Research interests
What Do Your Genes Say About You? Genetic Essentialism

My main line of research examines the effects of perceived genetic aetiology for various phenomena. Integrating research from diverse disciplines (e.g., psychology, communication, sociology, history, political science, law), I examine how communication of theories that emphasize genetic explanations can affect a wide variety of psychological outcomes, from test performance to moral evaluations. What happens if you have the obesity gene? What happens if you think you do???

Sex and Sexuality

Sex and sexuality have fascinated people throughout the ages. Ample literary works, theological and moral musings, philosophical accounts, social discourse, and popular presentations of various aspects of different aspects of their related behaviour and their underlying meaning have been depicted and communicated for a wide variety of purposes. People’s curiosity about sex seems to know no bounds. Our lab is engaged in exploring some empirical and theoretical questions in that realm.

Gender Psychology

Gender seems to be one of the most fundamental social categories ever constructed by people. It is hard to “not see gender,” and the role of our tendency to look at the world through the lens of ‘gendered vision’ is central to psychology and overlaps with multiple foci in our empirical and theoretical work. Questions regarding the perception of gender as binary, the effects of essentializing gender, the evolution of power and prestige as correlates of gender, and gender intersectionality are thriving areas of research in the lab.

G x E: Genetic by Environment Interactions

A virtual consensus among scientists indicates that complex human phenomena are products of interactions between genetics and the environment. Some research also indicates that when people learn of these interactive findings, deleterious effects that are apparent following pure genetic attributions are mitigated (related to my abovementioned interest). Despite this consensus, the amount of empirical research dedicated to these important interactions is shockingly small compared with the amount of research dedicated to study each of these vast areas independently (i.e., genes and genome on the one hand, the environment on the other).

Are You Cool? Personality & Individual Differences

The specific characteristics which lead to the wonderful phenotypic human diversity have always intrigued me. I combined some of my main research interests (genes and the environment) with a focus on the more established personality traits (the Big 5) in a couple of projects. I also used some more traditional methodologies such as surveys and experiments to look at some of the less studied aspects of human personality such asChoice-Making OrientationandCoolness.

Death and Meaninglessness: Existential Psychology

Thoughts about our ultimate inevitable demise do not only bring a shiver down our spines, but also have been shown to non-consciously affect our attitudes, evaluations, and behaviours. This focus that was empirically pioneered by 3 psychologists, who gave their theory the ominous name Terror Management Theory, has been impactful in the last couple of decades. It has been recently challenged by the elegant Meaning Maintenance Model, which seems to be more aligned with existential philosophical accounts from Kierkegaard to Sartre. This is a fascinating subject that combines longstanding philosophical perspectives with contemporary psychological experimental methodologies in a spectacular interdisciplinary symbiosis.