Resume

• 2008

  M.S.

  Thesis: \"Seeing people

  seeing things: Individual differences in selective attention\"

  Psychological Sciences

  Purdue University

  B.S. summa cum laude

  Honors Thesis: \"The development of exceptional scientific writing: A comparison of early and later career samples\"

  Psychology and English Language and Literature

  Central Michigan University

  Ph.D.

  with Graduate Certificate in Psychological Statistics\n\nDissertation: \"Self-other agreement in Person and Thing Orientations\"

  Psychological Sciences

  Purdue University

  Graduate Certificate in Psychological Statistics

• Social Psychology

  University Teaching

  Higher Education

  Qualtrics

  Experimental Design

  Syllabus Development

  SPSS

  Personality Testing

  Regression Analysis

  Academic Writing

  Data Analysis

  R

  Research Design

  Psychometrics

  Experimental Psychology

  Quantitative Research

  Teaching

  Psychology

  Microsoft Office

  Instructional Design

  The associations of Greek and religious organization participation with college students’ social well-being and purpose.

  Two online-survey studies examined the associations of Greek (i.e.

  sorority and fraternity) and religious (i.e.

  church or campus ministry) organization participation with college students' social well-being and sense of purpose. In study 1 (N = 281)

  religious organization membership (versus no membership) was associated with connectedness and purpose

  but for Greek organizations the associations held only with respect to level of organization involvement. In study 2 (N = 426)

  Greek and religious organization membership were both associated with most social well-being and purpose indicators

  but only Greek membership was linked to lower loneliness. As in study 1

  level of involvement in Greek

  but not religious

  organizations was linked to social well-being. Hypothesized moderators of the associations between organization membership and the purpose and social well-being variables were not supported. We discuss implications for professionals who work with college students to promote well-being

  and we present future research ideas.

  The associations of Greek and religious organization participation with college students’ social well-being and purpose.

  Self-monitoring is a key element in interpersonal interactions

  guiding how people monitor and adjust their social behavior. Compared to low self-monitors

  high self-monitors are more sensitive to and use social cues to direct their self-presentations. However

  little work has examined whether high self-monitors possess a heightened capacity to cognitively process self-presentation information. The goal of the current work is to address this question. After exposure to impression-related (vs. control) words

  high (vs. low) self-monitors were faster to link positive (vs. neutral) traits to the self. The results show that high self-monitors have greater cognitive access to self-presentation information

  a finding that has heretofore been absent from the literature.

  Effects of self-monitoring on processing of self-presentation information

  The current work examined whether self-presentational efforts are influenced differently when people hold a goal to establish

  maintain or repair an interpersonal connection. Results supported the counterintuitive prediction that participants with a repair goal would convey a less favourably oriented persona (e.g. less friendly

  less similar and less genuine) compared to those with an establish or maintain goal. The efforts of repair goal participants were also perceived as less effective. The analysis also showed that certain self-presentation dimensions (i.e. friendliness

  genuineness and similarity) mediated the relationship between acceptance goals and perceived effectiveness. The findings extend and contribute to the self-presentation and belongingness literatures.

  The influence of acceptance goals on self-presentational efforts

  Individuals selectively orient toward their social environment (people) and toward their physical environment (things/objects). These orientations are key predictors of important life outcomes

  including career decisions. However

  research has not yet examined whether orientations toward people and things manifest in naturalistic environments. The present two-part study addressed this gap. In part one

  participants rated their interest in person- and thing-related books (e.g.

  on relationships; robots). Participants then took a camera home for several days to photograph anything or anyone they considered an important part of their life. In part two

  the photographs were submitted and coded for content. Results support the construct validity of person and thing orientations. Greater interest was expressed in orientation-related than unrelated books and photograph content was consistent with individuals' orientations. The findings suggest that person and thing orientations leave traces in everyday environments and behaviors. This research highlights implications for the development of interests and academic and occupational decision-making.

  A snapshot of Person and Thing Orientations: How individual differences in interest manifest in everyday life.

  We examined whether high self-monitors cognitively process self-presentation-related information and concepts more readily than low self-monitors. Results across three studies indicate that compared to low self-monitors

  high self-monitors have greater cognitive access to self-presentation-related information and concepts. High self-monitors produced more words related to self-presentation in a shorter amount of time (Study 1) and in a cognitive load condition (Study 2). In both studies

  the number of words did not differ when participants took longer to create their list and when they were in a no cognitive load condition. In Study 3

  high (vs. low) self-monitors showed faster reaction time to self-presentation-related concepts. In contrast

  reaction time to non-self-presentation items did not differ. The findings contribute to both the theory and knowledge of self-monitoring by demonstrating that information processing related to self-presentational concepts is an important component of self-monitoring

  in that such information is more cognitively accessible to high self-monitors.

  High self-monitors' cognitive access to self-presentation-related information

  Individuals differ in how they deploy attention to their physical and social environments. These differences have been recognized in various forms as orientations

  interests

  and preferences

  but empirical work examining these differences at a cognitive level is scarce. To address this gap

  we conducted two studies to explore the links among attentional processes and interests in people and things. The first study measured selective visual attention toward person- and thing-related image content. In the second study

  participants were randomly assigned to describe visually presented scenes using either an observational or narrative story format. Linguistic analyses were conducted to assess attentional bias toward interest-congruent content. Outcomes from both studies suggest that attention and motivational processes are linked to differential interests in physical and social environments.

  Seeing people

  seeing things: Individual differences in selective attention

  Miranda M.

  McIntyre

  Ph.D.

  Purdue University

  California State University-San Bernardino

  San Bernardino

  CA

  Assistant Professor

  California State University-San Bernardino

  West Lafayette

  Indiana

  Graduate Student Researcher

  Graduate Instructor

  Purdue University