Current Research

As a co-recipient of the University of Dayton's Gender Equity Research Fellowship for the 2022-2023 academic year, and in collaboration with Dr. Corinne Brion, we will conduct qualitative and quantitative studies to examine gender disparities in research productivity, promotion, and tenure in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether gender disparities in care-taking (childcare, eldercare) moderate these associations.

This work is supported by the Provost's Office & the Women's Center at the University of Dayton.

To participate in the current phase of research being conducted, click here

In collaboration with Dr. Benjamin Kunz at the University of Dayton, we replicated a 37 year old finding that people who make a self-superiority claim are liked more when their claim is accompanied by external support compared to claims that lack support. However, people who are modest, that is, they claim to be equal to others but external support indicates they are superior to others, are liked the most. We are in the process of examining whether this pattern holds across gender and race.

We are examining the extent to which awareness of social identities--particularly those associated with one's relative power in society--impact political attitudes, voting behavior, and support for social and political movements. We collected data during the 2020 Presidential Election and will continue data collection for this project this semester.

We are currently in the process of developing a longitudinal study to examine self-esteem and positive self-regard across the menstrual cycle. This work is supported by a Liberal Arts Scholarship Catalyst Grant from the University of Dayton.

In collaboration with Dr. Jackson Goodnight, we will be examining the association between pregnancy (and reproductive experiences) and autoimmune diseases. This project is in the early stages of development and is supported by a STEM Catalyst Grant from the University of Dayton.

In collaboration with Dr. Tracy Butler at the University of Dayton, we are interested in the predictors of scientific literacy, which refers to process knowledge versus science literacy, which refers to fact-based knowledge. Scientific literacy can be enhanced in courses outside of the natural sciences (e.g., in psychology classes), whereas science literacy is typically restricted to courses in the relevant natural sciences.