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My research seeks to understand why people try to harm one another. Decades of research have shown us what types of people are aggressive (e.g., narcissists, psychopaths) and what situations bring out violent tendencies (e.g., heat, insults). However, we have yet to fully understand the feelings and thoughts that come in between such inputs and their aggressive outcomes.
Funding for my research comes from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and VCU's Center for Clinical and Translational Research. In my research, I have investigated such psychological "middlemen" that are strongly involved in determining whether people act aggressively or not. See the bottom of the page for some of the aggression-related processes I am most interested in. |
PainMany features of life hurt. This pain causes us to lash out at a world rife with threats.
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PleasurePeople tend to do things that feel pleasant. Yet what people enjoy is diverse. Sometimes, people enjoy hurting others.
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Self-RegulationPeople do not constantly act on impulses. Through self-control and self-enhancement, we amplify and restrain our aggressive tendencies.
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My research and my interviews have been featured in various media outlets:
APS Observer BBC Future BBC Science Focus Business Standard Commonwealth Times Cosmopolitan El Espanol Everyday Health Fatherly Forbes Fortune Global Health Now Greater Good Magazine Hamodia Health24 India Times (1, 2) International Business Times Ladders (1, 2, 3, 4) Medium Metro Mint Lounge New Lines Magazine News18 Newsweek Politico ProPublica Psychology Today (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) PsyPost (1, 2) Richmond Magazine Scientific American Serial Killers Podcast StudyFinds (1, 2) Swipe Life The Observer (1, 2) The British Psychological Society's Research Digest The Cut (1, 2, 3) The Daily Mail (1, 2) The New Daily The Science Times The Swaddle The Wall Street Journal The Washington Post (1, 2) VICE Vogue India Wait Wait Don't Tell Me Well+Good WRIC |
You can also check out my TV spot on PBS NOVA, my radio interviews (BBC World Service, Radio IQ, 790KABC Radio, WPR's the Morning Show), my podcast interviews (the Who Cares? What's the Point? Podcast, the Psychopath Epidemic Podcast, Room 104, The Science Society, Quantum Photonics), or read my guest blog posts for the International Society for Research on Aggression and for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
See my (currently inactive) blog on Psychology Today: The Harm Done.
One of our lab's recent papers was recommended as an important advance in Faculty Opinions.
See my (currently inactive) blog on Psychology Today: The Harm Done.
One of our lab's recent papers was recommended as an important advance in Faculty Opinions.