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.

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Submissions from 2023

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Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD): Ethical Considerations for Psychologists, Gerald P. Koocher, G. Andrew H. Benjamin, Jonathan Bolton, and Thomas G. Plante

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What Is Catholic Psychotherapy and How Should It Move Forward?, Thomas G. Plante

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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

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A psychometric analysis of the Relationship Attribution Measure–Online Behavior, Kieran T. Sullivan, Aine F. Sullivan, and Thomas N. Bradbury

Submissions from 2022

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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

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Moral Foundations Predict Perceptions of Moral Permissibility of COVID-19 Public Health Guideline Violations in United States University Students, Kathryn Bruchmann and Liya LaPierre

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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

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Five spiritually based tools for clinical practice during challenging, stressful, and apocalyptic times, Thomas G. Plante

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Principles for Managing Burnout among Catholic Church Professionals, Thomas G. Plante

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Religion has a public relations problem: Integrating evidence-based thinking into clinical practice, Thomas G. Plante

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Santa Clara Brief Compassion Scale (SCBCS), Thomas G. Plante

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The role of religion in sexual orientation change efforts and gender identity change efforts, Thomas G. Plante

Submissions from 2021

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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

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Construal level moderates a local dominance effect of appearance comparisons in undergraduate women, Kathryn Bruchmann, Maggie L. Osa, Kahana Wong, and Lindsay Baerg

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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

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Improving reverse correlation analysis of faces: Diagnostics of order effects, runs, rater agreement, and image pairs, Michael J. Kevane and Birgit Koopmann-Holm

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What constitutes a compassionate response? The important role of culture., Birgit Koopmann-Holm, Kathryn Bruchmann, Magdalena Fuchs, and Megan Pearson

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What constitutes a compassionate response? The important role of culture, Birgit Koopmann-Holm, Kathryn Bruchmann, M. Fuchs, and M. Pearson

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Four positive lessons learned during the 2020–2021 COVID-19 global pandemic: Implications for spirituality in clinical practice, Thomas G. Plante

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The integration of Roman Catholic traditions and evidence-based psychological services, Thomas G. Plante

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Using the Examen, a Jesuit Prayer, in Spiritually Integrated and Secular Psychotherapy, Thomas G. Plante

Submissions from 2020

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Seeing the Whole Picture? Avoided Negative Affect and Processing of Others’ Suffering, Birgit Koopmann-Holm, Kathryn Bartel, Maryam Bin Meshar, and Huiru Evangeline Yang

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Compassion meditation increases optimism towards a transgressor, Birgit Koopmann-Holm, Jocelyn Sze, Thupten Jinpa, and Jeanne L. Tsai

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Can Reading Personalized Storybooks to Children Increase Their Prosocial Behavior?, Ellen Kruse, Isabelle Faller, and Kirsten Read

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A Review of Spiritual Development and Transformation among College Students from Jesuit Higher Education, Thomas G. Plante

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Clericalism Contributes to Religious, Spiritual, and Behavioral Struggles among Catholic Priests, Thomas G. Plante

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St. Ignatius as psychotherapist? How Jesuit spirituality and wisdom can enhance psychotherapy, Thomas G. Plante

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E-books for children with autism: Best read alone or with a therapist?, Erin Soares, Therese Miller, Kathleen Ciffone, and Kirsten Read

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E-books for children with autism: Best read alone or with a therapist?, Erin Soares, Therese Miller, Kathleen Ciffone, and Kirsten Read

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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

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Comparing to ingroup and outgroup members: Do we assimilate, contrast, or neither?, Kathryn Bruchmann and Meghan C. Evans

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Clergy sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church: Dispelling eleven myths and separating facts from fiction, Thomas G. Plante

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Possible Next Steps in APA’s Civility Efforts: Moving from Civility to Hospitality, Solidarity, and to Kinship, Thomas G. Plante

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Relationship between Religion, Spirituality, and Psychotherapy: An Ethical Perspective, Thomas G. Plante

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Further Developments of the Santa Clara Ethics Questionnaire, Thomas G. Plante and Anna McCreadie

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The Santa Clara Ethics Scale, Thomas G. Plante and Anna McCreadie

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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

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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

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The effects of health frame and target relevance in appearance social comparisons, Maggie L. Head and Kathryn Bruchmann

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Ethical issues and challenges working with religious individuals and organizations: Providing culturally competent professional mental health services, Thomas G. Plante

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Promoting Hope, Healing, and Wellness: Catholic Interventions in Behavioral Health Care, Thomas G. Plante and Gerdenio Manuel S.J.

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Perceived Fitness and Exercise Intensity Can Predict Exercise Enjoyment, Thomas G. Plante, Marily Oppezzo, Brendan Tran, and L. Aislinn Diaz

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Rhyme and Word Placement in Storybooks Support High-Level Verb Mapping in 3- to 5-Year-Olds, Kirsten Read and Jacqueline Quirke

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The cat has a… : Children’s use of rhyme to Guide sentence completion, Kirsten Read and Madeline Regan

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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

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Examining the academic motivation of a diverse student population: A consideration of methodology, Tim Urdan and Kathryn Bruchmann

Submissions from 2017

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Compared to What? The Importance of Control Groups in Social Comparison Research, Kathryn Bruchmann

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The cultural shaping of compassion, Birgit Koopmann-Holm and Jeanne L. Tsai

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A Survey of Ethics Training in Undergraduate Psychology Programs at Jesuit Universities, Thomas G. Plante and Selena Pistoresi

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Pie, fry, why: Language play in 3- to 5-year-old children, Kirsten Read, Sarah James, and Andrew Weaver