People are powerfully affected by their social environments. However, people do not encounter environments randomly or passively. Research in my lab examines the different ways that people select, change, interpret, and respond to their social environments, a set of processes collectively known as person-environment interactions. This research brings together a variety of topics in personality and social psychology and related fields, including interpersonal perception, emotions, and personality development.
Interpersonal perception, including self-perception, is a critical topic in the study of interactions: self-perceptions can affect or be affected by social environments, and the responses that people evoke from others are mediated by others’ perceptions of them. Emotions are important in interactions because emotions guide people’s responses to personally meaningful social cues, and emotions shape social behavior through expression and communication (or lack thereof). The study of personality dynamics and development examines interactions with a broader view of time and social context. In our work we use a variety of research paradigms, including laboratory studies, surveys, experience sampling, and longitudinal designs. Much of this work draws upon recent innovations in research methods and statistics, such as Internet-based sampling and assessment, specialized designs for studying interpersonal perception in dyads and groups (including multiple-informant designs and Kenny's social relations model), and quantitative models of growth and dynamic processes.
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- Anderson, C., Srivastava, S., Beer, J. S., Spataro, S. E., & Chatman, J. E. (2006). Knowing your place: Self-perceptions of status in face-to-face groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 1094-1110.
- Gosling, S. D., Vazire, S., Srivastava, S., & John, O. P. (2004). Should we trust web-based studies? A comparative analysis of six preconceptions about Internet questionnaires. American Psychologist, 59, 93-104.
- Srivastava, S., Angelo, K. M., & Vallereux, S. R. (2008). Extraversion and positive affect: A day reconstruction study of person-environment transactions. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 1613-1618.
- Srivastava, S., & Beer, J. S. (2005). How self-evaluations relate to being liked by others: Integrating sociometer and attachment perspectives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 966-977.
- Srivastava, S., Guglielmo, S., & Beer, J. S. (2010). Perceiving others’ personalities: Examining the dimensionality, assumed similarity to the self, and stability of perceiver effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 520-534.
- Srivastava, S., John, O. P., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J. (2003). Development of personality in early and middle adulthood: Set like plaster or persistent change? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1041-1053.
- Srivastava, S., McGonigal, K. M., Richards, J. M., Butler, E. A., & Gross, J. J. (2006). Optimism in close relationships: How seeing things in a positive light makes them so. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 143-153.
- Srivastava, S., Tamir, M., McGonigal, K. M., John, O. P., & Gross, J. J. (2009). The social costs of emotional suppression: A prospective study of the transition to college. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 883-897.
- Tamir, M., John, O. P., Srivastava, S., & Gross, J. J. (2007). Implicit theories of emotion: Affective and social outcomes across a major life transition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 731-744.
- Srivastava, S. & Anderson, C. (in press). Accurate when it counts: Perceiving power and status in social groups. In J. L. Smith, W. Ickes, J. Hall, S. D. Hodges, & W. Gardner (Eds.), Managing interpersonal sensitivity: Knowing when—and when not—to understand others.
- John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 102-138). New York: Guilford.
Department of Psychology
University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon 97403-1227
- Phone: (541) 346-4928
- Fax: (541) 346-4911