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Lowell Gaertner

Research statement

I have three research areas, which are frequently intertwined: groups, the self, and violence. My research on groups examines processes involved in intergroup conflict and intragroup harmony. Relevant questions addressed by this line of research are "Why are relations between groups more competitive and abrasive than relations between individuals?" and "Why and under what circumstances do persons enact behaviors and thoughts that are beneficial to other members of their own social group?" My research on the self explores the interplay between the individual-self (i.e., self as unique and independent social agent) and the collective-self (i.e., self as interchangeable group member). My recent efforts have been addressing the question "Given that both the individual and collective selves are important forms of self-definition, which self-definition is more primary?" My research on violence examines processes that contribute to physical attacks against close-relationship members and violence directed toward numerous persons (e.g., school shootings at Columbine High School). My more recent research in this area address the question of whether there is a group dynamic affecting episodes of violence in which multiple persons are victimized. That is, are the persons victimized in episodes of mass violence the intended targets or is the intended target the social group to which the victimized persons belong?

Honors

  • Society of Experimental Social Psychology, Member
  • Editorial Board, Group Processes and Intergroup Relations
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
  • Editorial Board, Self and Identity
  • Editorial Board, Social Cognition
  • Associate Editor Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Grants

  • National Institute of Mental Health (2002)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (2004-2006)

Selected Publications

Boldry, J. G., & Gaertner, L. (2006). Separating status from power as an antecedent of intergroup perception. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 9, 377-400.

Gaertner, L., Iuzzini, J., Guerrero Witt, M., & Oriña, M. M. (2006). Us without them: Evidence for an intragroup origin of positive ingroup regard. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 426-439.

Sedikides, C., & Gaertner, L. (2006). Primacy of personal self. In M. Kernis (Ed.), Self-esteem: A sourcebook of current perspectives. New York, NY: Psychology Press.

Gaertner, L., Iuzzini, J., Guerrero Witt, M., & Oriña, M. M. (2006). Us without them: Evidence for an intragroup origin of positive ingroup regard. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 426-439.

Gaertner, L., Hogg, M. A., & Tindale, R. S. (2005). Group and intergroup processes: An Introduction. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 8, 107-108. Gaertner, L., & Iuzzini, J. (2005). Rejection and entitativity: A synergistic model of mass violence. In K. D. Williams, J. P. Forgas, & W. von Hippel (Eds.). The social outcast: Ostracism, social exclusion, rejection, and bullying. New York: Psychology Press.

Gaines, S.O., Jr., Henderson, M. C., Kim, M., Gilstrap, S., Yi, J., Rusbult, C. E., Hardin, D. P., & Gaertner, L. (2005). Cultural value orientations, internalized homophobia, and accommodation in romantic relationships. Journal of Homosexuality, 50, 97-117.

Gordon, K.C., Friedman, M., Miller, I. W., & Gaertner, L. (2005). Marital attributions as moderators of the marital discord-depression link. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24, 876-893.

Gramzow, R. H. & Gaertner, L. (2005). Self-esteem and favoritism toward novel in-groups: The self as an evaluative base. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 801-815.

Gaertner, L., & Sedikides, C. (2005). A hierarchy within: On the motivational primacy of the individual self. In M. D. Alicke, D. A. Dunning, & J. I. Krueger (Eds.). The self in social perception. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.

Sedikides, C., Gaertner, L., & Vevea, J. L. (2005). Pancultural self-enhancement reloaded: A meta-analytic reply to Heine. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 539-551.

Hughes, F.M., Gordon, K.C., & Gaertner, L. (2004). Predicting Spouses’ Perceptions of their Parenting Alliance. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 506-514.

Sedikides, C., Skowronski, J.J., Gaertner, L. (2004). Self-enhancement and self-protection motivation: From the laboratory to an evolutionary context. Journal of Cultural and Evolutionary Psychology, 2, 61-79.

Herbst, K.C., Gaertner, L., Insko, C.A. (2003). My head says “yes,” but my heart says “no”: Cognitive and affective attraction as a function of similarity to the ideal self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84, 1206-1219.

Sedikides, C., Gaertner, L., Toguchi, Y. (2003). Pancultural self-enhancement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84, 60-79.

Gaertner, L., Sedikides, C., Vevea, J., Iuzzini, J. (2002) The "I," the "We," and the "When": A meta-analysis of motivational primacy in self-definition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 83, 574-591.

Wildschut, T., Insko, C.A., Gaertner, L. (2002) Intragroup social influence and intergroup competition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 82, 975-992.

Gaertner, L., Insko, C.A. (2001) On the measurement of social orientations in the minimal group paradigm: Norms as moderators of the expression of intergroup bias. European Journal of Social Psychology 31, 143-154.

Gramzow, R.H., Gaertner, L., Sedikides, C. (2001) Memory for ingroup and outgroup information in a minimal group context: The self as an informational base. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 80, 188-205.

Insko, C.A., Schopler, J., Gaertner, L., Wildschut, T., Kozar, R., Pinter, B., Finkel, E.J., Brazil, D.B., Cecil, C.L., Montoya, M.R. (2001) Interindividual-intergroup discontinuity reduction through the anticipation of future interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 80, 95-111.

Sedikides, C., Gaertner, L. (2001) A home coming to the individual self: Emotional and motivational primacy. In C. Sedikides & M.B. Brewer (Eds), Individual self, relational self, and collective self. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.

Lowell Gaertner

Lowell Gaertner

Associate Professor
Director of the Graduate Program in Experimental Psychology

Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1999)

Email: gaertner@utk.edu
Web site: http://web.utk.edu/~gaertner/
Phone: 865-974-3348

Key words: Social Psychology, groups, self, violence