***Esther Lee and Nicole Koefler present their research on safety and threat perceptions at the 2026 SPSP conference in Chicago!<\/strong> Dr. Park presents research from the Self and Motivation Lab on the benefits of self-disclosure<\/strong> in academic settings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park<\/strong> presents research from the Self and Motivation Lab to the Psychology Department at the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Denver<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park<\/strong> presents research from the Self and Motivation Lab on how instructor disclosures boost students’ motivation and interest at the Society of Experimental Social Psychology Conference in Lisbon, Portugal<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to Self and Motivation Lab members and collaborators<\/strong> for their accepted paper on thriving in times of threat and uncertainty! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Park, L. E., Chaney, K. E., Koefler, N., Lee, E. H., & Pereira-Jorge, I. (2025). How to thrive in times of threat and uncertainty. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 19<\/em>(8), e70076, 1-10<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***SPSP’s Character & Context blog <\/a>discusses research from the Self and Motivation lab on why people with financially contingent self-worth compulsively spend<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to members of the Self and Motivation Lab and collaborators whose work on perceiving safety and threat was accepted!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Park, L.E., Ward, D. E., Naragon-Gainey, K., Canning, E. A., Koefler, N., Panlilio, Z., Vessels, V., & Pascuzzi, G. (in press). Perceptions of safety and threat in the environment: The STEP scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Members of the Self and Motivation Lab present at the Behavioral and Brain Sciences Symposium at the University at Buffalo! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Esther Lee presents her research on perceptions of safety and threat at the SPSP conference in Denver, CO!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to Esther Lee for receiving a UB Psychology Department grant to fund her research project on perceptions of safety and threat!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park discusses research on the pursuit of self-esteem and validation in a Vox magazine <\/a>article. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park<\/strong> presents research from the Self and Motivation Lab on perceptions of safety and threat cues in the environment at the Society of Experimental Social Psychology Conference in Santa Fe, NM.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park shares her personal experiences and research in a podcast <\/a>for Momentum-Men.com<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to Self and Motivation Lab members and collaborators from the math department for having their paper on positive feedback in STEM accepted!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Park, L. E., Ward, D. E., Moore-Russo, D., Rickard, B., Vessels, V., & Hundley, J. (in press). Positive feedback as a lever to boost students’ STEM outcomes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park presents her NSF-funded research on the effects of giving positive feedback at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Conference in Washington, D.C.!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n ***Congrats to Dr. Park and colleagues on having their paper on collaborations accepted!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Park, L.E., Aknin, L.B., Gaither, S.E., Impett, E.A., & Whillans, A.V. (2024). Starting and sustaining fruitful collaborations in psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass<\/em>, 18<\/em>(4), 1-16. <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to Self and Motivation Lab members whose research examining perceptions of social mobility and system justification on well-being and prosocial behavior was accepted!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Park, L.E., Ward, D.E., Jung, H., & Weng, J. (in press). Perceived social mobility and system justification predict greater well-being, but less prosocial behavior<\/a>. European Journal of Social Psychology.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to Self and Motivation Lab members and collaborators whose research on financial contingency of self-worth and motivational conflict is now published!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Park, L. E., Ward, D.E., Naragon-Gainey, K., Fujita, K., & Koefler, N. (2024). I’m still spending: Financial contingency of self-worth predicts financial motivational conflict and compulsive buying. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin<\/em>, 50<\/em>(2), 232-252. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/01461672221119356<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Nicole and Esther present their research at the 2024 SPSP Conference in San Diego! Great to see current and former Self and Motivation Lab members at SPSP!<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to<\/strong> Nicole Koefler for receiving a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Grant from the UB Psychology Department to fund her research project on perceptions of safety and threat among people with marginalized identities<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park<\/strong> shared her research on the costly pursuit of self-esteem, motivation, and delaying happiness vs. living in the moment at Action for Happiness<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Self and Motivation Lab RA updates:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to Rebecca Farca who has been accepted to the Masters program in Mental Health Counseling at St. John Fisher University!