The ASH Lab is interested in the application of social psychological principles to healthy behavior and cognitions. We study a range of outcomes including stigma, relationship functioning, and vaccine hesitancy. Broadly, we employ a variety of social psychological frameworks to understand how healthy behaviors and cognitions are influenced by the social world.
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Romantic Jealousy
Romantic Jealousy
Not long ago, my attachment seminar was discussing jealousy. The conversation centered around the evolutionary function of jealousy in monogamous species as well as research on the negative impacts of jealousy in human romantic relationships. During this discussion, two things became clear: we exist in a culture that glamorizes jealous behavior and a lack of jealous behavior may be perceived as a concern. As one student said, “in all honesty, if my boyfriend was ok with me going out dancing with other guys, I would probably think he didn’t really care about our relationship”. From this discussion, our lab began to pursue projects assessing the extent to which individuals may tolerate, acccept, and even prefer jealous behavior from romantic partners. Further, we are exploring the extent to which media is both a reflection of and a contributing factor to these preferences.
Consensual Non-Monogamy
Consensual Non-Monogamy
Relationship science has historically prioritized the study of monogamous relationships. This is not surprising given the negative stigma toward consensual non-monogamy (CNM). Our lab works to advance research on CNM and identify factors that contribute to CNM stigma in an effort to develop interventions that reduce or dismantle this stigma.
Marginalized Identity and Leadership
Marginalized Identity and Leadership
It can be difficult for members of historically marginalized groups to imagine themselves holding leadership roles due to the lack of representation of leaders from these groups. Further, when marginalized individuals do assume leadership roles, they are likely to encounter differential treatment. This, coupled with previous experiences of differential treatment, can significantly impact job satisfaction and leadership style. The goal of our research is to assess the extent to which marginalized leaders experience lower job satisfaction and develop different leadership styles, as compared to their non-marginalized counterparts.
Vaccine Hesitancy and Systemic Inequity
Vaccine Hesitancy and Systemic Inequity
Across the global community, COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted members of marginalized communities. Members of marginalized communities experience higher levels of physical and mental health conditions due to economic and social factors that increase stress and limit access to health resources such as poverty, stress, and health inequity. The same inequities that contribute to higher levels of infection, morbidity, and mortality can also impact trust in healthcare systems, as well as public health authorities and government officials. This in turn impacts attitudes toward vaccinations. Members of marginalized communities have historically shown mistrust in vaccines due to experiences of healthcare inequities, unethical medical experimentation, and underrepresentation in vaccine trials. Essentially, the same factors that increase risk of infection, morbidity, and mortality from COVID-19 also contribute to vaccine hesitancy.
Thus, it might seem illogical for mistrust to fuel vaccine hesitancy among highly privileged populations, who benefit greatly from healthcare inequity. However, the modern “anti-vax” movement gains its strongest support from predominantly wealthier, liberal, white individuals. Across industrialized countries, pockets of low vaccination rates are often found in more economically privileged communities. The mistrust that fuels vaccine hesitancy among these populations is based on an inflated sense of agency in making medical decisions without doctors or public health officials, and a preference for “natural” methods of healthcare. Further, privileged communities are less directly exposed to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the largest effects manifesting in marginalized communities.
Because previous research has typically focused on either marginalized or privileged populations separately, the underlying role of inequity has yet to be fully quantified. To this aim we are collecting global data to better understand how factors like income, race, access to health care, and perceptions of marginalizaiton contribute to vaccine hesitancy.
Pandemic-Related Stress in Families
Pandemic-Related Stress in Families
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented changes in our daily lives. The impact of both the coronavirus and the mitigation efforts on families and family dynamics has been large and varied. Several studies are examining family stressors using a cross-sectional design. However, far fewer studies have longitudinal data on risk and resilience factors that families were experiencing prior to the pandemic. Using the Family Transitions Project cohort, which started enrolling 13-year-old children and their families in Iowa in 1989, we are connecting with adult participants (now in their 40s). The adults with children will provide data on parent-child stressors and child health and development outcomes associated with the pandemic. Our goal is to examine associations between pre-pandemic family stress and current family dynamics.
We are also launching the Madison County Resilience Project, which is a Colgate University affiliated community-based research project working to understand how Madison County was affected by the pandemic and what resources it needs to continue to stand strong in the face of a still hectic social and personal landscape.
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