Anne O'Dwyer

Psychology

Division: Social Sciences

Appointment: 1997

Education:
Boston College: B.A. in Psychology. 1987.
Boston College: Ph.D. in Social Psychology. 1996.

Research:

Road Rage
Road rage has recently received a lot of attention in the media. Little systematic research, however, has addressed this social concern. My research explores social psychological and social-cognitive factors that may contribute to road rage. In a survey recently completed, I found the tendency to get angry while driving is more likely in younger drivers and those who drive more. More than one-quarter of those surveyed reported driving more aggressively when they get angry on the road, and 20 per cent reported that they fantasize about physically expressing their anger. Also, being in a rush, feeling morally superior to the other driver, and making personality attributions for the other driver's behavior were all associated with greater anger while driving.

The Self In Interpersonal Conflict
It is a well-documented phenomenon that interpersonal conflict has negative consequences to how individuals think and feel about the other person. Surprisingly little attention has been paid to the consequences of interpersonal conflict to one's self-concept—one's perceptions and evaluations surrounding one's self. In my dissertation research, I attempted to understand these consequences. I proposed that since the self is defined and understood in the context of close interpersonal relationships—such as friends, family, and romantic partners—conflict in these relationships will have negative consequences to one's self-concept. During or just after such conflicts, one is likely to feel more uncertain and more negative about one's self. In contrast, in more distant—stranger or acquaintance—relationships social comparative processes dominate. Thus, conflicts with more distant others may actually have positive consequences to one's self-concept, allowing one to feel more bounded, stable and superior in one's sense of self. These predictions were generally confirmed in an experimental test of conflict with friends or strangers.

Attributional Biases in Intergroup Conflict
In competitive situations, intergroup biases (e.g., favoring one's own group) are often expected. Yet, such biases are often the source of much distress and hostility, and people are often unaware of their own biases, the biases others attribute to them, and the role such attributions play in their own and the other's actions and reactions. My research (with colleagues) in this area examines such attributions and reactions to them. In a recent study, we compared respondents' reactions in two contexts: (1) they won a competition over an outgroup competitor and the judge of the competition shared group membership with them; and (2) the outgroup competitor won the competition but here the judge shared group membership with the competitor. As expected, people attributed their own success to their ability (and not bias), but the other's success to bias on the part of the judge. Also, their other reactions (e.g., anger) and response depended not only on their attributions, but their expectations of the competitor's attributions. They felt the other should agree with them when bias had occurred or not.

Professional Experience:
Steering Committee, New England Psychological Association. Fall, 2001 to present.
University of Massachusetts, Boston, Adjunct Professor, 1996 – 1997. Summers, 1996 to present
Assistant to Director & Human Resources Manager at Children's Home Society. San Francisco, CA., 1990 – 1991.
Mental Health Worker, Cambridge Hospital. Cambridge, MA., September, 1989 - August, 1990.
School Counselor, Computer Learning Center. San Francisco, CA., September, 1987 – 1990.

Publications:
"Group and person attributions in response to criticism of the ingroup." Written with N. Berkowitz & D. Alfeld-Johnson. British Journal of Social Psychology.
"Cognitive biases and political party affiliation in protracted intergroup conflict." Written with Rouhana, N. & Morrison, S. In Journal of Applied Social Psychology, vol. 27, p. 37-57. 1997.

Presentations:
"Road rage: A social psychological analysis." Poster presented at the American Psychological Society Annual Meeting. Toronto, Canada. August, 2001.
"When members of other groups compliment themselves." With N. Berkowitz. Poster presented at the American Psychological Society Annual Meeting. Toronto, Canada. August, 2001.

Contact Information:
Office: Hall College Center, 2nd floor
Phone: (413)-528-7218
Fax: (413)-528-7365
Email: aodwyer@simons-rock.edu