erinhughes.bsky.social

graphic displaying the following text: “The IARR Teaching Committee is seeking article recommendations focused on the relationships of underrepresented populations.” below that text, a link appears to a form where people can provide recommendations: tinyurl.com/IARRrecs

To help instructors diversify course content, we’re building a database of articles focused on the relationship experiences of marginalized and underrepresented populations. Do you have any to recommend (perhaps one you’ve written yourself or read recently)? Recommend it here: tinyurl.com/IARRrecs

We wrote a blog post about this for @spspnews.bsky.social Character and Context: spsp.org/news/charact...

Pseudo Effects: How Method Biases Can Produce Spurious Findings About Close Relationships - Samantha Joel, John K. Sakaluk, James J. Kim, Devinder Khera, Helena Yuchen Qin, Sarah C. E. Stanton, 2025 Research on interpersonal relationships frequently relies on accurate self-reporting across various relationship facets (e.g., conflict, trust, appreciation). Y...

In a new paper, my colleagues and I set out to demonstrate how method biases can create spurious findings in relationship science, by using a seemingly meaningless scale (e.g., "My relationship has very good Saturn") to predict relationship outcomes. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Opinion | You’re Probably Doing Small Talk Wrong

What kinds of conversations spark instant connection?

Excited to share my first NYT Guest Essay, with @ericaboothby.bsky.social.

We argue that playful riffing — creating a little world together — forges and deepens relationships through shared reality.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/o...

🎇NEW PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENT🎇

“Love may be a many-splendored thing, but it’s also a battlefield.”

So begins my "Romantic Relationships" chapter in the new, OPEN-ACCESS, Handbook of Social Psychology (6e). The chapter synthesizes what I've learned in my 28 years in the field.

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I'm thrilled that this is not only published, but free and open-access to make our science available to everyone. Brief thread about Chapter 24 (Social Class), from @profnicolestephens.bsky.social, Sarah Townsend, and me: (1/4)

We have created a free syllabus + teaching materials on the psychology of shared identities

It includes links to papers, lecture slides, chapter summaries, exams, interactive activities, educational videos & podcasts.

Please share with educators:
www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/the-power-...

Since 1954, "The Handbook of Social Psychology" has been the field’s most authoritative reference work, and today is the launch of the 6th edition. Best news? The HSP is now open-access—free to read, download, and share.

the-hsp.com

Title page of the paper "Merging in Close Relationships"

Excited to share a new paper in Current Directions on the theme of merging in close relationships, with @emmamcgorray.bsky.social, @erinhughes.bsky.social , and @abdoe.bsky.social! In the paper, we discuss merging in the domains of selves, goals, processing, and reality. tinyurl.com/ynbedzys (1/4)

SPSP PUI Invited Research Talk "Whatever Has Come Towards Me Through Life, I Am Able to Withstand It All": Strengths and Struggles Faced by the Partners of Incarcerated Individuals Speaker: Erin Hughes Thursday, February 27 2-3 PM ET Where: Virtual Register now!

⏰Today, 2-3 PM ET: Join us as @erinhughes.bsky.social discusses her research about the experiences of people whose romantic partners are incarcerated.

✍️Sign up for the latest event in our PUI Invited Talk Series here: ow.ly/RIoW50V6VvP

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: "Whatever Has Come Towards Me Through Life, I Am Able to Withstand It All": Strengths and Struggles Faced by the Partners of Incarcerated Individuals. After... Join SPSP for the next installment in our new event series, exploring outstanding research by scholars at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions. During this session, researchers from Fairfield Universi...

This Thursday (2-3PM ET) I’ll be giving a virtual talk through @spspnews.bsky.social Invited Research Talk Series on mine and @elijfinkel.bsky.social’s work on romantic couples dealing with incarceration. Register using the link below to join us!

us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Thank you!!

Congratulations @erinhughes.bsky.social for winning the Close Relationships grad student paper award 🏆Her work shows that avoidantly attached folks overestimate how much they’ll lose parts of themselves when in relationships. #SPSP2025 #spspcloserels

Congratulations to the Relationship Researchers Interest Group award 🏆winners: Bill Chopik for the Caryl E. Rusbult Early Career Award, and
Erin Hughes for the Graduate Student Paper Award! We can’t wait to hear more at the SPSP Close Relationships Preconference :)

Thanks so much, Allie!

Thank you, Kevin!

This paper was years in the making, and I’m so happy it is out! Plus, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to do this work with.

Overall, we find evidence that avoidantly attached people believe they are losing themselves due to their relationship, despite no external metrics finding evidence to that effect (a self-loss delusion). The belief that they are losing themselves is linked to lower commitment.

Our external metrics of self-loss included third party ratings of partner-requested changes and actual changes, as well as loss-inducing behavioral choices in a “choose-your-own adventure” story that involved imagining one’s partner making change requests.

Third, we hypothesized a “self-loss delusion” such that people higher in attachment avoidance would perceive self-loss that external metrics (outside the mind of the perceiver) would fail to detect. We find clear support even when using a range of external metrics (see Figure 8).

Second, we hypothesized that self-loss perceptions would mediate the negative association between avoidance and commitment. We do find evidence of this mediation cross-sectionally and longitudinally , even when controlling for intake commitment (see Figure 2).

Across 4 studies, we tested 3 hypotheses. First, we hypothesized that people higher in attachment avoidance would perceive changes due to the relationship as loss, which we find consistent support for.

I’m so excited to share our new paper in JPSP from me, @lydiaemery.bsky.social, @emmamcgorray.bsky.social, Wendi Gardner, & @elijfinkel.bsky.social! We find that avoidantly attached people report self-loss due to their relationship, but external metrics fail to detect such loss. tinyurl.com/yaztcjc2

I’m a social psychologist and would love to be added too!

Salary and benefits are competitive -- minimum starting salary for the assistant professor rank is $97,602 for 2024-2025

On a personal note, having just started in this department, I’ve been so welcomed and supported each step of the way. This is a great group to be a part of!

Typical teaching load is 3 courses per semester, with course reductions for mentoring undergraduates on faculty-led research. We also offer a course reduction in the first year as well as a pre-tenure sabbatical.

Our department has 16 full time faculty representing a range of specialties. Psychology is the largest major in the College, and we also offer a major in behavioral neuroscience as well as an MS in I/O Psych.

Assistant Professor Positions, Psychological and Brain Sciences Job Description: The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Fairfield University invites applications for two full-time, tenure-track assistant professor positions to begin in the Fall seme...

The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Fairfield University (Fairfield, CT) is searching for TWO open-area tenure-track colleagues to begin in Fall 2025!

Link: ffd.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Employ...