People

Principal Investigator

Dr. Ed Hirt

Dr. Ed Hirt is the director of the Hirt Laboratory. He received his PhD in Social Psychology from Indiana University in 1987, under the mentorship of Jim Sherman. He was an Assistant Professor at Penn State and University of Wisconsin-Madison before returning to IU in 1991. His main areas of research interest center on human motivation and performance, and he takes a variety of different approaches to studying these questions. One of his main lines of research has focused on the role of self-protective behaviors, most notably self-handicapping, in protecting the self-concept when confronted with important assessments of ability or aptitude. Most recently, his work has focused on self-regulation and self-control. While the field continues to debate whether depletion is a real effect, our research has illustrated that subjective perceptions of depletion and mental fatigue reliably drive subsequent motivation and performance, such that individuals who perceive themselves to be depleted (or replenished) act on the basis of their perceived level of resources. Our research has demonstrated that many factors contribute to these resource perceptions, including implicit theories of willpower (Job et al., 2010), free will beliefs, political ideology, and need for cognition. 

Our lab is very collaborative and benefits greatly from the contributions of the current graduate students and undergraduate research assistants who are members of the lab. As we all know, research is a cumulative process, and each new investigation raises interesting questions for future studies. We routinely collaborate with many former lab members, who have gone on to pursue successful academic and non-academic careers elsewhere. We are very proud of their accomplishments. 

Dr. Hirt is an avid sports fan and a devoted corgi owner. For more information, check out his CV or contact him directly at e_hirt@yahoo.com

Graduate Students

Samantha Heiman

Samantha Heiman is a graduate student working in Dr. Hirt's lab. She examines the way our identities and group memberships shape our behaviors and perceptions - how do we perceive the behaviors of others as signals of identity. How do we use norms as drivers of our behavior? She has examined how identities shaped attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine and how social norms influenced face mask wearing during the pandemic. Her current research spans ideological motivators of misinformation endorsement, how we perceive our own and other groups’ beliefs related to medical mistrust, and the implications of miscommunication within the process of identity signaling.

Elizabeth Ray

Elizabeth Ray is a graduate student working in Dr. Hirt’s lab. Previously, Elizabeth earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Philosophy, and Sociology with concentrations in social research and ethics from the University of Indianapolis. Following her undergraduate studies, Elizabeth continued at the University of Indianapolis to earn her Master of Science in Psychology. Elizabeth’s current research interests broadly focus on ideologies, belief systems, and mindsets.

Jillian Lee Meyer

Jillian Meyer is a graduate student working in Dr. Hirt’s lab, as well as Dr. Fritz Breithaupt's lab in the cognitive science program.  She received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Communication from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. After interning at The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw, Jillian became interested in psychological research associated with ethics. Jillian now studies moral psychology in her labs, such as how people think about moral decisions and how people approach moral dilemmas. Learn more about her work at jillianlee.me.

Former Graduate Students

Hector Ruiz

Hector Ruiz is a fourth year graduate student working in Dr. Hirt’s lab.  Hector is an aspiring psychologist who is interested in the areas of motivation, judgment, decision-making, and self-control. His research has explored the connections between feedback and self-control performance. Born and raised in Mexico, he holds a B.Sc. in Mechatronics Engineering and a Master of Public Policy. He has worked both in the private (automotive engineering, policy consultant) and public sectors (telecom regulation) in Mexico.

MichaƂ Nowak

Michał Nowak is a graduate student working for Prof. Edward Hirt at Indiana University and Prof. Edward Nęcka at Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Poland. His general research interests are centered around different dimensions of the human ability to control emotions, thoughts and behaviors. More specifically he is interested in the motivational factors underlying successful self-control performance and the relationships between self-regulation, self-control and cognitive control. He is a keen analyst of his own self-control failures in the area of chocolate eating. For more information about Michal and his research, please see Michał Nowak's CV.

