PEOPLE

KRISTINA SCHRAGE

PhD, Year 4

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

PhD, Year 3

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.

SHAYNE SANSCARTIER

PhD, Year 3

My research uses an attachment framework to study individual differences in identity formation, affect regulation, face perception and reward processing (e.g., feelings of social reward, attention to social cues). For instance, I am currently examining how attachment avoidance (discomfort with closeness) and community connectedness might influence the internalization of heterosexism. I am also interested in the way that specific causal explanations (e.g., biogenetic, psychosocial, social constructivist) influence the perception and evaluation of both social identities and social inequalities. For example, I plan to examine whether biogenetic etiologies of mental illness increase implicit mental health stigma.

VICTOR SWIFT

My current research interest include the objective measurement of personality traits, the relationship between life-narration and mental health, and the philosophy of psychology.

NINA WANG

PhD, Year 3

My research applies computational text analysis methods to social psychology, particularly moral and political psychology. I am interested in the moral language used in the realm of politics and surrounding issues like substance use disorders and sexuality.