Infinite Gratitude

Research

Aknin, Lara B., and Gillian M. Sandstrom. “People Are Surprisingly Hesitant to Reach Out to Old Friends.” Communications Psychology, vol. 2, no. 1, 2024, article 26. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-024-00075-8.

Aknin, Lara B., et al. “It’s the Recipient That Counts: Spending Money on Strong Social Ties Leads to Greater Happiness than Spending on Weak Social Ties.” PLoS ONE, vol. 6, no. 2, 2011, e17018. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0017018.

Ascigil, Esra, et al. “Minimal Social Interactions and Life Satisfaction: The Role of Greeting, Thanking, and Conversing.” Social Psychological and Personality Science, vol. 15, no. 2, 2024, pp. 151–160. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506231209793.
Atir, Stav, et al. “Talking with Strangers Is Surprisingly Informative.” PNAS, vol. 119, no. 34, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2206992119.

Atir, Stav, Xuan Zhao, and Margaret Echelbarger. “Talking to Strangers: Intention, Competence, and Opportunity.” Current Opinion in Psychology, vol. 51, 2023, article 101588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101588.

Atkinson, Ciara, et al. “People Overestimate Backlash Against Helpers Who Violate Gender Stereotypes: Experimental Examination of a Prosociality Paradox.” Unpublished manuscript, 2021.

Atkinson, Ciara, et al. “Testing the GRIP: An Empirical Examination of the Gender Roles Inhibiting Prosociality Model.” Sex Roles, vol. 85, 2021, pp. 440–462. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-021-01229-2.

Baer, Markus. “The Strength-of-Weak-Ties Perspective on Creativity: A Comprehensive Examination and Extension.” Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 95, no. 3, 2010, pp. 592–601. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018761.

Baumeister, Roy F., and Mark R. Leary. “The Need to Belong: Desire for Interpersonal Attachments as a Fundamental Human Motivation.” Psychological Bulletin, vol. 117, no. 3, 1995, pp. 497–529.

Boothby, Erica J., et al. “The Liking Gap in Conversations: Do People Like Us More Than We Think?” Psychological Science, vol. 29, no. 11, 2018, pp. 1742–1756. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618783714.

Brooks, Alison Wood, et al. “Smart People Ask for (My) Advice: Seeking Advice Boosts Perceptions of Competence.” Management Science, vol. 61, no. 6, 2015, pp. 1421–1435.

Buchanan, Kathryn, and Gillian M. Sandstrom. “Buffering the Effects of Bad News: Exposure to Others’ Kindness Alleviates the Aversive Effects of Viewing Others’ Acts of Immorality.” PLoS ONE, vol. 18, no. 5, 2023, e0284438. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284438.

Buchanan, Kathryn, et al. “Brief Exposure to Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Doom-Scrolling Has Negative Emotional Consequences, but Kindness-Scrolling Does Not.” PLoS ONE, vol. 16, no. 10, 2021, e0257728. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257728.

Carter, Alecia J., et al. “Women’s Visibility in Academic Seminars: Women Ask Fewer Questions than Men.” PLoS ONE, vol. 13, no. 9, 2018, e0202743. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202743.

Chen, Frances S., et al. “Tell Me More: The Effects of Expressed Interest on Receptiveness during Dialog.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 46, no. 5, 2010, pp. 850–853.

Cheung, Elaine O., et al. “Emotionships: Examining People’s Emotion-Regulation Relationships and Their Consequences for Well-Being.” Social Psychological and Personality Science, vol. 6, no. 4, 2015, pp. 407–414. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550614564223.

Cohen, Jonathan. “Parasocial Break-up from Favorite Television Characters: The Role of Attachment Styles and Relationship Intensity.” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, vol. 21, no. 2, 2004, pp. 187–202. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407504041374.

Constant, David, et al. “The Kindness of Strangers: The Usefulness of Electronic Weak Ties for Technical Advice.” Organization Science, vol. 7, no. 2, 1996, pp. 119–135.

Croft, Alyssa, et al. “Loosening the GRIP (Gender Roles Inhibiting Prosociality) to Promote Gender Equality.” Personality and Social Psychology Review, vol. 25, no. 1, 2021, pp. 66–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868320964615.

Davidai, Shai, et al. “There Must Be More to Life than This: The Impact of Highly Accessible Exemplars on Self-Evaluation and Discontent.” Self and Identity, vol. 20, no. 1, 2021, pp. 72–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2020.1779121.