Dr. Janelle Sherman

Dr. Janelle Sherman is a fourth year graduate student working in Dr. Hirt’s lab.  Previously, Janelle worked as Dr. Hirt’s lab manager for a year before choosing IU for graduate school.  Before that, Janelle received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and English from the University of New England, where she also worked as a research assistant in Dr. Julie Longua’s Self and Close Relationships lab. Janelle’s research focuses on how individuals regulate their connection to close others (e.g., friends, family members, and romantic partners), particularly following instances of rejection or ostracism. Her research attempts to bridge the gap between self-regulation and close relationship research. For more information regarding Janelle and her research, please see Dr. Janelle Sherman's CV.

Dr. Julie Eyink

Dr. Julie Eyink is currently an assistant professor at University of Southern Indiana. Her research broadly focuses on common issues students face every day such as lack of effort and motivation by targeting self-handicapping behaviors and social norms. Current projects involve the interpersonal consequences of claiming different impediments to success and comparing self-handicapping involving actions vs. inactions.  For more information regarding Julie and her research, please see her Dr. Julie Eyink's CV.
Dr. Patrick Egan's LinkedIn   Pegan135@gmail.com

Dr. Patrick Egan

Dr. Patrick Egan is a Manager of Research and Insights at Technomic, a foodservice research consulting firm located in downtown Chicago. There, he provides oversight to projects and operations across Technomic's custom research area. Typical projects include concept testing, brand tracking, market sizing, customer segmentation, and price sensitivity. Clients at Technomic range from Fortune 500 organizations (i.e., large food manufacturers, distributors, and operators) to smaller marketing agencies and private equity firms. 

Since his time in the Hirtlab, Patrick has managed research departments in both educational and non-educational workplaces, and uses his social psychology background to inform research ideation, design, analysis, reporting, and presentations. In his free time, he enjoys traveling the world with his wife, exploring Chicago, playing sports, cooking, and spending time with friends. For more information regarding Patrick, please see his LinkedIn or contact him through pegan135@gmail.com.

Personal Site   Dr. Joshua Clarkson's CV   joshua.clarkson@uc.edu

Dr. Joshua Clarkson

Dr. Joshua John Clarkson (Ph.D. in Social Psychology, Ph.D. in Marketing) is a consumer psychologist who specializes in the areas of persuasion and self-control. His research has been published in various journals, including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Marketing Research, and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and his findings have been featured in media outlets from business magazines and news articles to pop-psychology books and edited academic volumes. He is currently an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Cincinnati.  For more information regarding Dr. Clarkson and his research, check out his Dr. Joshua Clarkson's CV or contact him directly at joshua.clarkson@uc.edu. You can also check out his Personal Site.

Dr. Bridgett Milner

Bridgett Milner earned a PhD in psychology from IU Bloomington in 2007 and has been working as a researcher and analyst ever since. Her experience includes a background in teaching and research related to individual differences and decision making. These experiences prepared her well for her current role which requires both statistical projections of decision making behaviors and the ability to communicate those predictive models in meaningful ways to inform decision makers.

Dr. Sean McCrea

Dr. Sean McCrea is a psychology professor at the University of Wyoming. His current research interests broadly focus on the interplay of motivational and cognitive processes. His laboratory is currently focusing on defensive behaviors in a variety of contexts, particularly self-handicapping behavior and protecting group identity. In addition, Dr. McCrea's laboratory is investigating the self-regulation and self-control of health behaviors across different phases of goal pursuit. His other current areas of research interest include judgment and decision making, evolutionary psychology and law, marketing, and the role of feedback in serious games. For more information, check out  Dr. Sean McCrea's Lab Site or contact him directly at smccrea@uwyo.edu.

Dr. Lile Jia

Dr. Lile Jia is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the National University of Singapore (NUS). For more information about Dr. Jia's research, check out his faculty profile NUS Profile.

Dr. Kristin Hendrix

Dr. Kristin Hendrix graduated with both her Bachelors and PhD from Indiana University, Bloomington. While studing for her PhD she fulfiled the role of a Graduate Assitant. After recieving her PhD she worked for Indiana University School of Medicine for 7 years, where she persued Postdoctoral Fellow, Associate Director/Research Coordinator, and previously served as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics. She is currently fourishing with success in UX Research as a VP Head of Research for Instagram.   

Dr. Sam Karpen

Dr. Sam Karpen is currently working at the University of Georgia. For more information about Dr. Karpen and his work, check out his UGA Profile.

