Contact Information

Address:  Purdue University
                College of Liberal Arts
                Department of Psychological Sciences
                703 Third Street
                West Lafayette, IN  47907-2081

Phone:     (765) 494-6892
Fax:         (765) 496-1264
E-mail:     edwesse@psych.purdue.edu

RESEARCH INTERESTS:             

I am primarily interested in social influence within groups, and the social cognitive processes that exist for these group members. I am particularly interested in perceptions of deviance, group commitment, group norms, and the ways in which group members enforce these norms using various forms of social control. I am also interested in how anonymity and deindividuation affect group members’ engagement in extreme, uninhibited, and anti-social behavior.

PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH ARTICLES:                           

Wesselmann, E. D., Bagg, D., & Williams, K. D. “I Feel Your Pain”: The Effects of Observing Ostracism on the Ostracism Detection System. In press. Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology.

Wesselmann, E. D., & Graziano, W. G. Sinful and/or possessed? Religious beliefs and mental illness stigma. In press. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS:                           

Carter-Sowell, A. R., Wesselmann, E. D., Wirth, J. H., Law, A. T., Williams, K. D., Chen, Z., Kosasih, M., & van der Lee, R. Strides for belonging trump strides for superiority: Effects of being ostracized for being superior or inferior to the others. Invited paper in press at Journal of Individual Psychology.

Pryor, J. B. & Wesselmann, E. D. The Likelihood to Sexually Harass Scale. In C. M. Davis, W. H. Yarber, R. Bauserman, G. Schreer, & S. L. Davis (Eds.), Sexuality-related measures: A compendium. Second edition. In press.

Wesselmann, E. D., & Williams, K. D. Ostracism in Cyberspace: Being ignored and excluded on the Internet. In Z. Birchmeier (Ed.), A social psychology analysis of computer-mediated communication. In Press.

Williams, K. D., Wesselmann, E. D., & Chen, Z. (2007). Social exclusion. In R. F. Baumeister and K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Encyclopedia of social psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Vol. 2, pp. 896-897.

Williams, K. D., Chen, Z., & Wesselmann, E. D. (2007). Social compensation. In R. F. Baumeister and K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Encyclopedia of social psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Vol. 2, pp. 889-891.

SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:             

Wesselmann, E. D., Wirth, J. H., Pryor, J. B., Reeder, G. D., & Williams, K. D. (2009, May). Observing Ostracism in Our Group: With Whom Do We Side?

Presentation at the annual meeting for the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Wesselmann, E. D., & Kelly, J. R. (2009, May). Anonymity of a Stranger: Group Setting Effects on Stranger Harassment. Presentation at the annual meeting for the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Wesselmann, E. D., Agnew, C. R., & VanderDrift, L. E. (2009, May). Religious Commitment: Examining Stability and Change from a Relational Perspective. Presentation at the annual meeting for the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Wirth, J. H., Wesselmann, E. D., Williams, K. D., Pryor, J. B., & Reeder, G. D. (2009, February). When and Why Do We Ostracize? To Punish Burdensome Group Members. Presentation at the annual meeting for the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, Tampa, FL.

Wesselmann, E. D., & Kelly, J. R. (2009, February). Cat-Calls and Culpability: Investigating Functions of Street Harassment. Presentation at the annual meeting for the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, Tampa, FL.

Wesselmann, E. D., Wirth, J. H., & Williams, K. D. (2008, May). When Do We Ostracize? Ostracizing Burdensome Group Members. Presentation at the annual meeting for the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Wirth, J. H., Wesselmann, E. D., Williams, K. D., & Mroczek, D. K. (2008, February). A Time-Line of Affective Decline During an Ostracism Experience. Presentation at the annual meeting for the Society of Personality and Social Psychologists, Albuquerque, NM.

Wesselmann, E. D., Reeder, G. D., Pryor, J. B., Dart, T. J., Schubert, K., & Woodrick, T. (2007, May). Psychiatric labeling: Effects of ambiguous evidence and time to respond.  Presentation at the meeting for the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Wesselmann, E. D., Reeder, G. D., Pryor, J. B., Dart, T. J., Schubert, K., & Woodrick, T. (2007, January). Psychiatric labeling and perceptions of dangerousness: Effects over time. Presentation at the annual meeting for the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, Memphis, TN.

Wesselmann, E. D., Williams, K. D., & Pickett, C. (2006, July). Some like it hot: Does social rejection following a friendly interaction imply a broken sociometer?  Presentation at meeting for the International Society for Research on Aggression, Minneapolis, MN.

Wesselmann, E. D., Pryor, J. B., & Reeder, G. D. (2006, May). Responses to gender-typed mental illness over time.  Presentation at meeting for the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Wesselmann, E. D., Reeder, G. D., Pryor, J. B., Chrismore, S., & Woodrick, T. (2006, May). Psychiatric labeling and perceptions of dangerousness: Effects over time. Presentation at meeting for the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Wesselmann, E., Pryor, J. B., & Palmieri, P. (2002, May) Using a modified Stroop procedure to assess associations between ideas about sex and power. Presentation at the meeting for the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

COURSES TAUGHT:

PSY 240 – Introduction to Social Psychology (Fall 2008; Spring 2009; Summer 2009)

DEPARTMENTAL SERVICE:

Social Psychology Graduate Student/Faculty Liaison (Fall 2009-Spring 2010)

College of Liberal Arts Sexual Harassment Advisors Network: Graduate student liaison (Spring 2009-current)

Social Psychology colloquium series coordinator (Spring 2009)