Melissa Mcdonald
Associate Professor
Broadly, my research takes an evolutionary and social psychological approach to examining how the ultimate motivation to protect reproductive choice has shaped women’s psychology. I postulate that women are equipped with a threat management system for protecting reproductive choice that assesses the environment for possible threats, and in response produces cognitive, emotional, and behavioral output that is calibrated to the likelihood that one will experience a threat to reproductive choice, and the severity of the costs were the threat to be realized. Currently we are identifying inputs to this system (individual and situational factors that moderate threat) as well the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral consequences of perceiving threat (e.g., fear of rape, risk avoidance, seeking familial protection, increased intergroup bias, changes in dating behavior, consumption of true crime media, intrasexual gossip).
Christian Kotoye
PhD student
I am interested in furthering the investigation of intergroup conflict and bias from a social psychological perspective while also understanding the evolved psychology that underlies these phenomena. Specifically, I am interested in the effect of ecological cues to danger on intergroup bias. I also wish to expand upon research aimed to promote minority student and faculty’s persistence and success in STEM fields.
Domenic Roberto
PHD Student
I am interested in studying the evolutionary function of human sexual fantasy. Currently I'm researching the content of fantasies involving scenes of sexual assault and their relationship to individual characteristics. Another goal of my research is to better understand the relationship between the manifestations of fantasies as a whole and how they relate to an individual's current and past interpersonal experiences.
rachel james
Phd student
I am interested in male sexual jealousy, physical and sexual violence, and women's rape avoidance strategies from an evolutionary psychological perspective. Specifically, I aim to investigate how new social platforms (e.g., social networking sites and online dating sites) influence or interact with human's evolved jealousy response.
Samuel Motzny
MS Student
My overarching research goals consist of understanding how group membership or identity shapes personal choices and perceptions of one's self and their social environment. More specifically, I am interested in understanding of the impact structural discrimination and racism have had on historically disadvantaged groups in the United States and the attitudes and perceptions held by both ingroup and outgroup members in specific social contexts (school, work, etc.) as it relates to one's group membership. My long-term goal is to use this research to bring awareness to and minimize the negative impact of many of the implicit and explicit stereotypes and associations that continue to contribute to racial inequality in the United States. My thesis focuses on individual differences in attitudes towards property damage in the context of mass protests, specifically the racial equality protests of the summer of 2020.
CV
Emma Walquist
MS student
I am interested in women’s fear of rape and how it impacts their daily lives. My current research centers around social media platforms (primarily dating apps) and their connection to sexual violence.
Past Lab Members
Adam Tratner
Adam graduated from OU with his PhD in 2020 and is now the Director of Student Affairs at Florida State University - Republic of Panama Campus.
Samantha brindley
Samantha graduated from OU in 2017 with her MS degree and earned her PhD in Social Psychology at Wayne State University in 2022.
Jonah Houtz
Jonah graduated from OU in 2019 with his MS degree.