Social Psychology Network

Maintained by Scott Plous, Wesleyan University

Dara Greenwood

Dara Greenwood

  • SPN Mentor

Dara Greenwood earned her B.A. from Wesleyan University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Social-Personality Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Before joining the Vassar faculty in 2010, she was on faculty in the interdisciplinary Communication Studies Department at the University of Michigan. She teaches courses in social psychology and media psychology.

Greenwood's research program explores how various indicators of individuals' emotional well being (e.g., attachment style, body image, emotion regulation tendencies) predict the nature and degree of their involvement with entertainment media programs and characters. She is also interested in how representations of gender in the mass media interact with and affect individuals’ perceptions of themselves and each other. Finally, she studies the social psychological function of humor -- as a coping mechanism (for anxiety, social exclusion), and as a vehicle for prejudice and discrimination (e.g., sexist, racist humor). Methodologically, Professor Greenwood relies on large-scale surveys as well as laboratory experiments.

Primary Interests:

  • Close Relationships
  • Emotion, Mood, Affect
  • Gender Psychology
  • Personality, Individual Differences
  • Prejudice and Stereotyping
  • Self and Identity

Journal Articles:

Other Publications:

Courses Taught:

  • Emotional Engagement with Film
  • Introduction to Psychology
  • Mass Media and the Individual: Uses and Impact
  • Mass Media and the Social Self
  • Media and Gender Roles
  • Principle of Social Psychology

Dara Greenwood
Department of Psychology
Vassar College
124 Raymond Avenue, Box 49
Poughkeepsie, New York 12604
United States of America

  • Phone: (845) 437-7377

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