Psychology is the scientific study of behavior, cognition and emotion. The Santa Clara psychology department believesactions, thoughts and feelings are best understood as the result of psychological, neurological, developmental, social and cultural influences. The composition of the faculty reflects this broad approach, with members who specialize in clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, educational psychology, health psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, learning, neuropsychology, and social psychology.
The psychology department places a strong emphasis on empirical methods of inquiry. All faculty members have active research programs, and we encourage undergraduates to get involved. Each year a large number of our majors present papers at professional conferences, and many students co-author articles in professional journals. Permanent laboratories maintained by the department include a health psychology lab, an animal lab, and a sleep lab.
Submissions from 2023
Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD): Ethical Considerations for Psychologists, Gerald P. Koocher, G. Andrew H. Benjamin, Jonathan Bolton, and Thomas G. Plante
What Is Catholic Psychotherapy and How Should It Move Forward?, Thomas G. Plante
Human interaction with the divine, the sacred, and the deceased: topics that warrant increased attention by psychologists, Thomas G. Plante, Gary E. Schwartz, Julie J. Exline, Crystal L. Park, Raymond F. Paloutzian, Rüdiger J. Seitz, and Hans-Ferdinand Angel
A psychometric analysis of the Relationship Attribution Measure–Online Behavior, Kieran T. Sullivan, Aine F. Sullivan, and Thomas N. Bradbury
Submissions from 2022
COVID-19 information overload: Intolerance of uncertainty moderates the relationship between frequency of internet searching and fear of COVID-19, Lindsay Baerg and Kathryn Bruchmann
Moral Foundations Predict Perceptions of Moral Permissibility of COVID-19 Public Health Guideline Violations in United States University Students, Kathryn Bruchmann and Liya LaPierre
One size does not fit all: Implicit theories of body weight and body mass index interact to predict body image disturbances, Kathryn Bruchmann, Chan L. Thai, and Brianna Wingard
Five spiritually based tools for clinical practice during challenging, stressful, and apocalyptic times, Thomas G. Plante
Principles for Managing Burnout among Catholic Church Professionals, Thomas G. Plante
Religion has a public relations problem: Integrating evidence-based thinking into clinical practice, Thomas G. Plante
Santa Clara Brief Compassion Scale (SCBCS), Thomas G. Plante
The role of religion in sexual orientation change efforts and gender identity change efforts, Thomas G. Plante
Submissions from 2021
Social Comparison Information Influences Intentions to Reduce Single-Use Plastic Water Bottle Consumption, Kathryn Bruchmann, Sarah M. Chue, Keelin Dillon, Jaime K. Lucas, Kayla Neumann, and Charlotte Parque
Construal level moderates a local dominance effect of appearance comparisons in undergraduate women, Kathryn Bruchmann, Maggie L. Osa, Kahana Wong, and Lindsay Baerg
The role of civility and cultural humility in navigating controversial areas in psychology, Edward B. Davis, Thomas G. Plante, Melissa J. Grey, Christina Lee Kim, Darren Freeman-Coppadge, Tyler G. Lefevor, Jeffrey A. Paulez, Sulaimon Giwa, Jon Lasser, Stephen P. Stratton, Erin Deneke, and Kevin J. Glowiak
Improving reverse correlation analysis of faces: Diagnostics of order effects, runs, rater agreement, and image pairs, Michael J. Kevane and Birgit Koopmann-Holm
What constitutes a compassionate response? The important role of culture., Birgit Koopmann-Holm, Kathryn Bruchmann, Magdalena Fuchs, and Megan Pearson
What constitutes a compassionate response? The important role of culture, Birgit Koopmann-Holm, Kathryn Bruchmann, M. Fuchs, and M. Pearson
Four positive lessons learned during the 2020–2021 COVID-19 global pandemic: Implications for spirituality in clinical practice, Thomas G. Plante
The integration of Roman Catholic traditions and evidence-based psychological services, Thomas G. Plante
