PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR:
KENTARO FUJITA received his B.A. in Psychology from Harvard College, and his M.A. and PhD. in Psychology from New York University. He is currently a Professor of Psychology at OSU. He is broadly interested in how motivation and cognition dynamically interact to influence evaluation, judgment, decision, and behavior. His most recent work examines the cognitive and motivational mechanisms that underlie self-control decisions and other self-regulatory phenomena. He is also interested in what motivates change at the individual-, group-, and system-level. [CV]
POST-DOCTORAL SCHOLAR:
LAURA HILDEBRAND completed her PhD at Purdue University in 2022 under the advisement of Dr. Margo Monteith, and she received her BA at Hendrix College in 2016. She is currently a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow in The Ohio State University Social Psychology program. Across two complementary lines, her research asks: How can people and organizations foster equitable, inclusive (DEI) environments and improve the experiences of marginalized-group members? In the first research line, she primarily examines bias confrontations, broadly defined as any situation where an external source brings attention to bias. In the second line, Laura examines subtle, often ironic factors that detract from DEI efforts and contribute to discrimination and feelings of exclusion. Understanding these factors is a vital step towards bolstering the efficacy of confrontation and other DEI strategies. [CV]
PRIMARY & SECONDARY DOCTORAL STUDENTS:
ARIANA HERNANDEZ-COLMENARES received her B.A. in Psychology from San Diego State University. Ariana is currently a fourth-year doctoral student in the Social Psychology program. She is broadly interested in psychological interventions aimed to increase academic achievement and motivation among underrepresented, first generation students. Her current research examines how mindset certainty–how sure one is of their fixed vs. growth mindsets– affects people’s persuasion and/or resistance to change their personal beliefs. She aims to examine people’s metacognitions about their mindset beliefs and whether these metacognitions can influence the ultimate impact of those mindsets. [CV]
SAMI LAPKA received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Missouri in 2020. After graduating she worked as a lab manager for the Conflict and Mindset Collaboratory in the Industrial-Organizational Psychology Department at Purdue University. She is a third-year doctoral student in the Social Psychology program. Her research interests broadly include mindset, self-control, social perception, motivation, and interpersonal relationships. Currently, she is investigating lay beliefs about self-control, and how differences in these beliefs can impact self-control success and interpersonal relationships.
EUGENE KIM received his B.S. in Behavioral Sciences from the United States Air Force Academy in 2019. He is currently a second-year student in the Decision Psychology program and also serves as an active duty Information Operations Officer in the US Air Force. His research interests broadly include motivation, self-regulation, and role expectations in a military context.
OWEN STANCZAK received his B.S. in Psychology and Philosophy with Minors in Criminology and Theology, Concentration in Peace and Justice Studies from the University of Scranton in 2024. He is currently a first-year student in the Social Psychology program. His research interests broadly include the roles that construal level and regulatory scope have in group dynamics, and how construal and scope may help or hinder the functioning of groups and the individuals within them.
DAN-TAM PHAM-NGUYEN is an international student from Vietnam and holds her B.A.(Hons) in Psychology with a Minor in Social Studies from Fulbright University Vietnam. She is currently a first-year student in the Social Psychology program. Her research interests broadly include the role of construal level and self-affirmation in mitigating self-threat and defensive information processing.
MIRUNA COTET holds a B.Sc. in Psychology and Economics from the University of Vienna and a M.Sc. in Neuroeconomics from Maastricht University. She is currently a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the Decision Psychology program. Her research focuses on how individuals are influenced by social information and how they behave in strategic interactions like negotiations. She uses computational models to analyze behavioral and process data, such as response times and eye movements to uncover cognitive processes and biases that shape human decision-making. Ultimately, her goal is to use these findings to help people make better decisions.
STEPHANIE STEWART-HILL received her B.A. in Psychology with minors in Statistics and Spanish from the University at Buffalo, SUNY. She is a fourth-year PhD student in social psychology working with Drs. Lisa Libby, Kentaro Fujita, and Steven Spencer. Generally, she is interested in personal narratives, self and identity, and social cognition. Specifically, she focuses on how personal identity, goals, and interpersonal dynamics impact the way people recall their own life events and share those events with others.