Laboratory Director
Ethan received his BA from the University of Pennsylvania and his MA and Ph.D. from Columbia University. He is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Michigan and the Director of the University of Michigan Emotion and Self-Control Laboratory. He is also a Faculty Associate at the University of Michigan's Research Center for Group Dynamics and Depression Research Center.
The overarching goal of Ethan's research is to shed light on the psychological and physiological processes that enable people to adaptively regulate impulses and emotions that undermine their goals and compromise their health.
He uses a variety of tools (e.g., behavioral, diary, physiological, neuroscience-fMRI methods) to address this issue and focuses on both normal-healthy and clinical populations.
For an overview of current research projects in the lab, please visit the research page.
Graduate Students
I am a third year student in Social Psychology and Culture & Cognition programs. My research focuses on the cognitive mechanisms and strategies, which enable individuals to understand their environment in a better way. I am particularly interested in the social indicators of dialectical reasoning, which may be beneficial for conflict resolution. I am also exploring the cognitive mechanisms of emotion-regulation in a cross-cultural context. Finally, my research investigates ways to help people to adopt beneficial reasoning strategies.
The goal of my research is to understand psychological factors that enhance or undermine individuals' mental health. Generally, I am interested in emotion regulation, subjective well-being, and cultural differences in these domains.
I am a third year doctoral student in social psychology currently interested in the negative consequences of experiencing psychological threats to one's self or ego. Most people react in ways that are destructive for themselves and their relationships with others when characteristics that they use to construct a story of who they are (e.g. "I am intelligent", "Other people generally like me") are attacked or perceived as threatened. My research mainly focuses on how harmful consequences, particularly negative emotion, impaired self-regulation, and increased stress hormones, due to self-threats can be prevented or at least reduced. Considering that narcissists and others who are higly concerned with how they are seen by others tend to react even worse to self-threats, it seems likely that transcending the self through the loosening of importance/attachment to one's self-image may help people respond to psychological threats in less destructive, defenseive and automatic ways. I would like to investigate whether this "self-transcendence" can be achieved by adopting self-distanced perspectives on threatening experiences and/or by holding goals that emphasize connection with others and things larger than the self more than the enhancement or maintenance of one's self-image.
I am a second year graduate student in Social Psychology, who is broadly interested in the self-motivated processes that influence sustainable well-being. More defined, my research explores the intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences of prosocial goals, cognition and affect. I am currently working on several projects that examine the benefits of compassionate reflection for the self and others, self-distancing, non-zero-sum beliefs, and prosocial emotion. My research adopts a multi-method approach that uses a variety of methodologies, such as laboratory experiments, web-based surveys, and daily dairies.
As a first year graduate student I am broadly interested in personal growth and how people can actively change to achieve a healthier, as well as a more fulfilling and sustainable way of living. Especially I am interested in improving learning and self-regulation under self-threatening conditions. Right now, I am working with Ethan Kross on alleviating aggression and increasing self-regulation after provocation. I also collaborate with Jennifer Crocker on compassionate and self-image goals and values, on changes in the self as a function of a more compassionate orientation, and the consequences of pride on learning and defensiveness.
Lab Manager
Emily is the lab manager for the Emotion and Self-Control Laboratory. She received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan in December 2008. Emily's research interest is primarily the prevention of eating disorders. Emily is also interested in interpersonal relations, including marital relationships and family dynamics. Emily ultimately plans to pursue graduate work in Clinical Psychology.
Research Assistants
Coming Soon.
