My Research Interests
In a NutshellSocial Psychology
Group Processes Nonverbal Behavior Emotions Virtual Groups Social Media |
Not so Nutshell My Master's Work
For my master's thesis, I investigated the way in which response latency functions as a status cue. Status cues signal the status of a person to others. This work tests status cues theory (Berger, Webster, Ridgeway, and Rosenholtz 1986), a theory within the expectation states research program. According to this theory, status cues can create a status hierarchy where none exists. People are increasingly communicating online, so response latency could be a valuable source of status information. I plan to continue testing and developing status cues theory after the completion of my thesis. Emotions How do emotional experiences vary cross-culturally? Do people reduce emotional discomfort differently according to the culture in which they are embedded? In affect control theory terms, I would like to investigate preferred paths of deflection reduction and see if these paths vary by language and culture. Social Media and Virtual Groups I am interested in how people grieve by posting to and conversing on the Facebook profiles of the deceased. One of my research agendas is to better understand social media as a setting for social interaction and to use theory to explain and predict behaviors online. Reference Berger, Joseph, Murray Webster, Cecilia Ridgeway, and Susan J Rosenholtz. 1986. "Status Cues, Expectations, and Behavior." Advances in group processes 3:1-22. |