Deri, Sebastian, et al. “Home Alone: Why People Believe Others’ Social Lives Are Richer Than Their Own." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 113, no. 6, 2017, pp. 858–877. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000105.

Derrick, Jaye L., et al. “Social Surrogacy: How Favored Television Programs Provide the Experience of Belonging.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 45, 2009, pp. 352–362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2008.12.003.

Epley, Nicholas, and Juliana Schroeder. “Mistakenly Seeking Solitude.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, vol. 143, no. 5, 2014, pp. 1980–1999. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037323.

Fingerman, Karen L. “Consequential Strangers and Peripheral Ties: The Importance of Unimportant Relationships.” Journal of Family Theory & Review, vol. 1, no. 2, 2009, pp. 69–86. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-2589.2009.00010.x.

Fleeson, William, et al. “An Intraindividual Process Approach to the Relationship Between Extraversion and Positive Affect: Is Acting Extraverted as ‘Good’ as Being Extraverted?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 83, no. 6, 2002, pp. 1409–1422. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.83.6.1409.

Gabriel, Shira, et al. “Social Surrogate Use in Those Exposed to Trauma: I Get by with a Little Help from My (Fictional) Friends.” Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, vol. 36, no. 1, 2017, pp. 41–63.

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Granovetter, Mark. “The Strength of Weak Ties: A Network Theory Revisited.” Sociological Theory, vol. 1, 1983, pp. 201–233.

Gunaydin, Gul, et al. “Minimal Social Interactions with Strangers Predict Greater Subjective Well-Being.” Journal of Happiness Studies, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00298-6.

Hill, Craig A. “Affiliation Motivation: People Who Need People But in Different Ways.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 52, no. 5, 1987, pp. 1008–1018.

Hirsch, Jennifer L., and Margaret S. Clark. “Multiple Paths to Belonging That We Should Study Together.” Perspectives on Psychological Science, vol. 14, no. 2, 2019, pp. 238–255.

Huang, Karen, et al. “It Doesn’t Hurt to Ask: Question-Asking Increases Liking.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 113, no. 3, 2017, pp. 430–452.

Human, Lauren J., et al. “Accurate First Impressions Leave a Lasting Impression: The Long-Term Effects of Distinctive Self-Other Agreement on Relationship Development.” Social Psychological and Personality Science, vol. 4, no. 4, 2013, pp. 395–402. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550612463735.

Huxhold, Oliver, et al. “The Strength of Weaker Ties: An Underexplored Resource for Maintaining Emotional Well-Being in Later Life.” Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, vol. 75, no. 7, 2020, pp. 1433–1442. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa019.

Ishiguro, Itaru. “Minimal Social Interactions and Subjective Well-Being in the Japanese Context: Examination of Mediation Processes Using a National Representative Sample.” Social Sciences & Humanities Open, vol. 8, no. 1, 2023, article 100713. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100713.

Kardas, Michael, Amit Kumar, and Nicholas Epley. “Overly Shallow?: Miscalibrated Expectations Create a Barrier to Deeper Conversation.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000281.

Kardas, Michael, Juliana Schroeder, and Ed O’Brien. “Keep Talking: (Mis)Understanding the Hedonic Trajectory of Conversation.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000379.

Keyes, Corey Lee M. “Social Well-Being.” Social Psychology Quarterly, vol. 61, no. 2, 1998, pp. 121–140.

Kim, Soo, et al. “Reminder Avoidance: Why People Hesitate to Disclose Their Insecurities to Friends.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 121, no. 5, 2021, pp. 1011–1029.

Lathia, Neal, et al. “Happier People Live More Active Lives: Using Smartphones to Link Happiness and Physical Activity.” PLoS ONE, vol. 12, no. 1, 2017, e0160589. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0160589.

Levine, Emma E., and Taya R. Cohen. “You Can Handle the Truth: Mispredicting the Consequences of Honest Communication.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, vol. 147, no. 9, 2018, pp. 1400–1429.

Levin, Daniel Z., et al. “Dormant Ties: The Value of Reconnecting.” Organization Science, vol. 22, no. 4, 2011, pp. 923–939. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1100.0576.

Liu, Peggy J., et al. “The Surprise of Reaching Out: Appreciated More Than We Think.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 124, no. 4, 2022, pp. 754–771. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000402.