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park<\/strong> was recognized at the University at Buffalo’s Celebration of Academic Excellence for being elected a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***SPSP’s Character & Context blog <\/a>and UB Now<\/a> feature research from Self and Motivation lab members on how instructors’ responses to students’ questions in STEM affect students’ outcomes<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park presents her research on social evaluative threat and positive effects of feedback in STEM at the International Society for Self and Identity Preconference and the European Association of Social Psychology Conference in Krakow, Poland.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Our lab\u2019s research on delaying happiness versus living in the moment featured in UB Now<\/a><\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park presents her research on social evaluative threat at the 2023 Duck Social Cognition Conference in the Outer Banks, NC. <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to<\/strong> Esha Naidu<\/strong> who accepted a post-doc position to work with Dr. Sarah Gaither at at Duke University<\/strong>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to members of the Self and Motivation Lab whose research on instructors’ responses to students’ questions in STEM was accepted at Self and Identity<\/em>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Park, L.E., O’Brien, C., Italiano, A., Ward, D.E., & Panlilio, Z. (2023). “That\u2019s a great question!\u201d Instructors\u2019 positive responses to students’ questions improve STEM-related outcomes. Self and Identity, 22<\/em>(6), 849-895.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park talks<\/strong> about ways to<\/strong> improve self-esteem on WIVB<\/strong> News 4 Wake Up Buffalo<\/strong> <\/a>(3.2.23)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Deborah Ward gives a research spotlight talk at the SPSP conference in Atlanta, GA!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ward, D.E., Park, L.E., Lin, G-X., Chang, Y-H., & O\u2019Brien, C. (2023, February, virtual). Burning the candle at both ends: The role of financial contingency of self-worth and work-family conflict on job and parental well-being. Society for Personality and Social Psychology Conference. Atlanta, GA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n **Nicole Koefler presents her poster at the SPSP conference in Atlanta, GA!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Koefler, N., & Park, L.E. (2023, February). Threats to morality increase moral convictions and decrease prosocial behavior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Esha Naidu presents her poster with Nicole at the SPSP conference in Atlanta, GA!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Naidu, E.S., Koefler, N., Park, L.E., & Lee, D. (2023, February). Lay beliefs about social media use and frequency of use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park gives talks<\/strong> at the<\/strong> SPSP Motivation Science Pre-Conference and chaired symposia on maximizing the real-world impact of social psychology and building collaborations<\/strong> in the field<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Park, L.E. (2023, February). Social evaluative threat across individuals, relationships, and groups. In symposium: \u201cMaximizing the real-world impact of social psychology\u201d (with J. Remedios, E. Hehman, & K. Gray) <\/p>\n\n\n\n Park, L.E. (2023, February). Professional development symposium: \u201cStarting and sustaining fruitful collaborations\u201d (with S. Gaither, E. Impett, & E. Dunn)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Park, L.E. (2023, February). Happiness as cumulative or fleeting: Delaying happiness versus living in the moment beliefs. Talk given at SPSP Motivation Science Preconference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to Self and Motivation Lab members and collaborators whose theoretical paper on threat has been accepted at Advances in Experimental Social Psychology<\/em>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Park, L. E., Naidu, E., Lemay, E.P., Canning, E.A., Ward, D.E., Panlilio, Z.A., & Vessels, V. (in press). Social evaluative threat across individual, relational, and collective selves. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park was selected to be a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science!<\/strong> Fellow status is awarded to APS members who have made “sustained outstanding contributions to the science of psychology in the areas of research, teaching, service, and\/or application.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park presents her NSF grant funded research<\/a> on positive feedback as a lever to reduce disparities in STEM at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Boston, MA. <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to members of the Self and Motivation Lab whose research on busyness was accepted!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Park, L. E., Italiano, A., & Vessels, V. (2023). Managers\u2019 frequent displays of busyness predict employees\u2019 job disengagement, burnout, and turnover intentions. International Journal of Social Psychology.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Self and Motivation Lab RA updates:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to Zuriel Enoe who has been accepted to the PsyD program in School Psychology at Rutgers University!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to Matthew Roehmholdt who has been accepted to the Masters of Social Work program at the University at Buffalo!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to Anna Dzury who has been accepted to the Sport and Performance Psychology graduate program at the University of Denver!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to Jordan Scholl who has been accepted to the Graduate Program in School Counseling at the University at Buffalo!