Stephen Harkins
Degrees/Education
B.A. 1970 University of Texas, Austin, English
M.A. 1972 University of Missouri, Social Psychology
Ph.D. 1975 University of Missouri, Social Psychology
Area(s) of Expertise
Social Psychology
Research Interests
I am currently testing a simple, three-variable model that may serve as the basis for an integration of five different traditions in which it has been shown that the potential for evaluation affects task performance: social loafing, social facilitation, goal-setting, intrinsic motivation/creativity, and achievement-goal theory. Although these research traditions have proposed process models to account for the evaluation effects, the models do not agree on the mediating process(es), nor is there any compelling evidence favoring one account over the others. In a second line of work, I am attempting to identify the process(es) that produce the evaluation effects through a molecular analysis of specific tasks (e.g., Remote Associates Task) on which these effects have been shown.
Location
125 Nightingale Hall