Adrienne L. Crowell
Office Location
Dr. Crowell joined the faculty at Sacred Heart University in the Fall of 2019. She was previously a visiting assistant professor at Hendrix College in Arkansas. She loves teaching classes in her area of expertise, such as social psychology and social neuroscience and also loves engaging undergraduate students in her research. Her research focuses on the psychophysiological underpinnings of the self, emotions, and other social psychological variables. In particular, she is interested in how and why people exercise self-control and understanding the mechanisms underlying self-affirmation theory.
Outside of work, Dr. Crowell enjoys spending time with her husband and two dogs. They love exploring the outdoors together. She’s also a huge football, tennis, and baseball fan.
Degrees & Certifications
- Ph.D., Texas A&M University
- BA, Hendrix College
Teaching Responsibilties
- Social Psychology
- Introduction to Psychology
- Research Design and Analysis I
- Research Capstone
Research Interests
Failures at self-control and defensive responding to threats can prevent us from living our best lives. My research delves into the basic motivational and emotional systems that self-control and self-affirmation affect and identifies individuals most susceptible to reward and threat with the hopes of providing valuable insights into why self-control fails and how self-affirmation can decrease defensiveness. My research spans multiple levels of analysis including self-reports, behavior, and psychophysiological events (e.g., heart rate, skin conductance, and facial muscle movements) to address these questions. In summary, these lines of research aim to explain self-control failure beyond resource depletion and self-affirmation beyond ego defenses to ultimately reduce personal and societal problems.
If you are interested in working with her on research, send her an email expressing your interest.
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