Dr. Mark Seery

Dr. Mark Seery

Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara
Office: 361 Park Hall
Phone: (716) 645-0239
E-mail: mdseery@buffalo.edu

 

Summary of Research Interests:

On the broadest level, my research centers on stress and coping. Potentially stressful situations that require active coping responses -- for example, test taking, job interviews, approaching possible romantic partners -- are ubiquitous and often represent some of the most important moments that people face in life. The research conducted in my laboratory investigates these motivated performance situations from several interrelated perspectives: (1) examining the determinants of experiencing the motivational states of challenge (when personal resources meet or exceed situational demands) vs. threat (when demands exceed resources) during such situations; (2) exploring the relationships between challenge and threat, cardiovascular responses, quality of task performance, and other behaviors; and (3) using cardiovascular responses as covert measures of challenge and threat in order to understand the factors that contribute to resilience and vulnerability to potential stress. My work in this domain emphasizes aspects of the self and group membership. In addition to this laboratory work, my research incorporates field approaches to studying resilience and vulnerability in the context of coping with traumatic life events.

Representative Publications:

  • Seery, M. D., Weisbuch, M., & Blascovich, J. (in press). Something to gain, something to lose: The cardiovascular consequences of outcome framing. International Journal of Psychophysiology.
  • Seery, M. D., Weisbuch, M., Hetenyi, M., & Blascovich, J. (in press). Cardiovascular measures independently predict performance in a university course. Psychophysiology.
  • Weisbuch, M., Seery, M. D., Ambady, N., & Blascovich, J. (2009). On the correspondence between physiological and nonverbal responses: Nonverbal behavior accompanying challenge and threat. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 33, 141-148.
  • Seery, M. D., West, T. V., Weisbuch, M., & Blascovich, J. (2008). The effects of negative reflection for defensive pessimists: Dissipation or harnessing of threat? Personality and Individual Differences, 45, 515-520.
  • Seery, M. D., Silver, R. C., Holman, E. A., Ence, W. A., & Chu, T. Q. (2008). Expressing thoughts and feelings following a collective trauma: Immediate responses to 9/11 predict negative outcomes in a national sample. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76, 657-667.
  • Vick, S. B., Seery, M. D., Blascovich, J., & Weisbuch, M. (2008). The effect of gender stereotype activation on challenge and threat motivational states. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 624-630.
  • Blascovich, J., & Seery, M. D. (2007). Visceral and somatic indexes of social psychological constructs: History, principles, propositions, and case studies. In A. W. Kruglanski & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (pp. 19-38). New York: Guilford.
  • Chu, T. Q., Seery, M. D., Ence, W. A., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2006). Ethnicity and gender in the face of a terrorist attack: A national longitudinal study of immediate responses and outcomes two years after September 11. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 28, 291-301.
  • Weisbuch-Remington, M., Mendes, W. B., Seery, M. D., & Blascovich, J. (2005). The non-conscious influence of religious symbols in motivated performance situations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 1203-1216.
  • Seery, M. D., Blascovich, J., Weisbuch, M., & Vick, S. B. (2004). The relationship between self-esteem level, self-esteem stability, and cardiovascular reactions to performance feedback. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 133-145.
  • Blascovich, J., Seery, M. D., Mugridge, C. A., Norris, R. K., & Weisbuch, M. (2004). Predicting athletic performance from cardiovascular indexes of challenge and threat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 683-688.
  • Mendes, W. B., Reis, H., Seery, M. D., & Blascovich, J. (2003). Cardiovascular correlates of emotional expression and suppression: Do content and gender context matter? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 771-792.
  • Blascovich, J., Mendes, W. B., & Seery, M. D. (2002). Intergroup encounters and threat: A multi-method approach. In D. M. Mackie & E. R. Smith (Eds.), From prejudice to intergroup emotions: Differentiated reactions to social groups (pp. 89-109). New York: Psychology Press.
  • Mendes, W. B., Blascovich, J., Major, B., & Seery, M. D. (2001). Challenge and threat responses during downward and upward social comparisons. European Journal of Social Psychology, 31, 477-497.