Current Collaborators

Dr. Frank Kardes

Frank R. Kardes is the Donald E. Weston Professor of Marketing and Distinguished Research Professor at the Lindner College of Business at the University of Cincinnati.  He is a recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award of the Society for Consumer Psychology, and a Fellow of five national professional societies.  His research focuses on omission neglect, consumer judgment and inference processes, persuasion and advertising, and consumer and managerial decision making.  He was Co-Editor of Advances in Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, the Handbook of Consumer Psychology, and Marketing Letters, and has served on seven editorial boards. For more information regarding Dr. Kardes and his research, please see his CV

ashley_otto@baylor.edu   (254)710-4595  

Dr. Ashley Otto

Dr. Ashley S. Otto is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. Her research interests include decision making and self-control. Her research has been published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. For more information about Dr. Otto, you can contact her directly by email at ashley_otto@baylor.edu or by phone at (254)710-4595. 

 

Dr. Nicky Lewis

Dr. Nicky Lewis is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at the University of Kentucky. She is interested in media psychology as it applies to media consumption behavior, especially in the contexts of reality television, sports, and video games. Current research projects include the emotional effects of social comparisons and moral judgments of entertainment television characters, the influence of social identification and morality on sports fan behaviors (with Dr. Hirt), and the role of moral perspective taking on media selections and empathy responses to content. 

 

Dr. Veronika Job

Dr. Veronika Job. For information regarding Dr. Job and her research, please see Dr. Veronika Job's CV and Faculty Bio.

Dr. Spike Lee

Dr. Spike Lee is an Assistant Professor of Marketing and Psychology (Cross-Appointed) at the University of Toronto. He is interested in the embodied and metaphorical nature of human thinking, which often leads to quirky effects (e.g., physical cleansing helps people move on by "wiping the slate clean"; when people "smell something fishy," they become suspicious and invest less money in a trust-dependent economic game). In terms of theoretical goals, he explores how the mind interacts with the body in multiple ways; why mind-body relations are often predicted by the metaphors we use; when and how metaphors influence judgment, affect, and behavior; what cognitive principles govern these metaphorical effects; and how they vary by experimental, social, and cultural contexts. He received the 2016 Rising Star designation by the Association for Psychological Science and the 2010 Early Graduate Student Researcher Award by the American Psychological Association. For more information regarding Dr. Lee and his research, please see Dr. Spike Lee's CV. You can also contact him directly at spike.lee@utoronto.ca or check out Dr. Spike Lee's Lab Site.

Dr. Kathryn Boucher

Dr. Katie Boucher is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Indianapolis. Before starting at UIndy, Dr. Boucher received her B.A. in psychology from the University of Kentucky and her Ph.D. in social psychology from Indiana University, Bloomington. Dr. Boucher explores stereotypes: how they can hurt us, how we respond to them, and how they can be changed or their effects lessened. In her research, she examines how stereotype threat and social identity threat can negatively impact students, particularly for young women in science and math and other underrepresented groups in higher education. She pinpoints cues in the classroom that are more or less likely to inspire threat and tests strategies that help curb threat’s influence on academic outcomes, well-being, and career aspirations. For more information regarding Dr. Boucher and her research, please see Dr. Katie Boucher's CV.

Dr. Ayelet Fishbach

Dr. Ayelet Fishbach. For more information regarding Dr. Fishbach and her research, please see her Faculty Profile.

Former Research Assistants

Dr. Erin Hennes

Dr. Erin Hennes received a B.A. in Music, Psychology, and Liberal Arts and Management from Indiana University. She completed her PhD in Social Psychology with a minor in Quantitative Methods at New York University. Following graduation, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles and a Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Her research focuses on cognitive and motivated biases in information processing and person perception, particularly in the context of contemporary social issues such as environmental sustainability and racial and gender inequality. Much of this research draws from system justification and related theories to examine how preferences for progressive vs. restorative change influence cognitive processes. Dr. Hennes also conducts translational research that develops and examines the efficacy (and potential unintended consequences) of social change interventions. She is also heavily involved in the development of new methods for supporting scientific best practices, with a focus on sample size determination. For more information regarding Dr. Hennes and her research, please see her Purdue faculty profile faculty profile.