Our graduating class of doctoral students was smaller than usual in 2022, with only three students from Counseling Psychology. Here are Drs. Savannah Merold, Michael Lester, and Philip Stoner shortly before the beginning of the commencement ceremony. Philip and Savannah are our two newest lab alumni, and it was great to catch up with them. Congratulations, graduates!

1. Before you start your email, make sure the answer to your question is not easily found in the course syllabus.
2. Send your email from your official university email account.
3. Use the subject line to describe the content of your email.
4. Never begin your message with the word "Hey" ("Hi" is fine).
5. Use an appropriate title followed by the professor's last name (e.g., Prof. Lastname, Dr. Lastname).
6. Identify yourself by name in the body of your message (e.g., "This is [Your name] from your [name or number of class] class").
7. Write formally, using standard punctuation, spelling, grammar, and capitalization. Always proofread and check your spelling before sending.
8. Avoid smiley faces, emoticons, and the sort of acronyms frequently used in text messages (e.g., LOL, u, idk).
9. Be polite, respectful, and think about what you are hoping to accomplish with your email.
10. Never send an email when you are angry.

• Re: Your Recent Email to Your Professor
• Wellesley College Project on Social Computing Netiquette Guidelines

1. Identifying Reasons for Seeking Help
2. Determining When to Meet
3. Organize Your Talk with Your Professor
4. Talk with Your Professor

• We are most likely to accept students who are willing to complete projects in our areas of research.
• We almost always have ideas for specific projects that would be appropriate for honors theses, and we are far more likely to accept a student who is willing to complete one of these projects. For example, Dr. Dahlen is especially interested in working with students on projects designed to examine the relationship of peer victimization and bullying to college student mental health and academic success.
• We often encourage students to use archival data sets for their projects rather than collecting new data, as this makes it far more likely that they will be able to finish on time.
• Students who work with us will be encouraged to attend our weekly lab meetings, and preference will be given to those able to do so.

1. Students are encouraged to select a thesis topic consistent with the work we are doing in the lab. Occasionally, a new student may have a great idea for how to extend our work in a new direction; however, topics with little relevance to our work are unlikely to be approved.
2. Once a broad potential topic area is identified (e.g., relational aggression among college students), narrowing it to identify the primary variables to be included and form tentative research questions will require the student to review the relevant literature. What are the current gaps in the literature on this topic? Where can one make a contribution by doing something different from what has been done before?
3. Statistically, theses tend to be much less complex than dissertations. Some may only have 3-4 primary variables. One of the more common approaches we have been using in a number of recent thesis projects involves testing moderation or mediation. If we know, for example, that a variable we are interested in is positively related to relational aggression, we might ask whether another variable might help us understand the nature of that relationship (e.g., what might strengthen or weaken it, whether it depends on an intermediate variable).
4. As important as the topic selected may seem, it is less important than being able to complete one’s thesis on time. Delays in doing so mean less time for completing a dissertation. Thus, topic selection must take feasibility into consideration. How large is the body of literature that will need to be reviewed? Can we recruit the participants we will need? Are psychometrically sound measures of the variables available?
5. There is no such thing as a perfect study because we will never be able to include all potentially relevant variables and will always have constraints. A thesis that is completed on time, leads to a conference presentation and manuscript submitted for publication, and informs a student’s dissertation is about as close to perfection as we are going to get.

Relational aggression has been linked to many forms of psychological maladjustment. Identifying the personality traits associated with the perpetration of relational aggression offers promise in improving our ability to understand, prevent, and treat relationally aggressive behaviors. Much of the research to date has utilized the Five Factor Model; however, the HEXACO model of personality (Ashton et al., 2004) may offer some advantages in studying aggression. Moreover, the manipulative and often covert nature of relational aggression suggests that the Dark Triad personality traits are likely to be relevant. This study explored the utility of the HEXACO model and Dark Triad in predicting relational aggression in college students’ (N = 442) peer relationships. Honesty-Humility, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness predicted proactive and reactive relational aggression, and Emotionality also predicted reactive relational aggression. Pathological narcissism and psychopathy predicted proactive and reactive relational aggression while taking respondent gender and the full HEXACO model into account, with vulnerable narcissism and psychopathy serving as positive predictors and grandiose narcissism serving as a negative predictor. Findings support the utility of both the HEXACO and Dark Triad models in understanding peer relational aggression among emerging adults.

