Social Psychology

Term

Faculty

Education

• B.A.: Psychology, Dartmouth College
• M.A.: Social Psychology, UNC Chapel Hill
• Ph.D.: Social Psychology, UNC Chapel Hill

Research Interests

Much of Dr. Jeffrey Green’s research revolves around the self-concept. One research program has investigated how individuals strategically protect our self-views via selective memory (mnemic neglect). They also have researched how individuals create and defend their felt meaning in life. Green studies close relationships processes, including attachment theory, forgiveness (including self-forgiveness), applications of the investment model of commitment (e.g., to entrepreneurship, to the environment), and how couples align their attitudes. Green also researches human-animal interactions, particularly via the lens of attachment theory. They have published work on affective states such as sadness, anger, envy, and guilt influence self-views as well as prosocial behavior. Green has empirically examined various types of virtuous behavior, including gratitude, self-control, and humility, and how these processes can facilitate meaning in life. Finally, their most active area currently is nostalgia: they look at how nostalgia is experienced (e.g., via scents and tastes, reading favorite books, viewing old social media posts, attending reunions), and the resulting influence on feelings of social connectedness, self-continuity, and well-being.

Select Publications

• Green, J. D., Campbell, W. K., & Van Tongeren, D. (2023). Existential humility: Strong tests of intellectual humility. Journal of Positive Psychology, 18(2), 259-263.
• Green, J. D., Cairo, A. H., Sedikides, S., & Wildschut, T.(2021). The ties that bind: University nostalgia fosters relational and collective university engagement. Frontiers in Social Psychology, 12.
• Green, J. D., Sedikides, C., Van Tongeren, D. R., Behler, A. M. C., & Barber, J. R. (2019). Self-enhancement, righteous anger, and moral grandiosity. Self and Identity, 18, 201-216.
• Green, J. D., Sedikides, C., Pinter, B., & Van Tongeren, D. R. (2009). Two sides to self-protection: Self-improvement strivings and feedback from close others attenuate mnemic neglect. Self and Identity, 8, 233-250.
• Green, J. D., Burnette, J., & Davis, J. L. (2008). Third-party forgiveness: (Not) forgiving your close other's betrayer. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 407-418.

Affiliations

• The Society for Personality and Social Psychology
• Society of Experimental Social Psychology

Courses

• Psychology 101: Introduction to Psychology
• Psychology 321: Social Psychology
• Psychology 491: Social Influence: from Conformity to Fascism
• Psychology 634: Social Cognition
• Psychology 688: Self and Identity

Awards

• VCU UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program) Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award, 2014

Links

• ResearchGate
• Google Scholar