People
Director: Linda Acitelli, Ph.D.
2010-2011 Lab Members
Current Graduate Students
Mai-Ly N. Steers
Background:
I have a diverse background in the fields of biology, psychology, and communication studies, and my goal is to bridge the gaps between these distinct disciplines. Before pursuing a Ph.D. in social psychology, I graduated with two undergraduate degrees in biology and broadcast journalism from the University of Southern California and a M.A. in communications from California State University Los Angeles. Also, prior to enrolling at U of H, I worked for many years in television in Los Angeles. My credentials include being an associate producer for the History Channel series, “Modern Marvels”, Lifetime’s “Intimate Portrait”, ABC’s “Life of Luxury” and serving as researcher for “The Insider”, and A&E’s “Biography”. And yes, I do miss it but I do not miss the high cost of living and the horrendous LA traffic!
Research Interests:
My research consists of three major lines of research. One of my primary research interests is to examine the ways in which modern technological media, such as Facebook, have redefined social interactions and close relationships. In addition, during my time at the University of Houston, I become interested how social influences impact addictive behaviors, such as alcohol abuse. Finally, my third line of research delves into how cultural differences influence health outcomes. For instance, my dissertation focuses on how Asian Americans and European Americans might differ in the manner in which they engage in social support seeking and also how cultural backgrounds influence cognitions and emotions following being asked to provide support. My sincere desire is not only to contribute knowledge to academia but also to propose practical solutions that can help people in their day-to-day lives and also broadly impact understanding between cultures.
Personal Info:
I have a passion for traveling and in fact spent a year living abroad. My favorite places in the world that I have visited so far are London, Munich, different regions of China, and Jaisalmer, India. However, South Africa, Australia, Eastern Europe, and additional Asian countries are still on my bucket list! I am also an avid film buff who loves movies from the 1930’s to 1960’s and old television shows from the 1950’s to the 1960’s. Lately, I have been spending a lot of my free time renovating the house I own with my boyfriend and walking our fur baby (a Tibetan Spaniel). My ultimate dream is come up with that one, big psychologically inspired idea which makes me millions of dollars –either that or to become a tenured professor living on less than a million a year. It’s a tossup.
See/hide Publications and Poster presentations »
Nguyen, M.-L., & Neighbors, C. (2013). Self-determination, perceived approval, and drinking: Differences between Asian Americans and Whites. Addictive Behaviors, 38(3), 1656-1662.
Foster, D. W., Quist, M. C., Young, C. M., Bryan, J. L., Nguyen, M.-L., & Neighbors, C. (2013). Benefit finding as a moderator of the relationship between spirituality/religiosity and drinking. Addictive Behaviors, 38(11), 2647-2652.
Brunson, J. A., Øverup, C. S., Nguyen, M.-L., Novak, S. A., & Smith, C. V. (2014). Good intentions gone awry? Effects of weight-related social control on health and well-being. Body Image, 11(1), 1-10.
Øverup, C. S., Brunson, J. A., Steers, M.-L. N., & Acitelli, L. K. (2014). I know I have to earn your love: how the family environment shapes feelings of worthiness of love. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 1-20.
Bryan, J. L., Quist, M. C., Young, C. M., Steers, M.-L. N., Foster, D. W., & Lu, Q. (2014). Canine comfort: Pet affinity buffers the negative impact of ambivalence over emotional expression on perceived social support. Personality and Individual Differences, 68(0), 23-27.
Foster, D. W., Young, C. M., Steers, M. -L. N., Quist, M. C., Bryan, J. L., & Neighbors, C. (2014). Tears in your beer: Gender differences in coping drinking motives, depressive symptoms and drinking. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.
Steers, M.-L. N., Wickham, R. E. & Acitelli, L. K. (in press). Seeing Everyone Else’s Highlight Reels: How Facebook Usage is Linked to Depressive Symptoms. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.
Foster, D. W., Young, C. M., Bryan, J.L., Steers, M.-L.N., Yeung, N., & Prokhorov, A. (in press). Interactions among drinking identity, gender and decisional balance in predicting alcohol use and problems among college students.
Symposium Presentations
Steers, M.-L.N., Young, C.M., Quist, M.C., Bryan, J.L., Eikenburg, L.B., Acitelli, L.K., & Foster, D.W. (2015, February). To “Like” or Not to “Like”: How Levels of Closeness to Facebook Friends Influence Perceptions of Posts. In M.-L. N. Steers (Co-Chair), L.K. Acitelli (Co-Chair). Extensions of Humankind: Ways in Which Modern Media Redefine Perceptions, Emotional Processes, and Cognitions.Symposium submitted for the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Long Beach, CA.
Nguyen, M.-L., Wickham, R. E. & Acitelli, L. K. (2013, January). How Depressive Symptoms are Linked to Time on Facebook and Facebook Social Comparison. In J. Lee (Chair), Facebook: Friend or Foe? Effects of Online Social Network on Close Relationships. Symposium conducted at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, LA.
Nguyen, M.-L., Wickham, R. E. & Acitelli, L. K. (2012, July). Why Time Spent on Facebook is Linked to Depression. In L. K. Acitelli (Chair), The trouble with Facebook: Multidisciplinary perspectives on relationships in cyberspace. Symposium conducted at the Biannual Meeting of the International Association for Relationship Research, Chicago, IL.
