Social /
Personality / Health Psychology Program
Description
Humans are
fundamentally social beings. They are also individuals with unique histories, experiences and perceptions. Their social and cognitive
behaviors, how they relate to one another, and their
health are influenced not only by the social contexts in which they find themselves but also by the personality traits they bring to
those situations. The research of social/personality/health
psychologists in the psychology department spans the following areas:
relationships - their nature and how
they are affected by emotions and personality; health - the effects of personality characteristics, emotions and relationships; and
the impact of stress and coping on relationships and
health. Within the area of health psychology, there are ongoing studies on the role of psychological and social factors in heart
disease, cancer, diabetes, and infectious
diseases.
Within the area of relationship research, there are ongoing studies on psychological processes occurring in newly forming
relationships, and in different types of
relationships,
including friendship, romance, and marriage.
The graduate program in Social Psychology in the
CMU Department of Psychology is a research-intensive one in which students are
viewed as junior investigators who become involved in research projects
immediately upon entering the program.
Students have the opportunity to work with distinguished faculty
researchers in social/personality/health psychology who have expertise in such areas
as: (a) the roles of stress and social
support systems in health and well-being, (b) identifying neuroendocrine, immune, and behavioral pathways that
link stress,
personality, and social networks to disease susceptibility, (c) interpersonal relationships, (d) implications of gender and gender roles, (e) adjustment to
chronic illness, (f) motivational factors in adjustment to disease, and (g) the
role of dispositional optimism in dealing with adversity.
Researchers in
the department interact and collaborate with
researchers at other educational and medical institutions such as the
Faculty
Michael Scheier
www.psy.cmu.edu/faculty/scheier
Sheldon Cohen
Vicki Helgeson
www.psy.cmu.edu/faculty/helgeson
Brooke Feeney
http://www.psy.cmu.edu/faculty/feeney
Chante Cox-Boyd
Admissions
For application
materials and information about applying to the graduate program, please visit
the following website: http://www.psy.cmu.edu/home/programs
You may also contact the
Graduate Studies Coordinator listed below:
Erin Donahoe
Phone: 412.268.6026
Psychology Department Website
Please see the CMU
Psychology Department website for additional information about psychology at CMU: www.psy.cmu.edu