research and professional interests
personality psychology
My students and I are presently engaged in a series of online
research studies. You can participate in one of these at my website
personalitystudy.org. By participating, you will help contribute
to our understanding of personality and attitude measurement.
You will
receive a brief description of how your personality compares
with others when you complete the
study.
I received both my bachelor's and doctoral degrees from U. C. Berkeley, where I was trained in the psychology of personality. I have also published papers on personality assessment, the psychology of decision making, social psychology, developmental psychology, and quantitative psychology. Though superficially diverse, these publications share a concern with the complexity of the individual person and the richness or multidimensionality of human difference and human virtue. My curriculum vitae includes links to some of these papers.
I have taught at Oregon State University and the University of New South Wales and, since 1998, at the Wilkes Honors College, a freestanding, public liberal arts college within Florida Atlantic University. Links to syllabi and a list of theses written under my supervision may be found on my teaching page.
political psychology
Much of my recent work is in what might broadly be called political psychology. With undergraduate students at the Wilkes Honors College, I have undertaken empirical studies of the seeming tradeoff between civil rights, civil liberties, and security, of personality changes induced by the September 11 terrorist attacks, and of the effects of media depictions of candidates on personality and social attitudes such as sexism. I have also written conceptual pieces on the social psychology of disenfranchisement, that is, the consequences to both the person and the community when individuals do not have equal access, or equal voices, at the polls. Finally, I am also interested in some of the ways in which sound principles of measurement can inform public policy - including, for example, the idea that selection of the U.S. President using the Electoral College leads to a greater likelihood of an indeterminate outcome than would occur if the Presidency were determined by a single National Popular Vote. A video clip of my argument is available here.
life
I am married (to Carol Lane Lanning), have three children
(Rachel, Dylan, and Ramona) and multiple pets. In my spare
time I play tennis, read, contemplate playing the sitar, and contribute in various ways
to a number of progressive causes. I am also the
proprietor ofEveryconsultant
LLC,which, if I ever get it off the ground, will become a metaconsulting organization bringing members of
university faculties together with prospective
audiences in the communities they serve.
