LAB ALUMNI
Graduate Students
KRISTINA SCHRAGE
Kristina completed her PhD in 2022 and is now a Postdoctoral Fellow at York University.
I am interested in both the dark and light side of romantic relationships. On the dark side, what prevents people from self-disclosing and ultimately feeling disconnected from their relationship partner? On the light side, how do people provide adequate social support to their partner and help them overcome deep-seated fears of connection? Through understanding both the fears and facilitators of opening up, I hope to shed some light on how best to foster a sense of intimacy and connection in romantic relationships.
YOOBIN PARK
Yoobin Park completed her PhD in 2022 and is now a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco.
My research interests focus on how people maintain their close relationships. I am interested in examining individual and interpersonal factors that influence people's experience of relationship challenges such as disillusionment, boredom or temptations of infidelity. I am also interested in people's biased perceptions and expectations during relationship initiation that may be linked to maladaptive outcomes over the long term.
SAMANTHA JOEL
Samantha completed her PhD in 2015 and is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Western Ontario.
I study how people make decisions about their romantic relationships. What sort of factors do people take into consideration when they try to decide whether to pursue a potential date, invest in a new relationship, or break up with a romantic partner? In my research, I draw from the field of judgment and decision making (JDM) to better understand ways in which relationship decisions are similar to other types of decisions, as well as ways in which they might be unique.
JESSICA MAXWELL
Jessica completed her PhD in 2017 and is now an Assistant Professor/Lecturer at the University of Auckland.
I am interested in examining attachment processes in romantic relationships, and factors that influence the accuracy of perceptions in relationships. My specific research interests include the influence of attachment on empathic accuracy, relationship expectancies, and social exclusion. I am also interested in implicit theories of relationships, and how they can be applied to the sexual domain.
STEPHANIE SPIELMANN
Stephanie completed her PhD in 2013, continued her work in the lab as a post-doctoral fellow, and is now an Assistant Professor at Wayne State University in Michigan.
I examine how insecurities promote maladaptive relational outcomes by exaggerating perceptions of threats and restraining perceptions of rewards. My research demonstrates that insecure individuals make many maladaptive relational choices based on threat avoidance motivations, such as the fear of rejection or the fear of being single. My research also suggests that the less examined motivating force of perceived opportunity for rewards, such as intimacy and close connection, is an important predictor of romantic decisions. Furthermore, I have been careful to examine the impact of these forces through the lens of relevant theoretical frames, especially attachment theory.
Affiliated Graduate Students
Ravin Alaei
Terry Borsook
Maria Iankilevitch
James Kim
Claire Midgley
Rebekah Reuben
Victor Swift
Lab Managers
Isabelle Grosdidier
Kaz Laird
Meghan Rossi
Laurice Karkaby
Vivien So
Kristina Tchalova
Christine Lambert
Sandeep Bening
Sarah McMahon
Karen Wond
Kristen Johannes
2019-2022
2017-2019
2015-2017
2014-2015
2013-2014
2011-2013
2010-2011
2009-2010
Research Opportunities Program Students
Aurelia Agatha
Madeleine Jay
Mishel Alexandrovsky
Serena Thapar
2021-2022
2021-2022
2020-2021
2020-2021