Øverup, C. S., Nguyen, M.-L., Brunson, J. A., & Acitelli, L. K. (2013, January). Wearing Your Heart on Your Facebook Page: How Displaying One’s Relationship on Facebook is Related to Relationship Quality. In J. Lee (Chair), Facebook: Friend or Foe? Effects of Online Social Network on Close Relationships. Symposium conducted at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, LA
Øverup, C. S., Nguyen, M.-L., Brunson, J., & Acitelli, L. K. (2012, July). Facebook Relationship Status: It’s Complicated? In L. K. Acitelli (Chair), The trouble with Facebook: Multidisciplinary perspectives on relationships in cyberspace. Symposium conducted at the Biannual Meeting of the International Association for Relationship Research, Chicago, IL.
Select Poster Presentations
Steers, M-L. N. Young, C. M., Quist, M.C., Eikenburg, L.B. & Neighbors, C. (2014, November). All You Need Are “Likes”: How Self-esteem Moderates the Relationship Between the Need to Belong and Time Spent on Facebook. Poster to be presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Philadelphia, PA.
Nguyen, M.-L., Bryan, J. L., Quist, M.C., Caraway, L., LeRoy, A. S., & Young, C. M., (2014, April). Out of Control Emotions: Ambivalence over Emotional Expression as a Moderator of the Link between Perceived Control and Depressive Symptoms. Poster to be presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Philadelphia, PA.
Nguyen, M.-L., Øverup, C. S., Brunson, J. A., & Acitelli, L. K. (2014, February). A Status to Love: How Relationship Awareness on Facebook Relates to Relationship Quality. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Austin, TX.
Nguyen, M.-L., Quist, M.C., Foster, D. W., Bryan, J. L., Young, C. M., & Acitelli, L. K. (2013, November). Divulge or Indulge? Emotional Expression as a Buffer Against Alcohol Abuse. Poster presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Nashville, TN.
Nguyen, M.-L., Young, C. M., Foster, D. W., Quist, M.C., Bryan, J. L., & Acitelli, L. K. (2013, July). Tears in our beers: Gender differences in depressive symptoms, coping drinking motives, and alcohol. Poster presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Honolulu, HI.
Nguyen, M.-L., Neighbors, C., Hove, M.C., Lee, C., & Acitelli, L.K. (2013, June). Gender as a Moderator of Obsessive Passion, Drinking, and Alcohol-Related Problems. Poster presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, Orlando, FL.
Nguyen, M.-L., Wickham, R. E. & Acitelli, L. (2012, January). The New Internet Virus Facebook Depression? The Role of Gender and Facebook Social Comparison on Depressive Symptoms. Poster presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, CA.
Camilla Overup
Background:
Originally from Denmark, I came to the States in 2005 to attend Marshall University, WV., and swim on their swim team. In 2009, I received my B.A. in psychology, with a minor in Biology. I am currently working on my Ph.D at University of Houston.
Research Interests:
I am primarily interested in the intersection between close relationships and the self. Among others, I am interested in how communicatory behaviors (whether verbal or non-varbal) affect the process of negotiation identities in various interpersonal relationships. I am currently involved in a variety of research projects, including work investigating self-presentational communication within a variety of relationships, with focus being on elucidation the factors that affect the choice of overall self-presentational styles and specific tactics.
Additionally, I am interested in the antecedents and consequences of intimate partner violence, and the effect of such violence in relationship schemas.
See/hide Publications and Poster presentations »
Overup, C. S., Marion, B. E., Teran, S., Muellerleile, P., & Warner, J. (2010, January). Winning the Voting 'Race': SDO predicts party membership. Poster presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual conference: Las Vegas, NV.
Overup, C. S., Marion, B. E., Teran, S., Muellerleile, P., & Warner, J. (2009, November). Winning the Voting 'Race': SDO predicts party membership. Poster presented at the Society of Southeastern Social Psychologists annual conference: Fort Myers, FL.
Overup, C. S., Marion, B., Baker, A., Muellerleile, P., & Warner, J. L. (2009, March). The worst of reasons: McCain benefitted from voters’ racism in the 2008 presidential election. Poster presented at the Eastern Psychological Association annual meeting: Pittsburgh, PA.
Marion, B. E., Overup, C. S., Baker, A., Muellerleile, P., & Warner, J. L. (2009, March). No heartless vampire demons nor enemies of democracy here: Neither Jon Stewart nor the national nightly news keep college students from voting. Poster presented at the Eastern Psychological Association annual meeting: Pittsburgh, PA.
Overup, C. S., DeLong, T., Hurley, S. F., & Muellerleile, P. (2009, February). A campus in crisis: Student responses to a co-ed murder. Poster presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual conference: Tampa, FLA.
Overup, C. S., Delong, T., Hurley, S. F., Saunders, T., & Muellerleile, P. (2008, June). Sexualized violence on TV: An archival analysis of SVU. Poster presented at the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues biennial meeting: Chicago, IL.
Hurley, S. F., Delong, T., Overup, C. S., Partovi, B., Saunders, T., & Muellerleile, P. (2008, June). Crimes of sexual violence: Gender affects risk perception. Poster presented at the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues biennial meeting: Chicago, IL.
Overup, C. S., Delong, T., Hurley, S. F., Saunders, T., & Muellerleile, P. (2008, May). TV crime dramas affect students’ perceptions of risk. Poster presented at the Sigma Xi annual meeting: Huntington, WV.