Parth Patel

ABOUT THE RESEARCHER

1.      Who are you doing research with this summer and what kind of research project are you doing ?

I am doing research with Dr. Light in the Behavioral Sciences Department. Our project looks to examine the role of  trait self-control on the effectiveness of an individual’s strategy selection. In other words, we wish to see if people with higher self-control are better at matching the way they do things to their personalities. It is well documented that self-control leads to positive outcomes, but through this research we wish to elucidate the mechanism behind self-control’s effects. 

2.      What do you find fascinating in the research that you’re doing ?

During this research, I have had the opportunity to learn about both self-control and regulatory focus (a personality factor that determines what strategies work best for you). While exploring the literature for the field of self-control and strategy selection, I have come to gain a deeper understanding in their potential benefits in a clinical setting. Understanding interplay between personality factors and health outcome is something I believe is crucial in modern healthcare.

3.      What skills are you learning through the USURF experience?

While working on this project, I have had the opportunity to develop my skills in finding information relevant to my project and consolidating it into a useful form. I have been able to do this mainly through conducting an extensive literature search in articles relating to self-control, regulatory focus, and strategy selection. After research pools become available in the fall, I will begin to work on collecting data from human participants.

4.      What are the challenges you’re encountering in your research? 

A challenge I have noted is the difficulty of designing a methodology that I believe will best capture what I am interested in, while also avoiding potential confounds. A difficult part of designing this experiment was deciding on a measure to look at what strategies the participants ended up using. 

5.      How is your USURF experience impacting the way you view your field?

As someone pursuing a career in medicine, this research experience has solidified the importance of considering environmental and personality factors in a patients treatment. I have come to see that a deepened understanding of self-control could lead to improvements in areas such as addiction and medical compliance. I am confidant that further understanding of other personality factors could lead to similar benefits. 

6.      Tell us something interesting about yourself.

I firmly believe that rock-paper-scissors is one of, if not the, most complex and enjoyable games invented.