Robin R. Vallacher

Professor
Ph.D. Michigan State University '75
Research Area: Evolutionary, Social/Personality


Contact Information:
Office: 229 Behavioral Science
Telephone: (561)297-3371/3372
Fax: (561) 297-2160
E-mail: vallacher@fau.edu

General Research Interests

Robin Vallacher is a member of the Social Psychology and Evolutionary Psychology programs and an affiliated member of the Applied Psychology program. He directs the Dynamical Social Psychology Lab, which investigates the dynamic properties of complex human experience at different levels of social reality, from individual functioning (e.g., self-concept, self-regulation, social judgment) to dyadic and group-level processes (e.g., close relations, societal change). Current research topics include evaluative coherence in social judgment, the dynamics of self-evaluative thought, the role of emotion in self-regulation, the emergence and maintenance of self-concept, behavioral and mental synchronization in social interaction, and the emergence of diverse justice beliefs in society and the potential for catastrophic change in these beliefs. These topics are investigated with laboratory experiments utilizing time-series data and by means of computer simulations (cellular automata, attractor neural networks, coupled dynamical systems). Dr. Vallacher is also exploring the relevance of dynamic principles and methods for issues in evolutionary psychology and is adapting dynamical tools to identify the attractors (equilibrium tendencies) underlying the cognitive and affective dynamics of people diagnosed with various forms of mental illness.

Representative Publications

Vallacher, R. R. & Nowak, A. (Eds.) (1994). Dynamical systems in social psychology. San Diego: Academic Press.

Vallacher, R. R., Read, S. J., & Nowak, A. (2002). The dynamical perspective in personality and social psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6, 264-273.

Vallacher, R. R., Nowak, A., & Miller, M. E. (2003). Social influence and group dynamics. In I. Weiner (Series Ed.) & T. Millon & M. J. Lerner (Vol. Eds.), Handbook of psychology: Vol. 5. Personality and social psychology (pp. 383-417). New York: Wiley.

Links: Personal Home Page