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Associate Professor of Psychology Jen Borton presented a poster on Feb. 14 at the 15th Annual Meeting of The Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) in Austin, Texas.

Associate Professor of Psychology Jen Borton and five students attended the annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in New Orleans, Jan. 17-21. The students had conducted research with Borton in 2011 or 2012 and presented posters of their work.

Over the past several decades, psychologists have placed a growing level of importance on bringing up children with high self-esteem, but according to the research of Beril Esen ’13, Susannah Parkin ’13 and Jose Mendez ’14, a person’s level of self-esteem is not always what it appears to be.

Associate Professor of Psychology Jennifer Borton presented an invited lecture titled “Fragile Self-Esteem and the Focus of Attention After Ego Threat” on March 23 at Syracuse University.

Associate Professor of Psychology Jen Borton, students Sam Briggs '12 and Beril Esen '13, and former Hamilton Professor Mark Oakes presented two posters at the annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in San Diego in January. Their posters were titled Defensive Self-Esteem and Self-Awareness and Unforgettable: Autobiographical Memories of People with Defensive High Self-Esteem.

A Hamilton research group will attempt to quantify isolate and study the concept of self-esteem in a resreach project this summer. Arielle Berti ’13, Ellen Doernberg ’13 and Ashley Sutton ’13 will work with Associate Professor of Psychology Jennifer Borton on a study of self-esteem and how it affects everyday life.

A paper co-authored by Associate Professor of Psychology Jennifer Borton was published in the March-April issue of The Journal of Social Psychology. “Does Suppressing the Thought of a Self-Relevant Stigma Affect Interpersonal Interaction?” was co-written with David Reiner ’05, Erica Vazquez ’08, Jessica Ruddiman ’09 and Stephanie Anglin ’10.

Associate Professor of Psychology Jennifer Borton’s recording for the nationally syndicated Academic Minute program was featured on InsideHigherEd’s website on Feb. 22. Borton discusses why trying to suppress negative thoughts is often counterproductive on the recording that was broadcast by public radio station WAMC on Feb. 7.

Associate Professor of Psychology Jennifer Borton presented a poster at the annual conference of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology held in San Antonio on Jan. 29-30. Her poster was titled “Level and Contingency of Self-Esteem Predict Thought Suppression, Rumination, and Self-Reflection.”

Imagine looking through a series of portraits and being asked to observe the faces of each one. What if suddenly you saw your own face on the screen? How would you react? According to Sam Briggs ’12 and Beril Esen ’13, a lot of that reaction depends on how you feel about yourself.