Lotun, Shaaba, et al. “Parasocial Relationships on YouTube Reduce Prejudice Towards Mental Health Issues.” Communications Psychology, vol. 1, no. 1, 2022, article 19. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-022-00011-w.

Lotun, Shaaba, et al. “People Perceive Parasocial Relationships to Be Effective at Fulfilling Emotional Need.” Scientific Reports, vol. 14, no. 1, 2024, article 8220. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58069-9.

Mannucci, Pier Vittorio, and Jill E. Perry-Smith. “Who Are You Going to Call?’ Network Activation in Creative Idea Generation and Elaboration.” Academy of Management Journal, 2021. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2019.0333.

Margolis, Seth, and Sonja Lyubomirsky. “Experimental Manipulation of Extraverted and Introverted Behavior and Its Effects on Well-Being.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, vol. 149, no. 4, 2020, pp. 719–731. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000668.

Mastroianni, Adam M., et al. “The Liking Gap in Groups and Teams.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, vol. 162, 2021, pp. 109–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2020.10.013.

Methot, Jessica R., et al. “Office Chit-Chat as a Social Ritual: The Uplifting Yet Distracting Effects of Daily Small Talk at Work.” Academy of Management Journal, 2020.

Moreton, Joshua, et al. “Social Support from Weak Ties: Insight from the Literature on Minimal Social Interactions.” Social and Personality Psychology Compass, vol. 17, no. 3, 2023, e12729. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12729.

Neel, Rebecca, and Bethany Lassetter. “The Stigma of Perceived Irrelevance: An Affordance-Management Theory of Interpersonal Invisibility.” Psychological Review, vol. 126, no. 5, 2019, pp. 634–659.

Ohtsubo, Yohsuke, et al. “It’s the Attention That Counts: Interpersonal Attention Fosters Intimacy and Social Exchange.” Evolution and Human Behavior, vol. 35, no. 3, 2014, pp. 237–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.02.004.

Pan, Xi, and Kyong Hee Chee. “The Power of Weak Ties in Preserving Cognitive Function: A Longitudinal Study of Older Chinese Adults.” Aging & Mental Health, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2019.1597015.

Paravati, Elaine, et al. “From ‘Love Actually’ to Love, Actually: The Sociometer Takes Every Kind of Fuel.” Self and Identity, 2020, pp. 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2020.1743750.

Perry-Smith, Jill E. “Social Yet Creative: The Role of Social Relationships in Facilitating Individual Creativity.” Academy of Management Journal, vol. 49, no. 1, 2006, pp. 85–101.

Perry-Smith, Jill E. “Social Network Ties Beyond Nonredundancy: An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Knowledge Content and Tie Strength on Creativity.” Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 99, no. 5, 2014, pp. 831–846. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036385.

Perry-Smith, Jill E., and Pier Vittorio Mannucci. “From Creativity to Innovation: The Social Network Drivers of the Four Phases of the Idea Journey.” Academy of Management Review, vol. 42, no. 1, 2017, pp. 53–79. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2014.0462.

Rajkumar, Karthik, et al. “A Causal Test of the Strength of Weak Ties.” Science, vol. 377, no. 6612, 2022, pp. 1304–1310. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abl4476.

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Russo, Frank A., et al. “Mouth versus Eyes: Gaze Fixation during Perception of Sung Interval Size.” Ryerson University, 2011.

Russo, Frank A., et al. “Predicting Musically Induced Emotions from Physiological Inputs: Linear and Neural Network Models.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 4, 2013, article 468. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00468.

Sandstrom, Gillian M. “Even Minimal Student-Instructor Interactions May Increase Enjoyment in the Classroom: Preliminary Evidence that Greeting Your Students May Have Benefits Even If You Can’t Remember Their Names.” PLoS ONE, vol. 18, no. 8, 2023, e0288166. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288166.

Sandstrom, Gillian M. “How to Talk to Strangers Workshop — Outline.” 2022.

Sandstrom, Gillian M., and Erica J. Boothby. “Why Do People Avoid Talking to Strangers? A Mini Meta-Analysis of Predicted Fears and Actual Experiences Talking to a Stranger.” Self and Identity, vol. 20, no. 1, 2021, pp. 47–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2020.1816568.

Sandstrom, Gillian M., and Elizabeth W. Dunn. “Is Efficiency Overrated?: Minimal Social Interactions Lead to Belonging and Positive Affect.” Social Psychological and Personality Science, vol. 5, no. 4, 2014, pp. 437–442. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550613502990.

