Karen Dobkins

Although for many years, research in my lab had focused on brain development in children, in 2015, I revamped my lab to be the Human Experience and Awareness Lab (HeaLab), which studies the "human condition", i.e., when/why/how humans flourish vs. flounder.  This applied work -- which uses rigorous methods and analyses, is critical in an era when depression, loneliness and anxiety run rampant.  Current topics of exploration in the HeaLab include:

• How Meditation and “Being Present” benefits Well-Being
• How Talking Outloud improves Learning Academic Material and Spatial Memory
• How Trusting One’s Body buffers against Loneliness
• How Connection to Nature affects Engaging in Pro-Environmental Behaviors
• Interventions to reduce Body/Sexual Shame
• Dehumanization and Mistreatment of Others
• Mate Preferences
• Cultural Difference in Love Life Preferences   

Arnold AJ, Winkielman P, Dobkins KR (2019).  Interoception and Social Connection. Frontiers in Psychology. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02589

Jago C, Dobkins KR (2022, in prep). What women say they want vs. what men imagine they do (preprint)  

Guo X, Dobkins KR (2018). Exploring human inner speech with an experience sampling study.  Psychonomics, New Orleans, LA

Bondi, T., Dobkins, K. (2019). Changes in Well-Being from a 30-minute RCT. Association for Contemplative Minds in Higher Education (ACHME). Amherst, Massachusetts. 

Holden, S., and Dobkins, K.D. (in prep). What’s Culture Got to Do with It?: A Mixed-Methodological Exploration of Cultural Ideals and Personal Preferences in Love Life Scripts amongst Americans, Chinese, & Chinese-American Biculturals. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.

Holden, S., Ho, T., Dickenson, J., & Dobkins, K.D. (2022). Exploring Ingroup and Outgroup Members’ Perceptions of Racially-Motivated Mistreatments Against Asians in the United States. Poster presented at the International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology Conference. Online, July 2022.

Lindsay, D & Dobkins, KR (2020). Belief that a practiced character strength is “you” predicts improvements in well-being. Poster presented at Society for Personality and Psychology Conference. New Orleans, LA, February 2020.

Arnold AJ and Dobkins KR (2022, in prep).  Don’t you want some body to love: The lonely mind and body. Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Atlanta GA.