Robin Kowalski, Ph.D.

Country: 
United States
Biography: 

Robin M. Kowalski is an expert in the field of interpersonal behavior and social anxiety. She has published five books and numerous articles on these topics. Interest in her research on complaining has been widespread, leading to radio, television, and newspaper interviews around the world. She has appeared on the Today Show (NBC), and articles on her research have been published in USA Today, Health, Allure, Family Circle and Reader’s Digest to name a few. She received her Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro and is currently professor of psychology at Clemson University.While Kowalski’s research focuses primarily on aversive interpersonal behaviors, lately her team has broadened their research psychology focus to examine the benefits of writing about traumatic events among children and among Holocaust survivors. Her most recent book is entitled, Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age and has been published by Blackwell Press. A website devoted to the topic can be found at www.cyberbullyhelp.com

http://www.clemson.edu/psych/people/robin_kowalski.html

Role in the Study: 

Kowalski and her team have reviewed 12 of the video testimonies used in this study. The current emphasis is on conducting a linguistic analysis of the narratives. More specifically, Kowalski’s team is using the Jamie Pennebaker’s Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count Strategy (LIWC; 2001). The LIWC has been used in research examining the benefits of writing about traumatic events and is being used in this study to examine differences in the structure and affect accompanying the narratives of those individuals in the experimental and control groups. Kowalsi submitted the data for presentation at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association in March, 2006. Dr. Kowalski is currently working on coming up with a coding system for the nonverbal behaviors exhibited by the individuals in their taped testimonies, a system that would be entered into the spss file along with the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software data.