Sandstrom, Gillian M., and Elizabeth W. Dunn. “Social Interactions and Well-Being: The Surprising Power of Weak Ties.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 40, no. 7, 2014, pp. 910–922. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167214529799.

Sandstrom, Gillian M., and Elizabeth W. Dunn. “The Virtue Blind Spot: Do Affective Forecasting Errors Undermine Virtuous Behavior?” Social and Personality Psychology Compass, vol. 5, no. 10, 2011, pp. 720–733. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2011.00384.x.

Sandstrom, Gillian M., and Catherine D. Rawn. “Embrace Chattering Students: They May Be Building Community and Interest in Your Class.” Teaching of Psychology, vol. 42, no. 3, 2015, pp. 227–233. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628315587620.

Sandstrom, Gillian M., and Frank A. Russo. “Absorption in Music: Development of a Scale to Identify Individuals with Strong Emotional Responses to Music.” Psychology of Music, vol. 41, no. 2, 2013, pp. 216–228. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735611422508.

Sandstrom, Gillian M., and Frank A. Russo. “Music Hath Charms: The Effects of Valence and Arousal on Recovery Following an Acute Stressor.” Music and Medicine, vol. 2, no. 3, 2010, pp. 137–143. https://doi.org/10.1177/1943862110371486.

Sandstrom, Gillian M., Erica J. Boothby, and Gus Cooney. “Talking to Strangers: A Week-Long Intervention Reduces Psychological Barriers to Social Connection.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 102, 2022, article 104356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2022.104356.

Sandstrom, Gillian M., et al. “Opportunities for Smartphones in Clinical Care: The Future of Mobile Mood Monitoring.” The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, vol. 77, no. 2, 2016, pp. e135–e137. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.15com10054.

Sandstrom, Gillian M., et al. “Putting Mood in Context: Using Smartphones to Examine How People Feel in Different Locations.” Journal of Research in Personality, vol. 69, 2017, pp. 96–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2016.06.004.

Sandstrom, Gillian M., et al. “A Social Identity Threat Perspective on Being the Target of Generosity from a Higher Status Other.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 82, 2019, pp. 98–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2018.12.004.

Sandstrom, Gillian M., et al. “Talking Less during Social Interactions Predicts Enjoyment: A Mobile Sensing Pilot Study.” PLoS ONE, vol. 11, no. 7, 2016, e0158870. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158870.

Schroeder, Juliana, Donald Lyons, and Nicholas Epley. “Hello, Stranger? Pleasant Conversations Are Preceded by Concerns About Starting One.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001118.

Servia-Rodríguez, Sandra, et al. “Mobile Sensing at the Service of Mental Well-Being: A Large-Scale Longitudinal Study.” Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on World Wide Web, 2017, pp. 103–112. https://doi.org/10.1145/3038912.3052618.

Small, Mario Luis. “Weak Ties and the Core Discussion Network: Why People Regularly Discuss Important Matters with Unimportant Alters.” Social Networks, vol. 35, no. 4, 2013, pp. 470–483.

Sprecher, Susan. “Acquaintanceships (Weak Ties): Their Role in People’s Web of Relationships and Their Formation.” Personal Relationships, vol. 29, no. 3, 2022, pp. 425–450. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12430.

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Van Lange, Paul A. M., and Simon Columbus. “Vitamin S: Why Is Social Contact, Even with Strangers, so Important to Well-Being?” Current Directions in Psychological Science, in press.

Venaglia, Rachel B., and Edward P. Lemay Jr. “Hedonic Benefits of Close and Distant Interaction Partners: The Mediating Roles of Social Approval and Authenticity.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 43, no. 9, 2017, pp. 1255–1267. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167217711917.

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Wiener, Hillary J. D., James R. Bettman, and Mary Frances Luce. “Product-Facilitated Conversations: When Does Starting a Conversation by Mentioning a Product Lead to Better Conversational Outcomes?” Journal of Consumer Psychology, vol. 33, no. 4, 2023, pp. 744–752.

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6DEGREES is an international postcard experience inspired by the “six degrees of separation,” the idea that any two people in the world can be connected through six social links.The project explores how community amplifies through the unpredictable, analog medium of mail.

6DEGREES is an international postcard experience inspired by the “six degrees of separation,” the idea that any two people in the world can be connected through six social links.

The project explores how community amplifies through the unpredictable, analog medium of mail.