Serena Thapar
Laetitia Hill Roy
Lucas Schneider
Jacob Cameirao
Rebecca Antonacci
Marina Charalampopoulou
Sarah Chiao
Emily Laing
Diana Enache
Jason Ruggeberg
Charlotte Lai
Helen Yu
Meghan Rossi
Lauren Weidmark
2021-2022
2020-2021
2020-2021
2019-2020
2018-2019
2018-2019
2018-2019
2018-2019
2017-2018
2017-2018
2016-2017
2016-2017
2014-2015
2013-2014
Giorgina Chum
Miranda DiLorenzo
Laurice Karkaby
Rebecca Tzalazidis
Marta Paszucka
Sara Quinn
Kristina Tchalova
Angela Zhang
Jody Chan
Jenna Kean
Mehrnaz Peikarnegar
Elgin Chau
July Lies
Danielle Katz
2013-2014
2013-2014
2013-2014
2012-2013
2011-2012
2011-2012
2011-2012
2011-2012
2010-2011
2010-2011
2010-2011
2009-2010
2006-2007
2006-2007
Independent Study Students
Thesis Students
Yuchen Helena Qin
Mikaela Boutillier
Yasmin Elahi
Sylvia Wang
Jesse Wilde
Chantal Dougan
Chris Kingston (mini thesis)
Zoe Martin (mini thesis)
Patricia Baratta
Minisha Suri
Chang Chen
Jesse Harper
2021-2022
2017-2018
2014-2015
2014-2015
2013-2014
2011-2012
2011-2012
2011-2012
2010-2011
2010-2011
2009-2010
2006-2007
University of Toronto Excellence Award Students
Serena Thapar
Ella Ma
Alathea Hayes
Diana Enache
Ming Ma
2021
2020
2019
2018
2018
Halla Ahmed
Shawn Ang
Aniqa Aniqa
Arianne Apelo
Marzyeh Azimi
Thara Balachandran
Nicole Bardikoff
Katherine Barron
Jessica Barua
Ashley Battaglini
Adrienne Blacklock
Rasan Boksh
Kristina Boccia
Mikaela Boutillier
Jennifer Belder
Karl Broch
Jacob Cameirao
Damian Canagasurium
Kiah Caneira
Jaimie Chan
Sara Chaudry
Esther Chen
Louise Chen
Samantha Chen
Lang Cheng
Jennifer Choot
Karina Chuah
Iulia Ciobanu
Rachel Clark
Eleanor Crook
Brynmor Crookall
Carly Degenstein
Laura De Santis
Joshua Doidge
Lana Dubinsky
Nawwal Emmritte
Diana Enache
Tina Farokhifar
Yumna Farooq
Glenda Fairbairn
Shahrzad Firouzian
Rachel Frolich
Claire Gallivan
Jenny Gatov
Mila Gavrilova
Nadia Gibbons
Sydney Ginsler-Viner
Naomi Hazlett
Meghna Goveas
Rui Gong
Pelin Gul
Anh Thu Ha
Basma Hakem
Lilach Dahoah Halevi
Alathea Hayes
Joyce He
Laetitia Hill Roy
Wilson Ho
Alyssa Hollinger
Aneeka Hopkin
Jaya Hu
Michelle Hu
Zakia Hussain
Rachel Hung
Rachel Hwang
Sana Haddad
Rachel Hwang
Anam Haji
Naeema Hashmani
Samantha Inwood
Nayyarain Ismail
Sarah Jahan
James Jung
Krystal Kan
Hazel Kang
Beenish Khan
Saad Khan
Basit Khurram
Alan Kian
Julie Kim
Suhyun Kim
Sabrina Kitching
Jenn Klauninger
Sela Kleiman
Julia Knauber
Sophia Kudryk
Sherman Kwok
Anastassia Lachina
Jessica Lau
Stephanie Lau
Kelly Lawrence
Susan Le
Shelly Seunghyun Lee
Janice Lee
Joanne Lee
Kathy Lee
Madison Lee
Shelley Lee
Vicky Lee
Shelly-Anne Li
Ruiting Li
Chiharu Liu
Qiannie Liu
Samantha Lo
Natalie Long Hei Ho
Chantel Ma
Ella Oi Tung Ma
Ming Ma
Catherine MacDonald
Laura Mackew
Rahimah Malik
Diana Markova
Julia McDowell
Jessica McLean
Smita Mehta
Alex Mihaescu
Nasibeh Mohsenzadeh
Marya Morozova
Negar Morshedian
Junnie Ng
Lauren O'Driscoll
Alicia Paniccia
Bora Park
Adam Paulin
Mehrnaz Peikarnegar
Rebecca Persaud
Stephanie Peruzza
Aviva Phillip-Muller
Emily Pollock
Olivia Radocchia
Jordan Rivera
Meena Rizwan
Jason Ruggeberg
Vilena Sabaeva
Lucas Schneider
Jisoo Seo
Nikki Sedhagat
Zeel Shah
Courtney Sherk
Shikta Shimana
Sarah Shin
Nadia Shkuta
Hasan Shafqat
Saleha Shahid
Abir Shamim
Ananya Shrivastava
Shalini Sivathasan
Lea Silvert
Almas Sohrabi
Zohreh Sojoudi
Nick Song
Sarah Somers
Jill Sromek
Gabriela Stafford
Nicolette Stogios
Sarah Strickland
Yuechuan Sun
Isabel Tang
Jess Templeman
John Tennant
Whitney Tu
Katie Turlova
Dyon Tucker
Dylan Tucker
Rebecca Tzalazidis
Jodi Vezina
Kathy Wang
Pearl Wang
Yvonne Wang
Anna Wsolinska
Serene Wong
Eileen Wu
Celina Yang
Yaqi Yang
Anneke Yao
Nalian Youmer
Sarah Young
Joyce Sarah Yu
Ivana Yuen
Anosha Zanjani
Jessica Zee
Nan Zheng
Laura Bustos Rodriguez