Research in the GERE (Goals, Emotions, and Relationship Experiences) Lab spans multiple topics and areas of research, intersecting personality psychology, social psychology, and sometimes even health psychology. Broadly speaking, I am interested in well-being and have focused on  how two important predictors of well-being, goal pursuit and romantic relationships, intersect to either facilitate or impede well-being.

GOAL PURSUIT

One important predictor of high levels of well-being is goal pursuit. People who are able to make more progress toward their personally meaningful goals have higher levels of subjective well-being. My research focuses on both processes related to goal pursuit and perceptions related to goal pursuit.

My first line of research focuses on predictors of goal progress, with a focus on how romantic relationship partners influence goal pursuit processes. For example, my lab has investigated factors such as partner social influence, partner instrumentality, conflict between partners' goals, sacrifice, social support and their influence on goal pursuit processes (e.g., goal progress, goal importance) and well-being indicators (relationship and personal well-being). I'm interested in all types of personal goals and most often don't focus on a specific type of goal (I study whatever goals people happen to pursue!).

My second line of research focuses on people's perceptions of their partner's goals and motivation, and the downstream behavioral implications of those perceptions. People often expect their relationship partner to understand their goals and motivations and assume that their partner knows them well. However, ample research demonstrates that people's perceptions of others are not fully accurate and are often infleunced by biases (e.g., projection of one's own states onto the partner). My research has examined accuracy and bias in perceptions of romantic partners states that relate to goal pursuit (e.g., motivation, goal obstruction). We typically examine whether people are accurate in judging their partner's motivations/goals/states, what information they use as cues to make these judgments, and how their perceptions relate to both partners' daily experiences and behaviors.

To study goal processes and perceptions, my research approach most often relies on daliy diary studies and/or longitudinal methods with couples.

MOTIVATION TO GROW IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS

The quality of people's romantic relationships is a strong predictor of both physical health and subjective well-being. New relationships are exciting and bring a lot of "new"-ness into people's lives, often resulting in considerable self-growth or self-expansion. But the new-ness wears off over time, and relationships are hard to maintain and partners are not perfect. In some recent work, I've started to explore how people's motivation to expand their selves (with or without the partner) influence the quality of the relationship and how people navigate the relationship when their expectations are not met over time. For example, what do people do to grow in the context of their relationships? Do people have different levels of motivation for self-growth and what happens in the partners are mismatched? What if one partner experiences most of their self-growth outside of their relationship?  What predicts boredom and self-expansion in relationships, especially maintaining growth over time?

I will consider applications from students whose primary interests fall into any of the above listed areas of research.  If you are interested in working with me, I am always on the lookout for strong students who are primarily intersted in pursuing an academic/research career after graduate school. I take students through the social psychology graduate program (I do not take students through the clinical program).

I will be looking at applications from prospective graduate students for the Fall of 2027. I am especially interested in taking a new graduate student who would be excited about exploring accuracy and bias in romantic partner's perceptions in areas related to goal pursuit and/or self-expansion.

Important: Although GRE scores are not required for admission into our graduate program, due to the heavy quantitative component of research in my lab, I will only fully consider applicants who either submit quant GRE scores (informal copy of score is fine) or provide alternative evidence for aptitude in quant/statistics (taking multiple stats/methods classes with all A grades, tutoring stats, letter of recommendation provides evidence of apitude, etc.). Please discuss your quant skills in your personal statement and/or have your reference letter writers discuss their observations of your quant skills. 

You can read more about our graduate program here at Kent State here, and find information on how to apply to our graduate program here. If you are interested in potentially working with me, please make sure that you mention that in your personal statement and explain how your own interests relate to my research program.