ABOUT ME
I am an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Penn State University, Mont Alto. I received my B.A. in Psychology and Asian Studies from Furman University. I received my M.S. and Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Florida, working with Dr. James Shepperd. Broadly, my research interests include topics related to health, information avoidance and information decisions, and impression management.
EDUCATION
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Health Decision Making
Across several domains, avoiding health information occurs regularly, even when the information could be vital to survival . Many researchers assume that people avoid information they do not want. One of my primary lines of research proposes that sometimes people want information yet avoid it because of a concern that others may use the information to harm them. For example, fear of discrimination from insurance companies or employers, or fear that medical providers might view them negatively may prompt people to forgo medical screenings (Lipsey & Shepperd, 2019a; 2019b).
2019-2021
North Carolina State University
Postdoctoral Research Scholar
2014-2019
University of Florida
Ph.D., Social Psychology
2009-2013
Furman University
B.A., Psychology; Asian Studies
Threat
I am also interested in how people view and make decisions about other potentially threatening situations or information. For example, my colleague and I surveyed participants in hurricane-prone areas in the days leading up to actual hurricanes to examine how interpersonal concerns affect decisions to prepare for threatening weather disasters (Lipsey & Losee, under review). In another line of research, my colleagues and I have examined how people’s differing safety needs and attitudes affect their attitudes and beliefs about the potential threat of allowing guns on college campuses (e.g., Shepperd, Pogge, Losee, Lipsey, & Redford, 2017).
Social Context and Identities
Race/ethnicity, SES, gender, sexual orientation, religion, political orientation, ability, and many other factors can play an important role in the how people make decisions about information and how people approach others. In one line of research, I examine how people make decisions about information related to White privilege (Conway, Lipsey, Pogge, & Ratliff, 2017) and racial disparities (Volpe, Hoggard, Lipsey, & Kozak, 2021). In another line of research, I examine the aspects of religiousness that lead to higher or lower levels of prejudice towards marginalized groups (Shepperd, Pogge, Lipsey, Smith, & Miller, 2019) and that lead to prosocial or antisocial behavior (Shepperd, Miller, Pogge, Lipsey, & Webster, 2019). As I move forward with my research, my goal is to continue examining the ways in which people factor others into their threat-related decisions and behaviors, with the goal of better serving the needs of marginalized populations. For example, people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community continue to experience considerable marginalization, discrimination, and mistreatment when it comes to their health. The goal of this research is to explore how one’s intersecting identities influence health decisions and how social interventions can improve health and quality of life for members of marginalized groups.