Using the Examen, a Jesuit Prayer, in Spiritually Integrated and Secular Psychotherapy, Thomas G. Plante
Submissions from 2020
Seeing the Whole Picture? Avoided Negative Affect and Processing of Others’ Suffering, Birgit Koopmann-Holm, Kathryn Bartel, Maryam Bin Meshar, and Huiru Evangeline Yang
Compassion meditation increases optimism towards a transgressor, Birgit Koopmann-Holm, Jocelyn Sze, Thupten Jinpa, and Jeanne L. Tsai
Can Reading Personalized Storybooks to Children Increase Their Prosocial Behavior?, Ellen Kruse, Isabelle Faller, and Kirsten Read
A Review of Spiritual Development and Transformation among College Students from Jesuit Higher Education, Thomas G. Plante
Clericalism Contributes to Religious, Spiritual, and Behavioral Struggles among Catholic Priests, Thomas G. Plante
St. Ignatius as psychotherapist? How Jesuit spirituality and wisdom can enhance psychotherapy, Thomas G. Plante
E-books for children with autism: Best read alone or with a therapist?, Erin Soares, Therese Miller, Kathleen Ciffone, and Kirsten Read
E-books for children with autism: Best read alone or with a therapist?, Erin Soares, Therese Miller, Kathleen Ciffone, and Kirsten Read
Online communication and dating relationships: Effects of decreasing online communication on feelings of closeness and relationship satisfaction, Kieran T. Sullivan, Jessica Riedstra, Brenda Arellano, Bonnie Cardillo, Vanessa Kalach, and Amrita Ram
Submissions from 2019
Comparing to ingroup and outgroup members: Do we assimilate, contrast, or neither?, Kathryn Bruchmann and Meghan C. Evans
Clergy sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church: Dispelling eleven myths and separating facts from fiction, Thomas G. Plante
Possible Next Steps in APA’s Civility Efforts: Moving from Civility to Hospitality, Solidarity, and to Kinship, Thomas G. Plante
Relationship between Religion, Spirituality, and Psychotherapy: An Ethical Perspective, Thomas G. Plante
Further Developments of the Santa Clara Ethics Questionnaire, Thomas G. Plante and Anna McCreadie
The Santa Clara Ethics Scale, Thomas G. Plante and Anna McCreadie
Using strategic pauses during shared reading with preschoolers: Time for prediction is better than time for reflection when learning new words, Kirsten Read, Erin Furay, and Dana Zylstra
Submissions from 2018
Seeing beyond political affiliations: The mediating role of perceived moral foundations on the partisan similarity-liking effect, Kathryn Bruchmann, Birgit Koopmann-Holm, and Aaron Scherer
The effects of health frame and target relevance in appearance social comparisons, Maggie L. Head and Kathryn Bruchmann
Ethical issues and challenges working with religious individuals and organizations: Providing culturally competent professional mental health services, Thomas G. Plante
Promoting Hope, Healing, and Wellness: Catholic Interventions in Behavioral Health Care, Thomas G. Plante and Gerdenio Manuel S.J.
Perceived Fitness and Exercise Intensity Can Predict Exercise Enjoyment, Thomas G. Plante, Marily Oppezzo, Brendan Tran, and L. Aislinn Diaz
Rhyme and Word Placement in Storybooks Support High-Level Verb Mapping in 3- to 5-Year-Olds, Kirsten Read and Jacqueline Quirke
The cat has a… : Children’s use of rhyme to Guide sentence completion, Kirsten Read and Madeline Regan
Asian Americans respond less favorably to excitement (vs. calm)-focused physicians compared to European Americans, Tamara Sims, Birgit Koopmann-Holm, Henry Young, Da Jiang, Helene Fung, and Jeanne L. Tsai
Examining the academic motivation of a diverse student population: A consideration of methodology, Tim Urdan and Kathryn Bruchmann
Submissions from 2017
Compared to What? The Importance of Control Groups in Social Comparison Research, Kathryn Bruchmann
The cultural shaping of compassion, Birgit Koopmann-Holm and Jeanne L. Tsai
A Survey of Ethics Training in Undergraduate Psychology Programs at Jesuit Universities, Thomas G. Plante and Selena Pistoresi
Pie, fry, why: Language play in 3- to 5-year-old children, Kirsten Read, Sarah James, and Andrew Weaver
