Department of Psychology

Research Interests

• Perceptions of personality and competence
• Estimation and perception of quantity
• Development of intellectual talent

Some of my research focuses on how people's perceptions of the personality and competence of others are formed. For example, in my lab, we are currently investigating the accuracy of strangers' personality judgments based on photographs alone. We are examining how personality judgments may be predicted by various components of personal appearance (e.g., overall attractiveness, facial symmetry, masculinity/femininity of features). We are also conducting studies attempting to identify variables related to students' ratings of instructors in course evaluations, how applicants are evaluated when applying for jobs, and how personality perceptions are formed based on the contents of one's smartphone. Finally, we examine how people view their own competence and cognitive abilities and the role of feedback in the accuracy of those self-perceptions.

Other research I am working on examines how people think about number, quantity, and probability. For example, people vary greatly in their abilities to estimate numeric quantities (e.g., the number of bricks in the psychology building, number of seconds in a month). I am investigating the processes underlying those estimations and how differences among people in this ability predict differences in their everyday choices and actions (e.g., driving, gambling, studying, healthful living). I am also interested in the development of intellectual talent, particularly mathematical and scientific talent, and which characteristics of people and their environments are important for determining a good fit between the two. Finally, in some of my research, I am examining issues related to work-family balance and how men and women view their life choices similarly and differently.

I encourage prospective graduate students applying to our Master's program or undergraduates interested in completing an Honors' thesis or gaining research experience to contact me about joining the lab.

Education

• Ph.D. Vanderbilt University
• M.S. Vanderbilt University
• B.S. Arkansas Tech University

Recent Posters with Students

• *Silio, O., Webb, R. M., *Kaszycki, A., & Bergman, S. (2014, October). What does your smartphone reveal about your personality? Poster presented at the 8^th Annual River City Industrial/ Organizational Psychology Conference, Knoxville, TN. (Honorable mention.)  PDF

• *Light, S., Webb, R. M., Huelsman, T. J., & Smith, A. R. (2014, March). The influence of sex and job position on hiring decisions. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Nashville, TN. 

• *Cochran, K. A., Webb, R. M., Galloway, A. T., & Payne, L. O.  (2014, March).  Attitudes about nursing: Evaluations of competence in nursing mothers. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Nashville, TN. 

• *Nelson, L. A., Webb, R. M., *Acikgoz, Y., Huelsman, T. J., & Bleske-Rechek, A.  (2013, June).  How strangers use facial features to make personality and competence judgments. Poster presented at the 3^rd biennial convention of the Association for Research in Personality, Charlotte, NC.

• *Cochran, K. A., Webb, R. M., Galloway, A. T., & Payne, L. O.  (2013, June).  Perceptions of competence and warmth in nursing mothers: Examination of a stereotype content model. Poster presented at the 3^rd biennial convention of the Association for Research in Personality, Charlotte, NC.

*student author

Representative Publications

• *Pulley, C., Galloway, A. T., Webb, R. M., & Payne, L. O. (2014). Parental child feeding practices: How do perceptions of mother, father, sibling, and self vary? Appetite, 80, 96-102.  

• *Maphis, L., Martz, D. M., Bergman, S. M., Curtin, L., & Webb, R. M. (2013). Body size dissatisfaction and avoidance behavior: How gender, age, ethnicity, and relative clothing size predict what some won’t try.  Body Image: An International Journal of Research, 10, 361-368.

• Bleske-Rechek, A., *Harris, H. D., *Denkinger, K., Webb, R. M., *Erickson, L., & *Nelson, L. A. (2011). Physical cues of ovulatory status: A failure to replicate enhanced facial attractiveness and reduced waist-to-hip ratio at high fertility. Evolutionary Psychology, 9, 336-353.

• *Horn, M. G., Galloway, A. T., Webb, R. M., & Gagnon, S. G. (2011). The role of child temperament in parental child feeding practices and attitudes using a sibling design. Appetite, 57, 510-516. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2011.06.015 

• *Petroff, A. B., Martz, D. M., Webb, R. M., & Galloway, A. T. (2011). Predicting ideal body mass index: What does clothing size have to do with it? Body Image: An International Journal of Research, 8, 126-134.

• *Payne, L. O., Galloway, A. T., & Webb, R. M. (2011). Parental use of differential restrictive feeding practices with siblings. International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, 6, 540-546. doi:10.3109/17477166.2011.575144

• *Barnard, K. E., Broman-Fulks, J. J., Michael, K. D., Webb, R. M., & Zawilinski, L. L. (2010). The effects of physiological arousal on cognitive and psychomotor performance among individuals with high and low anxiety sensitivity. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 24, 201-216. doi:10.1080/10615806.2010.494328

        * student author

Teaching and Research Awards

• Appalachian State University's Graduate Research Associate Mentoring Award, 2012-2014
• Appalachian State University's Undergraduate Research Assistantship Award, 2012
• Psi Chi's Marvelous Mentor Award Nomination, 2011
• Appalachian State University's Graduate Research Associate Mentoring Award, 2009-2010
• Psi Chi's Best Teacher Award Nomination, 2009
• Mensa Education & Research Foundation's Award for Excellence in Research, 2008
• Belin Blank Center's Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration Research Grant, 2007
• Mensa Education & Research Foundation's Award for Excellence in Research, 2003
• Edwin B. Newman Graduate Research Award, Psi Chi/American Psychological Association, 2002-2003