Applied Social Psychology Lab

Note:  Dr. Clark is not accepting new graduate students for Fall, 2026.

Personnel

Eddie M. Clark, PhD, Director  

• Friendship and romantic relationship maintenance

• Ex-partner relationships

• Infidelity

• Health attitudes and persuasion, culturally appropriate health communication

• Mediators of the relationship between religiosity and health behaviors

• Mediators of the relationship between personality and health behaviors

• Geospatial/Neighborhood factors/structural racism and health behaviors

Lijing (Lily) Ma, PhD  (College of the Holy Cross; SLU Alum) 

• Self-disclosure and health

• Cognitive dissonance and infidelity

• Relationships and self-change

• Attitudes toward infidelity among asexual and aromantic individuals

Dana Stiles, PhD (SLU Office of Institutional Research; SLU Alum)

• Long distance relationship maintenance

• Technology usage and relationship maintenance

Graduate Research Associates

Melanie Reyes (SLU and University of Southern Oregon)

• Predictors of romantic relationship dissolution

• Relational stability and satisfaction

• Relationship maintenance strategies

Lauren Borato

• Health promotion and chronic illness

• Cognitive function in chronic illness

• Maladaptive coping strategies

Maggie Paul

• Substance use disorder

• Comorbid substance use disorder  and gambling disorder

Brianna Scandell 

• Close Relationships and chronic illness

• Effects of discrimination on health, especially minority group members with chronic conditions

Megan Galinsky (SLU Alum)

• Adverse childhood experiences and future romantic relationships 

Other Collaborators

Dr. Debarchana Ghosh - Department of Geography, University of  Connecticut

Dr. Xi He - School of Public Health, University of Maryland

Dr. Cheryl (Holt) Knott - School of Public Health, University of Maryland

Dr. Crystal L. Park - Department of Psychological Sciences, University of  Connecticut

Dr. Mario Schootman - Department of Medicine, University of Arkansas

Dr. Beverly Rosa Williams - Birmingham Veterans Administration Medical  Center

Dr. Nathaniel Woodard - Department of Community Health and Health Behavior,

                                               University of Buffalo  School of Public Health and Health Professions

Dr. Devlon Jackson -- School of Public Health, University of Maryland

Ms. Asli C. McCullers - School of Public Health, University of Maryland

Ms. Arunima Dasgupta - Department of Geography, University of  Connecticut

Ms. Bhumika S. Desai -- School of Public Health, University of Maryland

Dr. Emily Schulz - Department of Occupational Therapy, Northern Arizona  University  

(In Memoriam)

Community Health Awareness, Messages, and Prevention (CHAMP) Center, 

University of Maryland  School of Public Health

 https://sph.umd.edu/department/bch/lab/43501

Structural Racism Index Interactive Website

Racism, and not race solely as a biological attribute, has a structural basis and is embedded in long-standing laws, socioeconomic policies, cultural norms, and institutions leading to discrimination in our society. This characterization of racism is defined as structural racism and discrimination (SRD). The impact of SRD is deeply rooted in our society; affecting where one lives, learns, works, worships, and plays and creating inequities in access to a range of social and economic benefits such as housing, education, income, and employment.

A standardized methodology for qualifying SRD and its impact remains challenging.  To address this gap, we developed a multidimensional SRD Index, the first national, place-based, and community-informed measure designed to systematically evaluate the effects of structural racism and discrimination across states and counties over time.  Here is the link:   https://structuralracism.research.uconn.edu/

News Articles

SLU Newslink Article - Clark Named One of Top Cited Researchers on Research.com (July, 2024)

https://www.slu.edu/news/2024/july/top-cited-researchers.php

News Article on Recent Grant - Structural Racism and Cancer Among African Americans (May, 2023)

https://today.uconn.edu/2023/05/uconn-geography-researcher-receives-funds-to-study-cancer-disparities/#

University of Maryland News Article on Structural Racism and Cancer Grant (October, 2023)

https://today.umd.edu/briefs/3-24m-nih-grant-to-fund-umd-researchers-study-of-structural-racism-and-cancer

                                                            Overview of Lab Research 

Close Relationships

•     Relationship maintenance    

•     Romantic infidelity

•     Influence of relationships on self-concept

•     Friendships with ex-romantic partners

•     Relationship maintenance and technology use

•     Predictors of relationship dissolution

•     Close relationships and health

Health Attitudes

• Health attitudes, persuasion, and behavior

• Mediators of the religiosity-health relationship

•        Mediators of the personality-health relationship

•        Geospatial/Neighborhood/structural racism factors and health

Below:  

SLU Alums Dr. Tommy DeRossett, Dr. Lily Ma, and Dr. Eyad Naseralla at the Society of Personality and Social Psychology 2025 Conference in Denver (February, 2025)

Dr. Lily Ma and Melanie Reyes at Society for Personality and Social Psychology 2024 Conference in San Diego (February, 2024)

Dr. Tommy DeRossett (Queens University of Charlotte; SLU Alum) and Dr. Lily Ma (SLU Alum) at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology 2024 Conference in San Diego (February, 2024)

Virtual Lab Meeting-- Eddie Clark, Dana Stiles, Megan Galinsky, Lily Ma, Melanie Reyes, Brianna Scandell (Fall, 2022)