Ahrens, A. H., Zeiss, A.
M., & Kanfer, R. (1988). Depressive deficits in interpersonal standards,
self efficacy, and social comparison. Cognitive Therapy and Research,
12, 53-67.
Ahrens, A. H., & Abramson,
L. Y. (1991). Changes in personal standards and dysphoria: A longitudinal
approach. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 15, 47-68.
Ahrens, A. H., & Haaga,
D. A. F. (1993). The specificity of attributional style and expectations
to positive and negative affectivity, depression, and anxiety. Cognitive
Therapy and Research, 17, 83-98.
Edelman, R. E., Ahrens, A.
H., & Haaga, D. A. F. (1994). Inferences about the self, attributions,
and overgeneralization as predictors of recovery from dysphoria. Cognitive
Therapy and Research, 18, 551-566.
Haaga, D. A. F., Ahrens,
A. H., Schulman, P., Seligman, M. E. P., DeRubeis, R. J., & Minarik,
M. (1995). Metatraits and cognitive assessment: Application to attributional
style and depressive symptoms. Cognitive Therapy and Research,
19, 121-142.
Minarik, M. L. , & Ahrens,
A. H. (1996). Relations of eating behavior, depressive symptoms, and
anxiety to the dimensions of perfectionism. Cognitive Therapy and
Research, 20, 157-171.
Williams, K. E., Chambless,
D. L., & Ahrens, A. H. (1997). Are emotions
frightening? An extension of the fear of fear construct. Behavior
Research and Therapy, 35, 239-248.
Ahrens, A. H., & Alloy, L. B. (1997). Social comparison processes in depression. In B. Buunk & R. Gibbons (Eds.), Health, coping, and well-being: Perspectives from social comparison theory . (pp. 389-410). Mahwah , NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum.
Chamberlain, J. M., Haaga, D. A. F., Thorndike, F. P., & Ahrens, A. H. (2004).Metatraits and assessment of attributional style. Journal of Psychology, 138 , 521-531.
Sypeck, M. F., Gray, J. J., & Ahrens, A. H. (2004). No longer just a pretty face: Fashion magazines' depictions of ideal female beauty from 1959-1999. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 36 , 342-347.
Friedman-Wheeler, D. G., Ahrens, A. H., Haaga, D. A. F., McIntosh, E., & Thorndike, F. P. (in press). Depressive symptoms, depression proneness, and outcome expectancies for cigarette smoking. Cognitive Therapy and Research .
Wernicke, R. A., Weissbrod, C. S, & Ahrens, A. H. (in press). Mediational tests of the relationship between perfectionism and procrastination. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality.
Sypeck, M. F., Gray, J. J., Etu, S. F., Ahrens, A. H., Wiseman, C. V., & Mosiman, J. E. (in press). Cultural representations of thinness in women, redux: Playboy magazine's depiction of women from 1979 to 1999. Body Image .
Recent Professional Presentations
Schmerl, L., Ahrens, A. H., & Walco, G. Attachment style and illusions of vulnerability in survivors of pediatric cancer. Presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology convention, Nashville , TN , February 2000.
Ahrens, A. H. Linking, fear of emotion, gratitude, and wonder. Presented at the International Conference on Positive Psychologies (Nags Head Conference). Highland Beach , FL , June 2000.
Wesch, S. L, & Ahrens, A. H. Moderators of the perfectionism-depression connection: When is it bad to want to be good? Presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology convention, Savannah , GA , February 2002.
Story, A. & Ahrens, A. H. Approach and avoidance motivation and perceptions of health risks. Presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology convention, Los Angeles , CA , February 2003.
Ahrens, A. H., McIntosh, E., & Joseph, N. Gratitude blends, gratitude levels, and narcissism. Presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology convention, Los Angeles , CA , February 2003.
Ahrens, A. H., Sexton, J., Armellino, V., Kane, J. Q., & DeBoard, R. L. The relation of fear of emotion to self-concordance. Presented at the Eastern Psychological Association convention, Baltimore , MD , March 2003.
DeBoard, R. & Ahrens, A. H. Can body-scan mindfulness meditation decrease the enhancement effect associated with thought suppression? Presented at the Eastern Psychological Association convention, Washington , DC , April 2003
Story, A. & Ahrens, A. H. Avoidance motivation and health optimism: Roles of defensiveness and action. Presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology convention, Austin , TX , January 2004
Gurel, O., & Ahrens, A. H. The role of relational-interdependent self-construal in the link between motivational goals and affect. Presented at the Second European Conference on Positive Psychology, Verbania , Italy , July 2004
Ahrens, A. H., Kyrimis, M., & Gunthert, K. C. Fear of emotion and affective reactivity to daily stress. Presented at the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy convention, New Orleans , LA , November 2004
Friedman-Wheeler, D. G., Werner, K. E., Jefferson, A., Haaga, D. A. F., Ahrens, A H., & McIntosh, E. Depression and expectancies for the effectiveness of specific negative affect regulation strategies among cigarette smokers. Presented at the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy convention, New Orleans , LA , November 2004
Gurel, O. & Ahrens, A. H. Fear of emotion and perception of emotions in sad, angry, and happy faces. Presented at the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy convention, Washington , DC , November 2005
Kyrimis, M., & Ahrens, A. H., An examination of the relationships among mindfulness, forgiveness, emotional acceptance, emotional awareness, self-compassion, and self-judgment. To be presentated at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies convention, Chicago , IL , November 2006
Research Directions
I am particularly focused these days on gratitude and, separately, fear of emotion. Work in my lab on gratitude has focused on two main topics. First, most work on gratitude has defined it as reaction to benefits received from others. I believe that in addition to this personal gratitude, some report gratitude for benefits for which there is no clear origin. For instance, some people report being grateful for being at the beach on a sunny day, though they might not report being grateful to anyone. I have initial data using a trait measure of this sort of gratitude predicting gratitude in response to specific subsequent daily events. Also, I am interested in the relation of gratitude to the sense of being interconnected. The dissertations of two of my current doctoral students focus on this. In one, with Liz McIntosh, initial results suggest that empathy can moderate the beneficial effects of gratitude inductions. In the other, with Ozge Gurel, initial results suggest that gratitude inductions can increase interdependence of self-construal.
I am also very interested in continuing my line of work on fear of emotions. I am currently working on two manuscripts concerning this topic. The first, with Ozge Gurel, reports data indicating that those higher in fear of emotion see more negative emotion in the faces of others, after controlling for such factors as negative affect. The other, with Marika Kyrimis and Kate Gunthert, suggests that those higher in fear of emotion have affect that is more reactive to daily stressors and to their perception that they can cope with their emotions in reaction to those stressors.
I have a longstanding program of research on self-evaluation and depression. This mostly involves social comparison and goal setting, though recent work has extended to self-worth contingency and other self-concordance.
Finally, I am interested in mindfulness. Several researchers have found that mindfulness techniques assist in preventing relapse into depression (Segal, Teasdale, & Williams) and in the treatment for depression (Janakaramaiah). Marika Kyrimis is completing her dissertation on correlates of long-term mindfulness practice. I am interested in examining the mechanisms by which mindfulness exerts its effects.
Classes
Taught
321
Asbury Building (South Wing)
