Much of the my research focuses on the self and social cognition. My students and I are investigating the ways that people think about themselves over time in the past and future, and how these perceptions - and their beliefs about change and stability - affect identity, motivation, and goal-pursuit. I am particularly interested in the role of subjective time which plays a powerful role in how temporally-extended selves and events are represented. I investigate how these processes apply to self, interpersonal relationships, person perception, and ingroups. I have also been focusing on how people's thinking about the future determines their willingness to overcome short-term costs to reap long-term benefits.

Primary Interests:

Aggression, Conflict, Peace
Close Relationships
Culture and Ethnicity
Emotion, Mood, Affect
Gender Psychology
Intergroup Relations
Interpersonal Processes
Motivation, Goal Setting
Self and Identity
Social Cognition

Aggression, Conflict, Peace
Close Relationships
Culture and Ethnicity
Emotion, Mood, Affect
Gender Psychology
Intergroup Relations

Interpersonal Processes
Motivation, Goal Setting
Self and Identity
Social Cognition

Research Group or Laboratory:

Social Psychology Research Laboratory
Interactive Map

Journal Articles:

Buote, V. M, Wilson, A. E., Strahan, E. J., Gazzola, S. B. & Papps, F. (2011) Setting the bar: Sociocultural norms for women’s and men’s ideal appearance in real-world contexts. Body Image, 8, 322-334.
Gunn, G., & Wilson, A. E. (2011). Acknowledging the skeletons in our closet: The effect of group-affirmation on collective guilt, collective shame, and reparatory attitudes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(11), 1474-1487. DOI: 10.1177/0146167211413607
Peetz, J. Gunn, G., & Wilson, A. E. (2010). Crimes of the past: Temporal distancing and defensiveness in the face of past in-group wrongdoing. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 598-611.
Peetz, J., & Wilson, A. E. (2012). The post birthday world: Consequences of temporal landmarks for temporal self-appraisal and motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. doi: 10.1037/a0030477
Peetz, J., Wilson, A. E., & Strahan, E. J. (2009). So far away: The role of subjective temporal distance to future goals in motivation and behavior. Social Cognition, 27(4), 475-495.
Ross, M., & Wilson, A. E. (2002). It feels like yesterday: Self-esteem, valence of personal past experiences, and judgments of subjective distance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 792-803.
Strahan, E. J., Lafrance, A., Wilson, A. E., Ethier, N., Spencer, S. J., & Zanna, M. P. (2008). Victoria's Dirty Secret: The impact of media images on adolescent girls and women. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 288-301.
Wilson, A. E., Buehler, R., Lawford, H., Schmidt, C. & Yong, A. G. (2012). Basking in projected glory: People’s appraisals of subjectively close and distant future outcomes. European Journal of Social Psychology, Special Issue on Mental Time Travel: Social Psychological Perspectives on a Fundamental Human Capacity, 42(3), 342–353.
Wilson, A. E., & Ross, M. (2003). The identity function of autobiographical memory: Time is on our side. Invited paper in Memory: Special Issue Exploring the Functions of Autobiographical Memory, 11, 137-149.
Wilson, A. E., & Ross, M. (2001). From chump to champ: People's appraisals of their earlier and current selves. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 572-584.
Wilson, A. E., & Ross, M. (2000). The frequency of temporal-self and social comparisons in people's personal appraisals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 928-942.

Anne E. Wilson
Department of Psychology
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5
Canada

Phone: (519) 884-0710, x3037
Fax: (519) 746-7605


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Anne E. Wilson

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