Erin Crockett

Biography

My primary objectives as an instructor are threefold. First, at the most basic level, I aim to create a stimulating and interactive classroom. Second, I constantly work to transmit to students the genuine excitement I have for the subject matter. Third, I aim to effectively illustrate how and why important concepts and theories are applicable to students’ lives and larger communities. To accomplish these goals, I rely on five basic principles.

(1) Enthusiasm and creativity are critical. I feel the more exciting and interesting the classroom, the more likely students will want to come to class and attend to lecture. As such, I try to keep lectures upbeat by incorporating humor and relevant examples. I also use hands-on exercises and class demonstrations to explain critical principles. These exercises vary my teaching methods and keep students’ attention. Additionally, I incorporate class discussions and group work to encourage active thinking. My goal is to engage students across different learning styles, and ultimately make them enthusiastic about the material.

(2) Professors are mentors. I take the role of mentoring students very seriously. I aim to get to know the students in my classes, recognizing and encouraging their strengths and offering ideas to help them improve upon their weaknesses. Because of this goal, I dedicate considerable time to meeting with students. Any time a student performs poorly on a test or paper, I invite them to my office hours to explore ways to improve. If a student is really struggling to grasp course material, I might meet with the student weekly to review concepts. I always communicate that I respect students as individuals outside of their performance in my class. Although my goal is for them to be the best students they can be, I never want a student to feel that their performance in my class is indicative of their worth as a person.

(3) Information must be made relevant. I strive to prepare students to apply class principles in both local and global contexts. I achieve this through two related foci. First, I work to illuminate for students the relevance of psychological constructs in everyday, familiar contexts. For example, in my Introduction to Psychology course, my students keep a memory journal and record the instances and surrounding circumstances of times they forget things throughout the week. Students then write a paper using research on memory to identify patterns in forgetfulness. Second, I create awareness of cultural diversity and differences in psychological constructs across social contexts. For instance, in my Health Psychology course I have students choose a country and then design a health intervention specific to the needs in that country. The intervention must be supported by research and culturally sensitive to their specific community. I find making information relevant to different communities prepares students to be more active global citizens.

(4) Depth of learning above breadth. Although I strive to maintain an engaging and enthusiastic classroom, I do not sacrifice depth in learning. That is, I do not shy away from more difficult nuances and concepts, nor do I settle for surface understanding of complex ideas. Instead, I aim to present material as clearly as possible, and dedicate significant efforts equipping students to understand concepts so thoroughly that they could teach the ideas to someone else. It is my goal that students will be able to apply class material to novel circumstances and, more recently, to connect information they are learning in my class to information they are learning in other classes. In addition to mastering content, I invest considerable time and energy to helping students develop skills (including their writing, public speaking, and critical thinking), knowing that these skills often stay with students long after they have forgotten course content.

(5) Teaching occurs both in and outside a classroom. I feel collaborating with students in independent research provides a unique opportunity for student development beyond what can be accomplished in a classroom. In my experience, independent research peaks students’ interest by allowing them to pursue ideas and questions important to them. As such, I welcome opportunities to mentor students in the research process. From these experiences I have seen students gain skills necessary to critically evaluate empirical research findings and to contribute to the knowledge base in our discipline.

Education

Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin
M.A., The University of Texas at Austin 2007
B. A., Southwestern University 2005

Honors & Awards

2010 The University of Texas at Austin Dissertation Award
2010 The University of Texas at Austin Professional Development Award
2009 The University of Texas at Austin Graduate School Continuing Fellowship
2009 The University of Texas at Austin Professional Development Award
2008 The University of Texas at Austin Graduate School Continuing Fellowship
2008 The University of Texas at Austin Professional Development Award
2006 National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, Honorable Mention
2005 The University of Texas at Austin Research Internship Fellowship
2005 The University of Texas at Austin Departmental Scholarship
2004 Southwestern Psychological Association Award for Undergraduate Research
2004 Psychology Department Top Student Award, Honorable Mention
2001 Southwestern University Presidential Scholar

Affiliations

International Association for Relationship Research (IARR)
National Council on Family Relations (NCFR)
Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP)
Phi Beta Kappa
Psi Chi, National Honor Society in Psychology

Research

Content area: My resesarch niche lay at the intersection of 3 different areas of psychology: relationship sciences, health, and human development. The primary purpose of my research program is to better understand the cumulative development of health outcomes associated with different relationship types (e.g., marriage, parenting, friendships) over their lifespan. To address this issue, my research has focused on two areas: 1) moderators of relationship-specific health outcomes, and 2) the impact of support and other types of coping when managing relationship stressors. In addition to my primary areas of specialization, I also have experience in applied community settings. Specifically, I have conducted a pre-test/post-test evaluation for a domestic violence rehabilitation program and am currently conducting research with the Scottish government that will enable health visitors to better detect ‘at risk’ parenting situations. I find that working in these applied settings provides a unique springboard and/or outlet for my interests in social justice issues.

Methodological training: Over the past six years I have developed strong quantitative skills and utilized diverse methodologies in my research, including experimental, diary, observational, and longitudinal survey designs. I also have extensive experience with physiological data collection and analysis, including the ability to assay saliva samples for salivary cortisol. My love and passion for statistics has led to take several advanced statistics courses and workshops, which have made me proficient in general statistics and analyzing multi-level data (both dyatic and growth curve modeling).

Publications

Castaneda, A. M., Wendel, M. L., & Crockett, E. E. (2015). Overlap in Facebook profiles reflects relationship closeness. Journal of Social Psychology, 155(4), 395-401. doi 10.1080/00224545.2015.1008968

Crockett, E. E., Keneski, E., Yeager, K. A., & Loving, T. J. (2015). Breaking the mold: Evaluating a non-punitive domestic violence intervention program. Journal of Family Violence, 30(4), 489-499.

