Danu Anthony Stinson

Assistant Professor
Ph.D. 2007 (University of Waterloo)
joined Department in 2010

I am interested in understanding how diagnostic social situations reveal personality dynamics. My research to date has focussed on the interpersonal nature and function of self-esteem, and suggests that self-esteem acts as an interpersonal guidance system in risky social situations — situations where the possibility of achieving belonging is matched by the possibility of rejection. In such situations, self-esteem influences whether people's interpersonal motivations, thoughts, and behaviours focus on approaching connectedness or avoiding rejection. Because these differing self-regulatory styles can have a marked influence on the quality of people's social bonds, my research ultimately examines the consequences of differing self-regulatory strategies for people's psychological, social, and physical well-being.

Interests

Social psychology, interpersonal relationships and the self

Program affiliations

Social psychology

Publications

Stinson, D.A., Logel, C., Holmes, J.G., Wood, J.V., Forest, A., Gaucher, D., Fitzsimons, G., & Kath, J. (2010). The regulatory function of self-esteem: Testing to the acceptance and epistemic signaling systems. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 993-1013.

Cameron, J.J., Stinson, D.A., Gaetz, R., & Balchen, S. (2010). Acceptance is in the eye of the beholder: Self-esteem and motivated perceptions of acceptance from the opposite sex. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 513-529.

Stinson, D.A. & Holmes, J.G. (2010). “Sociometer Model”. In J.M. Levine and M.A. Hogg, Encyclopaedia of Group Processes and Intergroup Relations. New York: Sage Publications Inc.

Stinson, D.A., Cameron, J.J., Wood, J.V., Gaucher, G. & Holmes, J.G. (2009). Deconstructing the “reign of error:” Interpersonal warmth explains the self-fulfilling prophecy of anticipated acceptance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 1165-1168.

Murray, S.L., Aloni, M., Holmes, J.G., Derrick, J.L., Stinson, D.A., & Leder, S. (2009). Fostering partner dependence as commitment insurance: The implicit contingencies of the exchange principle in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 324- 348.

Stinson, D.A., Wood, J.V., & Doxey, J.R (2008). In search of clarity: Self-esteem and domains of confidence and confusion. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 1541-1555.

Stinson, D.A., Logel, C., Zanna, M.P., Holmes, J.G., Cameron, J.J., Wood, J.V., & Spencer, S.J. (2008). The cost of lower self-esteem: Testing a self-and-social-bonds model of health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 412-428.

Anthony, D.B., Holmes, J.G., & Wood, J.V. (2007). Social acceptance and self-esteem: Tuning the sociometer to interpersonal value. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 1024-1039.

Anthony, D.B., Wood, J.V., & Holmes, J.G. (2007). Testing sociometer theory: Self-esteem and the importance of acceptance for social decision-making. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 425 - 432.

Holmes, J.G. & Anthony, D.B. (2006). Affect and the regulation of interdependence in personal relationships. In J.P Forgas (Ed.), Affect in social thinking and behavior (pp. 327-343). New York: Psychology Press.

Wood, J.V., Anthony, D.B., & Foddis, W.F. (2006). Should people with low self-esteem strive for high self-esteem? In Kernis, M.H. (Ed.), Self-Esteem issues and answers: A source book of current perspectives (pp. 288-296). New York: Psychology Press.