PhD Students
Andrew Dawson, BSc, MA
I am a PhD student in the Social Psychology program at Wilfrid Laurier University, having completed my BSc at Carleton University and my MA at Laurier in the IMPETuS lab.
My research interests generally fall into the categories of political and moral psychology. Recently I have been investigating the factors behind judgement and forgiveness in the context of social media, particularly in how people respond to offensive actions and statements that have resurfaced. Although people do appear to take a number of factors into consideration, such as the passage of time and age of the offender, partisan loyalties will often drive diverging judgments and altered perceptions of the issue at hand. Much of my other work as well falls along the lines of partisan conflict and competing moral values, investigating which views are held most dearly and what that means for group behaviour.
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Melih Can Sahin, BSc, MSc
I am a first-year graduate student in the Social Psychology Ph.D. Program at Laurier. I joined the IMPETuS lab after completing my BSc in Psychology Program and MSc in Political Science and International Relations Program at the Middle East Technical University, Turkey.
My primary research interests revolve around understanding how collective identities and concerns (e.g., political beliefs and group identities) shape people's socio-political attitudes and behaviors. For example, in my master's thesis research, I investigated different types of existential threats to social identities and their effects on trust in the government. My recent research interests include exploring the mechanisms that serve people to regulate their group-level identities in the face of social identity threats. I love petting my cat and cooking while I think about these issues
Jake Siamro, BSc, MA
I am a PhD student in the Social Psychology program at Wilfrid Laurier University, having
completed my BSc at Carleton University and my MA at Laurier. I am working in the IMPETuS
lab for my Comprehensive Research Project.
My research interests broadly fall into the categories of social, personality, and political
psychology. My interests with the IMPETuS lab broadly focus on the factors that contribute to
political polarization. Specifically, I am interested in how specific beliefs—such as those rooted
in emotional reasoning and 'us vs. them'; thinking—contribute to the increasing hostility and
division on college campuses. The role of social media in fostering such beliefs is also of
particular interest.
Masters Students
Claire Jordan, BA
I am a graduate of the University of Waterloo’s BA program, majoring in Honours Psychology. This is my first year at Laurier as a master’s student! In my undergrad, I wrote my Honours thesis on the role of goal failure in temporal self-appraisal theory, which posits that people will position events subjectively in time in relation to their current self. As a graduate student, I hope to investigate the role this theory plays on autobiographical narratives and how people revise their life story overtime.
Research Associates
Danielle Larche, BA
I am a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University’s Psychology (Research Specialist) BA program with a minor in Sociology, planning to complete a Masters of Social Work. I am interested in political polarization, perception, and lay beliefs; namely, how these factors relate to the perpetuation of social inequality. For example, my Honours thesis investigated how people define the term “racism”, and how these definitions vary across the political spectrum. This research suggested that differing conceptualizations about what the word “racism” entails may exacerbate political tensions. Currently, I’m involved with a study looking at democratic backsliding and partisans’ support for unethical political tactics.”