Crockett, E. E., Holmes, B. M., Granger, D. A., & Lyons-Ruth, K. (2013). Maternal disrupted communication during face-to-face interaction at four months: Relation to maternal and infant cortisol among at-risk families. Infancy, 18(6), 1111-1134. doi: 10.1111/infa.12015

Crockett, E. E., & Neff, L. A. (2013). When receiving help hurts: Gender differences in diurnal cortisol responses to spousal support. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4(2), 190-197. doi: 10.1177/1948550612451621

Kwang, T., Crockett, E. E., Sanchez, D. T., & Swann, W. B. (2013). Men seek social standing, women seek companionship: Sex differences in deriving self-worth from relationships. Psychological Science, 24(7), 1142-1150. doi: 10.1177/0956797612467466

Crockett, E. E., Loving, T. J., Le, B., & Korn, M. S. (2011). Predicting women’s and men’s reactions to geographic separation: Relational interdependence matters. Journal of Social Psychology, 151(6), 710-726.

Le, B., Korn, M. S., Crockett, E. E., & Loving, T. J. (2011). Missing you maintains us: Missing a romantic partner, commitment, relationship maintenance, and physical infidelity. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 28, 653-667.

Loving, T. J., Crockett, E. E., & Paxson, A. A. (2009). Passionate love and relationship thinkers:

Experimental evidence for acute cortisol elevations in women. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 34, 939-946.

Loving, T. J., Le, B., & Crockett, E. E. (2009). The physiology of feeling hurt. In A. Vangelisti (Ed.), Feeling Hurt in Close Relationships (359-375). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Smith, A. M., Loving, T. J., Crockett, E. E.^*, & Campbell, L. (2009). What’s closeness got to do with it? Men’s and women’s cortisol responses when providing and receiving support. Psychosomatic Medicine, 71, 843-851. ^* First three authors shared first author credit.

Presentations

Conference Presentations

Crockett, E. E. & Loving, T. J. (2011). Sexual frequency moderates cortisol responses to a passionate love prime. Presented at the 12th annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), San Antonio, Texas.

Crockett, E. E. & Loving, T. J.. (2010). Breaking the mold: Evaluating the effectiveness of a non-punitive violence rehabilitation program. Presented at the 4th biannual meeting of the International Association for Relationship Research (IARR), Herzlia, Israel.

Crockett, E. E. (2009). Small (but meaningful?) differences: The cumulative effect of gender on health for individuals in romantic relationships. Presented at the 71st annual meeting for the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR), San Francisco, CA.

Crockett, E. E., Loving, T. J., Le, B., & Korn, M. S. (2009). Why I miss thee: Relational interdependence mediates the association between participant sex and missing. Presented at the 10th annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Tampa Bay, FL.

Crockett, E. E., Loving, T. J., Le, B., & Korn, M. S. (2008). I miss you, but I?m coping: Long distance relationship status affects reactions to partner absences. In A. J. Merolla (Organizer), Long distance in close relationships: Exploring communication, coping, and mental health in geographically-separated relationships. Paper presented at the 3rd biannual meeting of the International Association for Relationship Research (IARR), Providence, RI.

Le, B., Crockett, E. E., Korn, M. S., & Loving, T. J. (2008). Commitment and relationship maintenance during short-term geographic separations: The mediational role of missing a partner. Paper presented at the 3rd biannual meeting of the International Association for Relationship Research (IARR), Providence, RI.

Crockett, E. E., Loving, T. J., Le, B., & Korn, M. S. (2008). Predicting daters? sex-typed coping strategies in the context of geographic separation. Paper presented at the 9th annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Albuquerque, NM.

Le, B., Korn, M. S., Loving, T. J., & Crockett, E. E. (2008) Commitment, relationship maintenance, and missing a romantic partner: A longitudinal investigation of short-term geographic separations. Paper presented at the 9th annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Albuquerque, NM.

Paxson, A. A., Crockett, E. E., & Loving, T. J. (2008). I love you, but you stress me out: Does self-expansion make falling in love stressful? Paper presented at the 9th annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Albuquerque, NM.

Smith, A. M., Loving, T. J., & Crockett, E. E. (2008). The flip side: HPA-axis consequences of being a support provider. Paper presented at the 9th annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Albuquerque, NM.

Smith, A., Loving, T. J., & Crockett, E. E. (2007). An experimental approach to understanding social support: Is closeness a moderator of support effectiveness? Paper presented at the 8th annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Memphis, TN.

Crockett, E. E., Loving, T. J., Le, B. (2006). ?He said, she said:? Gender differences in disclosure to friends about relationships. Paper presented at the 2nd biannual meeting of the International Association for Relationship Research (IARR), Crete, Greece.

Crockett, E. E., Riggs, A. L., & Giuliano, T. A. (2004). Pink slips and black cats: The relationship between stress and superstition. Paper presented at the 2nd annual meeting of the Southwestern Undergraduate Research Symposium, Georgetown, TX.

Crockett, E. E. (2004). Everything goes in Camden Town: An urban sociological analysis of a neighborhood in London. Paper presented at the 67th annual Southern Sociological Society Conference, Atlanta, GA.

Riggs, A. L., Giuliano, T. A., Buckert, A. D., & Crockett, E. E. (2004). ?His and Her? heart attacks: The effect of perceived relevance on women’s perceptions of heart disease risk. Paper presented at the 16th annual meeting of the American Psychological Society, Chicago, IL.