Recent Student Oral Presentations and Poster Presentations
Note. *Indicates student authorship
Carney*, A. D. Connelly*, M., Guo*, Y., Anjewierden, B. J., & Gaffney, A. M. (2026, July). My house, my rules: Ingroup projection to superordinate categories predict collective action. Poster presentation at the Biannual Small Group Meeting on Social Identity. Canterbury, England.
Guo*, Y., Carney,* A. D., Pasley*, J. J., Frerichs*, E. R., Royer, Z., Anjewierden, B. J., & Gaffney, A., M. (2026). When parenting feels uncertain: Entitative groups as sources of information and identity [Poster presentation]. Western Psychological Association Convention, Tacoma, WA.
Burtch*, C., Pasley*, J. P., Byington*, F. S., Anjewierden, B. J., & Gaffney, A. M. (2026, February 26-28). Nostalgia Mediating Symbolic Threat on Identity Continuity [Poster presentation]. SPSP 2026 Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, United States.
Connelly, M.*, Carney*, A.D., Yea, Guo* Y., Vogel*, H.M., Anjewierden, B. J., Gaffney, A. M. (2026, February 26-March 1). Social Identity, Relative Deprivation, and Collective Action Before the 2024 Presidential Election. Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) 2026 Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, United States.
Anjewierden*, B. J., Syfers, L., & Gaffney, A. M. (2025, April). Principles of party perception: Self-categorization in a political context. In B. J Anjewierden & A. M. Gaffney (Chairs). Navigating the Partisan Divide: Theoretical and Applied Approaches to Understanding the Current and Future States of Polarized Identities [Symposium]. Western Psychological Association 105th Annual Convention, Las Vegas, NV, United States.
Syfers, L*., Anjewierden, B. J., & Gaffney, A. M. (2025, April). Backfires and double-standards: Criticizing political leadership deepens partisan division. In B. J Anjewierden & A. M. Gaffney (Chairs). Navigating the Partisan Divide: Theoretical and Applied Approaches to Understanding the Current and Future States of Polarized Identities [Symposium]. Western Psychological Association 105th Annual Convention, Las Vegas, NV, United States.
Benefiel*, J. P., Pons,* H. S., Burtch*, C. E., Anjewierden*, B. J., & Gaffney, A. M. (2025, April 1-4). When leaders fall: The role of leader support in post-election collective action. Poster presentation at the annual conference of the Western Psychological Association, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
Anjewierden*, B. J. & Gaffney, A. M. (2025, February). “Rediscovering Prototypicality”: Evaluating Self and Leader Prototypicality through a Self-Categorization Lens. Poster presentation poster presentation atSociety for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention, Denver, CO, USA
Hinojosa*, C. E., Burtch*, C. E., Pons*, H. S., Anjewierden*, B. J., & Gaffney, A. M. (2025, February 20-22). Leadership and polarization across the 2020 and 2024 US presidential elections. Poster presentation at the annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Denver, CO.
Kincaid*, K., Ma*, A., Rast, D. E. III, & Gaffney, A. M. (2025, February 20-22). One of us: Autocratic leadership undermines leader support less when leader and follower are politically aligned. Poster presentation at the annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Denver, CO. [Outstanding Student Award].
Belt*, G., Hunter*, C. Messina*, F., Syfers*, L., Gaffney, A. M. (2024, February). Leadership Transgression Effects Group Norms. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. San Diego, CA.
Crocker*, J. S., Syfer*s, L., Anjewierden*, B. J., & Gaffney, A. M. (2024, February). Fixed or Flexible, How Feelings of Deprivation Influence Attitudes Toward LGBT Populations. Poster presented at the Group Processes and Intergroup Relations Preconference at the annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, CA.
Zhang*, A. L., Boone*, N. A., Robinson*, J., Syfers*, L., & Gaffney, A. M. (2024, February). Haves vs. have-nots: How relative deprivation predicts radical collective action. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, CA.
Anjewierden*, B. & Gaffney, A. M. (2023, April). Positive and Negative Contact Experiences as Predictors of Attitudes Toward Law Enforcement. Presentation at the annual conference of the Western Psychological Association, Riverside, CA.
Conso*, C., Syfers*, L., Gaffney., A.M., Rast III., D.E. (2023, April). The deprived arsonist: Populist leaders’ rhetorical strategies set fires of extremism. Presentation at the annual meeting of the Western Psychological Association, Riverside, CA.
Crocker*, J. S. & Gaffney, A. M. (2023, April). The Relationship Between Prejudice Toward Women and Gay Men and the Role of Self and Identity Threats. Presentation given at the annual conference of the Western Psychological Association, Riverside, CA.
Gardner*, S. E., Gaffney, A. M., & Hogg, M. A. (2023, April). Wait, who did you say we are? The effects of self-uncertainty and leadership rhetoric on group identification and leader support. In C. Conso & L. Syfers (chairs), We the People: Antecedents to and Consequences of Populism. [Symposium]. Western Psychological Association 2023 Convention. Riverside, CA.
Hunter*, C., Belt*, G., Evans*, Z., Gaffney, A. M. (2023, April). Former Leader Transgressions Affect New Leader Preferences. Poster session at the annual conference of the Western Psychological Association, Riverside, CA.
Wilson*, A., Royer*, Z., Ross*, J., Syfers*, L., & Gaffney, A. M. (2023, April). Laying Claim to a Shared Identity: From Polarization to Threat. Symposium talk presented at the annual conference of the Western Psychological Association, Riverside, CA.
Anjewierden*, B. J., Crocker*, J. S., Royer*, Z., Kuljian*, O., Syfers*, S., Hohman Z. P., Gaffney, A. M. (2023, February). Who Does My Political Party Want Me to Be? Political Party Identification and Uncertainty Reduction. Poster session at the 24th annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Atlanta, GA.
