The Michigan State University Department of Psychology welcomes associate professor Dr. Gwendolyn Seidman to its faculty. As a social psychologist, Dr. Seidman’s research focuses on romantic relationships, social media, and personality traits like narcissism.
With a PhD in Social Psychology from New York University, Dr. Seidman spent much of her career teaching and researching at Albright College, a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania. She brings a wealth of experience to MSU where she is teaching classes like Introductory Psychology, Statistics, and a research methods course. She is also developing a new course on the social psychology of the internet that she plans to teach this spring.
Can you tell us about your research journey?
I started studying social interaction on the internet back in 2001, which was the early days of the internet going mainstream. Since then, my research has evolved to focus on the psychology of social media use. I'm particularly interested in how people use social media to achieve both a sense of belonging and as a way to present themselves to other people.
I also study romantic relationships, particularly looking at how people perceive their partners. Over the last ten years or so, I’ve also started looking at narcissism and how it relates to people’s perceptions of their partners. Right now, I'm working on a paper on narcissism and relationship satisfaction that examines how one's own and their partner’s narcissism relate to changes in relationship satisfaction over time.
What are you excited about for your new role at MSU?
I’m really excited to be joining the social/personality research area here. The faculty seem wonderful, and I’m looking forward to working alongside them. At my previous institution, I was the only social psychologist, which meant I didn’t have colleagues I could really talk with about the issues and debates in my own area. Here, it feels completely different. Not only will I have colleagues in related areas to collaborate with, but I’ll also be part of a community where people are deeply engaged with the same conversations I care about. I think being in this environment will really reinvigorate my own research and make it easier to stay up to date and be more productive and connected.
I’m also really excited about the very large research subject pool here—it’s going to dramatically increase my research productivity. At my previous institution, it would have taken me four years to recruit the number of participants I could get in a single semester at MSU.
What do you enjoy most about being a professor?
I love the intellectual simulation and having the flexibility to work on interesting projects. Being a professor allows me to explore ideas both in research and in the classroom. Connecting with students, from seeing students get excited about psychology to mentoring students through the graduate school application process, is also really rewarding.
Last tv show that you’ve watched?
I recently finished a show called Muderbot It’s a sci-fi dark comedy about a security robot who hacks into his own system to get free will. He becomes obsessed with watching cheesy soap operas that he uses to help him interact with people. It’s funny, but also interesting from a psychological and philosophical standpoint.
Dr. Seidman regularly contributes to Psychology Today as a blogger. She covers topics related to close relationships and to online behavior. Catch up on her recent blogs here.