Dr. Dempsey's Social/Personality Lab

Dr. Dempsey's Interests and Hobbies

One of the things I enjoy doing the most is traveling.  In summer 2012, we decided to do a major driving tour of the USA.  So, we spent two months on the road and drove a total of 11,000 miles in our minivan (if you want to see more pictures from our trip, go to my blog). We took almost as many pictures (close to 8,000) and saw 25 states.  We also took our two high school exchange students with us for part of the trip (and sent them home from the west coast) and brought our new exchange student back with us (he flew into Seattle). Then in 2014, we set off once again, this time on a two month trip to Europe (blog for that trip).  We visited many of our European exchange students and those who had lived with David at the International House when he was in school.  Next trip will hopefully be to Asia!  When I am at home, I love to read novels (authors such as Steve Barry, David Baldacci, Clive Cussler to name a few) and watch TV (NCIS, NCIS LA, Madame Secretary, etc.). I also love to play board games.  We have several hundred games and often bring them to the JSU Math Club or JSU Gaming Club to play with students.

Current Research

I am currently working on writing up data from previous semester, but am starting a few new projects.  The largest of these is to code emotion and forgiveness narratives.  If you are interested in emotion, this would be a great project for you!

In general, my policy is that I am willing to work with you in terms of the number of hours you can spend doing research (there is no minimum or maximum).  However, I may choose to put you on a project that requires a smaller time commitment if you cannot commit that many hours.  Also, I will accept new students at any point during the semester (it does not have to be at the beginning of the semester).  Further, if this semester is not good for you, how about volunteering next semester?

What is the benefit of volunteering for research?  Generally I try to work with my students to put together a conference presentation that involves the work in which they have been involved so that they get to have a presentation with their name on it for their Vitae and graduate school applications.  If you stick around for several semesters, you may even get your name on a publication!  Also, if all has gone well in your research experience, this allows me to write you a more detailed letter of recommendation for a job or graduate school.  These are generally the types of letters that employers or schools are looking for because they want to know more about what you do outside of the classroom, not just in the classroom.

PSI CHI and Psychology Club

I will be emailing out invitations for students to participate in Psi Chi if they meet the criteria this spring.  I am looking for people who want to lead in these organizations and who have ideas for projects and presentations.  In the past, students involved in Psi Chi have done some innovative fundraisers (such as selling Psychology Department t-shirts) to raise money to attend conferences.  The regional APA conferences are great for students to attend because they have special sessions on preparing students for graduate school and they have poster sessions where Psi Chi students can present their research and compete for awards.  Also, this year Psi Chi is looking for student research volunteers who can help collect data for a common database (that is, your chapter would collect 80 participants and then they would have access to all of the data collected and could analyze whatever they choose for a conference presentation).  If you are really gung-ho about research, Psi Chi also offers a journal where students can publish their research and grants to assist students with research costs.  Please come see me if you are interested in any of this.