Conso, C., Souter, S.S., Mcdowell*, J., Syfers*, L., Gaffney, A. M. (2023, February). Harnessing grievance: How leaders’ rhetorical strategies encourage violent extremism. Poster session at the 24th annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Atlanta, GA.
Ouyang*, Y., Rast, D. E. III, & Gaffney, A. M. (2023, February). Need for a distinct identity: Effects of social identity rhetoric, group entitativity, and group identification on leader effectiveness. Poster session at the 24th annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Atlanta, GA.
Royer*, Z. G., Griffith*, Z. M., Conso, C., Gaffney, A.M. (2023, February). Soothing identity uncertainty: Identification with entitative parenting groups. Poster session at the 24th annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Atlanta, GA.
Crocker*, J. S., Wilson*, A., Gaffney, A. M. (2022, August). Examining How Uncertainty Predicts Heterosexual Men's Prejudice Toward Women and Gay Men Poster session presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Mineappolis, MN.
Wilson,* A., Crocker*, J. S., Gaffney, A. M., Hackett. J.D. (2022, August). Identification
with all of humanity and empathy toward animals. Poster session presented
at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association, Minneapolis, MN.
Rosales-Vijil*, E., Royer, Z*., Ashworth, L., Hahn A. C., Gaffney, A. M. (2022, July). Overriding biological defenses through self-categorization: The partisan divide over COVID-19. Poster presented at the annual conference of the International Society for Political Psychology. Athens, Greece.
Ma*, A. C., Rast, D. E. III., & Gaffney, A. M. (2022, June) Setting the standard: Leaders changing perceived norms within groups [data blitz presentation]. 2022 Canadian Psychological Association Social & Personality preconference, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Burt*, M., Lopez*, A., Kothari*, R., Reynolds*, H., Syfers*, L., Gaffney, A. M. (2022, February). Who’s got your vote? Exploring the use of rhetoric and its impact on uncertain voters. Poster session to be presented at the annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Francisco, CA.
Conso*, M. C., McDowell*, J., Ross*, J., Hackett, J.D., & Gaffney, A. M. (2022, February). Black Lives Matter: Leader attitudes, relative deprivation, and political polarization. Poster session at the annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Francisco, CA.
Frederick*, J. L., Wilson*, A., Pike*, J., Rast, D. E. III, & Gaffney, A. M. (2022, February). Did Republicans or Democrats change their feelings of leader prototypicality or self-uncertainty after the 2020 presidential election? Poster session at the annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Francisco, CA.
Kuljian*, O. R., Hohman, Z. P., & Gaffney, A. M. (2022, February). Perceptions of Leaders' Prototypicality Affects Self-prototypicality and Uncertainty [Poster presentation]. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations Preconference at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Virtual Annual Meeting.
Ma*, A. C., Rast, D. E. III., & Gaffney, A. M. (2022, February). “Our” values: Effects of leader rhetoric on perceptions of multiculturalism. Poster session at the annual conference for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Francisco, CA.
McDowell*, J., Obiekezie*, C., Martin*, A., Burg*, Z., Conso*, M., Hackett, J. D., & Gaffney, A. M. (2022, February). Self-uncertainty and cultural appropriation. Poster session to be presented at the annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Francisco, CA.
Pang*, J. & Gaffney, A. M. (2022, February). Ally or ‘All Lives’? Measuring voter attitudes toward social justice movements before and after the 2020 presidential election. Poster session to be presented at the annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Francisco, CA.
Ouyang*, Y., Rast, D. E. III, Gaffney, A. M., & Razvan* H. (2022, February). Leadership preferences during uncertain times: The use of social identity rhetoric in international relations. Poster presentation at the annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. San Francisco, CA.
Souter*, S. S., Gardner*, S. E., Valdovinos*, P. E., & Gaffney, A. M. (2021, July). Identification with conspiracy groups online: The impacts of social isolation, self-uncertainty, and support for Donald Trump. Paper at the annual meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology, Virtual.
Estrada*, D. & Gaffney, A.M. (2021, February). Means to an End: Examining the relationship between need for closure and an extremist government. Poster presentation at the 22nd annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
Griffith*, Z. M., Peabody, J*, Gaffney, A. M., & Hagger, M. S. (2021, February). COVID-19 health anxiety and perceptions of safety in training on campus among coaches and student athletes. Poster presentation at the Health Preconference at the 22nd annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
Peabody*, J., & Gaffney, A. M. (2021, February). Integrating ideological polarization into the social identity model of collective action. Poster presentation at the 22nd annual conference of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology.
Kincaid*, K., Ma*, A., Conso*, M., Estrada*, D., Reynolds*, H., Gaffney, A. M., & Rast, D. E. III (2021, February). That's my autocrat: Does concern for COVID-19 inoculate autocratic ingroup leaders? Poster presentation at the 22nd annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
Ma*, A. C., Rast, D. E. III, & Gaffney, A. M. (2021, February). Uncertainty and Exclusion: Do feelings of identity-related uncertainty lead to greater acceptance of exclusionary leader rhetoric? Poster presentation at the 22nd annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
Souter*, S. S., Gardner*, S. E., Valdovino*s, P. E., & Gaffney, A. M. (2021, February). The Plandemic: How support for Trump and self-uncertainty results in motivation to identify with conspiracy groups online. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Group Processes and Intergroup Relations preconference, Virtual.
Syfers*, L., Rast, D. E. III, & Gaffney, A. M. (2021, February). Leaders as agents of change and agents of continuity in the 2019 Canadian General Election. Poster presentation at the 22nd annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.