• Many of the most influential researchers in the dark personality literature contributed chapters to the book, providing an excellent representation of the scope and complexity of this area of study.
• Readers are presented with information on both the adaptive and maladaptive features of each dark personality trait. This provides important context and helps one reconcile what can sometimes appear to be inconsistent findings in the literature.
• Dark personality traits are addressed in the larger context of broad models of personality (e.g., the Five Factor Model). Again, this helps readers new to the dark personality literature understand how these traits fit into systems with which they will be more familiar.
• The book is organized using some of the recent work on pathological personality traits reflected in DSM-5. This is effective here because it helps the reader group variables that might not initially seem connected into broader domains.

• Some students do not discover their passion for research until they have the opportunity to be part of a research lab.
• Obtaining research experience allows students to develop the sort of portfolio of skills many employers are seeking (e.g., knowledge of the research process, interpersonal awareness, the ability to contribute to a team, effective problem solving, organization and time management).
• By working as an RA, a student provides a faculty member with the opportunity to get to know him or her in a meaningful way, and this often results in a more relevant letter of recommendation (i.e., the professor is able to address the student’s potential to succeed in the research-related aspects of graduate training and/or address many of the job-relevant skills noted above).
• Being part of a research lab often gives students a clearer understanding of the research process, and this can translate into improved performance in Psychology courses.
• Working as an RA in a lab that includes graduate students provides undergraduates with an accurate idea of what it is like to be a graduate student, what to expect from graduate training, and additional opportunities for mentoring.
• Students can sometimes opt to earn elective course credit by working as an RA in a lab.

1. Don't take it personally. It often seems like other drivers must be deliberately messing with you, but this is rarely the case. The "rude" driver who veered into your lane probably did not see you. The person merging onto the freeway slowly enough that you had to brake wasn't waiting for you on the on-ramp just to ruin your day. Others' bad driving is rarely aimed at you.
2. Avoid name-calling. Even if you manage to refrain from yelling out your window at other drivers, research suggests that calling them inflammatory names (even just to yourself) makes you more angry rather than less angry.
3. Let go of the need to be right. Your safety is more important than being right. Maybe you were the first to arrive at the 4-way stop and you have the right-of-way. If the other vehicle blasts through the intersection anyway, the fact that it was your turn will not be much consolation when it hits you.
4. Recognize that if someone else is determined to have an accident, you don't need to be part of it. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is to slow down and let the other driver pass you. Maybe the other driver is intoxicated or playing with his or her smartphone. These are drivers you do not want to be close to. If they have an accident, it is better that it does not involve you.
5. Remember that it is not your job to punish other drivers. We have all had the urge to honk, slow down in front of someone tailgating us, cut in front of another driver, or make obscene gestures to "teach them a lesson." This sort of retaliation may feel good, but it increases the likelihood that you could end up the target of someone else's road rage.

• Modifying consent forms and survey instructions to inform potential participants that quality assurance checks are being used and that failing such checks will result in them not receiving incentives for participation
• Including validity items or bogus items that should be answered the same way by participants who are attending to item content
• Measuring survey completion and/or individual instrument completion time

• Cognitive-behavioral programs tend to have the most research support and are both brief and cost effective. Many of these programs can be completed in as few as 8-12 counseling sessions.
• Some practitioners still use methods that have been discredited and may cause harm. Programs that involve the uncontrolled, aggressive expression of anger (e.g., punching pillows or using foam bats to strike objects) may provide short-term relief but tend to increase the likelihood of future problems, including aggressive behavior.
• Just because some anger management programs have research support does not mean that all practitioners will use them skillfully. It is important to be comfortable with the treatment provider you select.
• Anger management is not designed to eliminate one's angry feelings or control others' behavior. Instead, it is aimed at helping the client reduce the intensity and frequency of their angry feelings and learn to express anger in more positive ways.