experience of first-generation / low-income students and the role that their close relationships play in their identities.
New PSPB Paper on Couple Identity Clarity by Lydia Emery, Eli Finkel, and Colleagues
This paper examines the novel construct of couple identity clarity—the extent to which an individual, as one of two partners in a romantic relationship, believes that the two of them know who they are as a couple. High couple identity clarity predicts greater relationship commitment, less likelihood of breakup, and may be enhanced by successful conflict resolution.
Emery, L. F., Gardner, W. L., Carswell, K. L., & Finkel, E. J. (in press). Who are “we”? Couple identity clarity and romantic relationship commitment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Elise Parisian Accepted into Northwestern University MFT Program
Elise Parisian, a research assistant in the RAMLAB, has accepted an offer from Northwestern University’s Marriage and Family Therapy program.
Ivan Hernandez Receives McBride Award
Ivan Hernandez received the 2019 McBride Award, which annually recognizes one outstanding graduate student at Northwestern who goes “above and beyond in any or all of the areas of diversity, service, and engagement.”
Former RAMLAB Research Assistant Accepted into University of Washington PhD Program
Jason Schwartz, a former research assistant in the RAMLAB, has accepted an offer from the University of Washington’s School Psychology PhD program.
RAMLAB Undergraduates Present Posters at SPSP
RAMLAB undergraduates Kaylee Guajardo and Hope Salvador each presented a poster at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) conference in New Orleans. Kaylee’s poster reported on her research on the new construct of sexual self-insight and its links with attachment anxiety and relationship commitment. Hope’s poster focused on her work examining social class and stress, and how these influence relationship outcomes.
New Psychological Methods Paper by Emma McGorray and Colleagues
The paper examines consent form reading and suggests ways to improve it.
Douglas, B. D., McGorray, E. L., & Ewell, P. J. (in press). Some researchers wear yellow pants, but even fewer participants read consent forms: Exploring and improving consent form reading in human subjects research. Psychological Methods.
Ivan Hernandez Defended His Master's Thesis
Ivan successfully defended his Master’s Thesis. Congratulations!
Lydia Emery Receives Teaching Assistant Award
Lydia received the Florence Sales Best Teaching Assistant of the Year Award from the Northwestern Psychology Department.
New Journal of Personality Assessment Paper by Erin Hughes and Colleagues
The paper validates a new scale measuring individual differences in the motivation to self-expand.
Hughes, E. K., Slotter, E. B., & Lewandowski, G. W. (in press). Expanding who I am: Validating the preferences for self-expansion scale. Journal of Personality Assessment. [Download]
SPAN Grant Awarded to Erin Hughes
Erin Hughes received a grant from the Sexualities Project at Northwestern (SPAN), funding a summer research project examining couple identities among individuals in same-sex relationships.
DRRC Grant Awarded to Lydia Emery
Lydia Emery received a grant from the Dispute Resolution Research Center in the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, funding a research project examining how social class affects conflict dynamics in romantic relationships.
Catherine Faherty Named a Dissertation Award Finalist
Post-doc Catherine Faherty was one of three finalists for the Grigor McClelland Doctoral Dissertation Award from the Society for the Advancement of Management Studies.
Four RAMLAB Undergrads Receive Summer Research Grants
Four RAMLAB undergraduate research assistants have received grants for Summer 2019. Kaylee Guajardo and Hope Salvador each received a Summer Undergraduate Research Grant to support independent research projects, Steven Du received a Summer Internship Grant Program grant, and Natalie Olson received an Undergraduate Research Assistant Program grant.
Erin Hughes Wins Master's Thesis Award
Erin Hughes received the Ingeborg L. and O. Byron Ward Outstanding Thesis Award from Villanova University. The award is given to an MS student for a particularly excellent thesis and thesis project. Erin’s master’s thesis validated a new measure of self-expansion preferences and examined how differing motivation to self-expand between romantic couples impacted both individual and relational well-being.
New JSPR Paper on Self-Expansion by Erin Hughes and Colleagues
Previous research examining self-expansion has typically combined self-expansion and arousal within the same activity. This paper determines that self-expansion, not arousal, drives the benefits of these activities on relationship and individual well-being.
New JPSP Paper on Passion Decay Beliefs by Kathleen Carswell and Eli Finkel
This paper finds that low passion for a partner predicts reduced commitment -- unless you believe that diminished passion can be recovered.
Kathleen Carswell Begins Postdoctoral Fellowship
Kathleen Carswell has begun a postdoctoral fellowship with Emily Impett at the University of Toronto. She will be researching romantic passion and desire.
Grace Larson Accepts Postdoctoral Fellowship
Grace Larson has accepted a postdoctoral fellowship to work with Wilhelm Hofmann and Francesca Righetti at the University of Cologne. She will be researching how implicit partner evaluations are influenced by everyday behavior in romantic relationships, as well as how these evaluations affect partners' interactions with each other.
New PSPB Paper on Attachment Avoidance and Self-Concept Clarity by Lydia Emery, Kathleen Carswell, Eli Finkel, and Colleagues
The paper examines potential costs to the self-concept of attachment avoidance. Avoidant individuals experience low self-concept clarity, in part because they do not receive self-verification from their romantic partners.
Emery, L. F., Gardner, W. L., Carswell, K. L., & Finkel, E. J. (in press). You can’t see the real me: Attachment avoidance, self-verification, and self-concept clarity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.