Research

My research is directed toward understanding how people cope with existence. In other words, I am interested in knowing how we make sense of the world, how we find meaning and purpose in our lives, and how we manage basic anxieties associated with life's finitude. Although I am currently involved in numerous research projects, I list three interconnected lines of ongoing research below.

Psychological Defenses Against Threat
Most of my research examines how people defend against threats to their beliefs about the world and self. I am interested in the antisocial extremes that people will often go to as a means of defending their beliefs (e.g., war and killing), as well as less destructive modes of defense (e.g., worldview accommodation).

Approach and Withdrawal
Most recently, I have taken a goal regulation approach in much of my research endeavors. In brief, I am interested in the conditions that foster continued effort in goal pursuits (i.e., approach), versus those that prompt giving up (i.e., withdrawal). Much of this research dovetails with my interests in defenses against threat, and I have begun to examine the responses to threat in terms of these two basic goal-processes (approach vs. withdrawal).

Applications to Real World Events
I am also committed to applying psychological theory to real-world phenomena. For example, in one series of studies, I have examined public reactions in the immediate aftermath of a terrorist attack. I am interested in the emotions that people feel in response to such attacks, and how the attitudinal responses that people display function to regulate negative emotions.