Justin Wellman

Associate Professor and Chair of Psychology Department

Dr. Wellman is interested in a number of different areas in both basic and applied social psychology. His research has examined personality differences in how individuals pursue both conscious and non-conscious goals (i.e., their self-regulation). His research team has found that optimism and pessimism seem to be particularly important traits in self-regulation. He is also interested in how mood (such as anxiety) interacts with these psychological processes. Dr. Wellman has studied how expectations like optimism and pessimism influence health outcomes. For example, do optimists respond more strongly to a placebo than pessimists? Another area of interest is the impact of social ostracism and exclusion on mood. His areas of teaching activity include social psychology, health psychology, motivation, emotion, and statistics.