A social psychologist, Leigh Ann Vaughn studies how people make sense of their internal states and how that process affects their motivation and social judgments. Topics she can address: Motivation: How people use different approaches in pursuing goals. Arriving at judgments about others: How people become motivated to avoid jumping to conclusions and correct their judgments for bias. Intuition: How people use it when something feels right and how feeling wrong can help them make a judgment right. Uncertainty: How it affects judgment. Vaughn is a member of the American Psychological Association, Eastern Psychological Association, the Society of Personality and Social Psychology and the Association for Psychological Science. Professional Service includes Member of the Board of Directors, Eastern Colleges Science Conference 2004-2007, Grant reviewer for the National Science Foundation: BCS - Social Psychology 2004, Reviewer for W. W. Norton & Company (social psychology text) 2003.
Research Focus
- Attitudes, attribution, emotion, and motivation
- Social cognition
- How people are "swept up" (transported) by narratives
- How people make predictions about how they'll feel in the future.
Education
University of Michigan
Ph.D., Social Psychology, 1998
University of Michigan
M.A. Social Psychology, 1994
Smith College
B.A. Psychology, 1991
Magna cum laude
Rhodes College
1986-1988