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to Nur-E Imam who has been accepted to the Masters Program in Educational Psychology and Quantitative Methods at the University at Buffalo!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2022<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congrats to Self and Motivation Lab members and collaborators whose research on financial contingency of self-worth and work-family conflict was accepted!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Park, L. E., Lin, G-X., Chang, Y-H., O\u2019Brien, C., & Ward, D.E. (2022). Burning the candle at both ends: The role of financial contingency of self-worth and work-family conflict on job and parental well-being. Personality and Individual Differences., 199, <\/em>1-6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park presents her NSF grant funded research on norms and consequences of giving feedback in college STEM courses at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Summit on Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (AAAS IUSE) in Washington, D.C. <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park presents her research on giving feedback in STEM at the 35th Annual Duck Social Cognition Conference<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park receives the Excellence in Teaching Award<\/a> from the Department of Psychology at the University at Buffalo!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congratulations to former Self and Motivation lab member and psychology honors thesis student Haemi Nam, who earned her PhD in Social Psychology from Ohio State University and will be a full time researcher at Meta! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Deborah Ward presented her poster at the virtual SPSP Teaching Preconference!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ward, D.E., Park, L.E., Moore-Russo, D., & Hundley, J. (2022, February). Providing feedback in college math classrooms: Insights from the lab to the real-world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Zaviera Panlilio presented her poster at the SPSP conference in San Francisco!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Panlilio, Z.., Ward, D.E., O’Brien, C., & & Park, L.E. (2022, February). The success (or failure) of remote Summer Bridge program to improve minoritized student outcomes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Yahui Chang presented her poster at the SPSP conference in San Francisco!<\/strong> Congrats on also receiving a Graduate Student Travel Award!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chang, Y., & Park, L.E. (2022, February). Imagining shared experiences with humans and robots boosts interpersonal closeness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park is elected to serve on the Executive Committee <\/a>of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology (Vice-President-Elect in 2023<\/strong>, President-Elect in 2024)<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park participates in the Promoting Human Flourishing with Interpersonal Listening Workshop<\/a> <\/strong>as part of the Templeton World Charity Foundation\u2019s Global Flourishing Conference in Israel. Watch the video here<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park talks about deadlines, procrastination, and motivation<\/strong> on San Francisco public radio<\/strong>: https:\/\/www.kqed.org\/forum\/2010101884857\/what-do-deadlines-mean-to-you<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Dr. Park discusses ways to boost motivation during the pandemic in the NY Times<\/strong>: https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/07\/28\/well\/live\/motivation-energy-advice.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congratulations to current and former Self and Motivation lab members and collaborators whose paper on beliefs about happiness and self-regulation was recently accepted!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Park, L. E., Fujita, K., Naragon-Gainey, K., Radsvick, T., Jung, H., Xia, J., Ward, D. E., Paravati, E., Weng, J., Italiano, A., & Valvo, A., (in press). Happiness \u2013 to enjoy now or later? Consequences of delaying happiness and living in the moment beliefs. Emotion<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congratulations to Hector Sosa who successfully defended his psychology honors thesis with High Honors!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congratulations to Deborah Ward who successfully defended her dissertation and will be joining the Department of Psychology at Saginaw Valley State University<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong> as a tenure-track Assistant Professor! <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Welcome Nicole Koefler, who will be joining the lab as a Ph.D. student in Fall 2021!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congratulations to Dr. Park, a member of the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, who received a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance! <\/strong>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tMgoaEqFsFE<\/a> <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n ***Congratulations to Hector Sosa who has been accepted to the Ph.D. program in Social Psychology at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst to work with Dr. Buju Dasgupta!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/selfandmotivationlab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/91\/2026\/03\/esther-1024x768.jpg\")
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Graduate Student Association, giving opening
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and threat perceptions<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/selfandmotivationlab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/91\/2025\/02\/image-1.png\")
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