Shannon Brady

We create psychological worlds for each other—worlds of meaning, selves, identity, and belonging. These worlds shape not only our psychological experience, but our performance, well-being, and health. These worlds unfold over time, and they can persist far into the future.

My research examines these worlds: how they are created in important life settings, such as through institutional messages and practices, and their consequences along a wide array of outcomes ranging from subjective experience (e.g., well-being, belonging), to achievement (e.g., grades), to relationships (e.g., close friends), to health (e.g., gene expression). In the tradition of Kurt Lewin, a primary way I investigate these worlds is through psychological intervention. By helping broaden who people feel they are or can be in a given setting, I simultaneously advance psychological theory, elucidate psychological dimensions of major social issues, and develop new, theory-based ways to improve individual and community life. Because inequality is endemic to many institutional contexts, my research on affecting institutional change to improve opportunity, success, and well-being also seeks to advance equity and inclusion.

Representative Publications

• Carter, E. R., Brady, S. T., Murdock-Perriera, L. A., Gilbertson, M. K., Ablorh, T., & Murphy, M. C. (in press). The racial composition of students’ friendship networks predicts perceptions of injustice and involvement in collective action. Journal of Theoretical Social Psychology. doi.org/10.1002/jts5.27
• Brady, S. T., Hard, B. M., & Gross, J. J. (2018). Reappraising test anxiety increases academic performance for first-year college students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 110(3), 395-406. dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000219
• Walton, G. M., & Brady, S. T. (2017). The many questions of belonging. In A. J. Elliot, C. S. Dweck, & D. S. Yeager (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation (2nd Edition): Theory and application. New York: Guilford. (link)
• Brady, S. T., Reeves, S. L., Garcia, J., Purdie-Vaughns, V., Cook, J. E., Taborsky-Barba, S., Tomasetti, S., Davis, E. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2016). The psychology of the affirmed learner: Spontaneous self-affirmation in the face of stress. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(3), 353-373. dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000091
• Yeager, D. S., Walton, G. M., Brady, S. T., Akcinar, E. N., Paunesku, D., Keane, L., Kamentz, D., Ritter, G., Duckworth, A. L., Urstein, R., Gomez, E. M., Markus, H. R., Cohen, G. L., & Dweck, C. S. (2016). Is it possible to improve the college transition in advance? Teaching a lay theory before college narrows achievement gaps at scale. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113, E3341-E3348. dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1524360113

Recent Student-Led Posters

• Pinedo, A., Brady S. T., Walton. G. M. (March, 2018). At school, feeling disconnected from home: Home-school disconnect predicts well-bei=ng for university students. Poster presented at the 19th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Atlanta, Georgia.
• Ospina, J. P., Brady, S. T., Cole, S. W., Cohen, G. L., & Walton, G. M. (March, 2018). Narratives about adversity buffer the genome against adversity. Poster presented at the 19^th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Atlanta, Georgia.
• Mohler, M. N., Hard, B. M., Lam, A.*, & Brady, S. T. (June, 2017). Student perceptions of instructors’ anxiety management strategies. Poster presented at the 2017 Conference of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• Williams, H. E., Torrez, B. R., Walton, G. M., & Brady, S. T. (January, 2017). Punishment or process?: How shifting the way schools communicate about academic probation can improve student well-being and success. Poster presented at the 18^th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Antonio, Texas.